In 2022, the Partido Popular in Madrid lodged a complaint regarding face masks sold to public entities by a company called Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas S.L. This led to suspicions about Koldo García, formerly an advisor to the ex-minister of transport, José Luis Abalós, and Víctor de Aldama in respect of six contracts for the purchase of supplies. One of these contracts was for 1.4 million masks for the Balearic health service IB-Salut in April 2020; €3.7 million were paid. Two months later, it was discovered that the material was fake.
The Guardia Civil requested all documentation regarding the purchase of the masks from IB-Salut, and eventually the case erupted in February 2022 with the arrests of some twenty people. As well as the health service contract, there were investigations into contracts for the ports authority plus various other administrations in the Canaries and elsewhere. García and Aldama were summoned to appear before the Audiencia Nacional court in Madrid. Since then, the court has not conducted a single investigation into the Balearic contract.
The police operation in February 2024 which placed that contract firmly under the spotlight was followed by intervention by EU prosecutors. Masks for the Balearics and the Canaries were paid for with European funds. There was then a clash over which court had jurisdiction. It was ultimately transferred to the Supreme Court, but not completely.
Part of the confusion to have surrounded this whole affair came in March 2023 when the Balearic Government, still then run by PSOE, initiated the formal termination of the contract. This wasn't resolved. Abalós had meanwhile been attributed by the the Guardia Civil and a judge of having had an intermediary role with the regional government. A message from García to the company indicated that "everything was on track". The claim against the company would be withdrawn; this was the implication. And so there arose the strange situation of an alleged corruption scandal involving PSOE now requiring a favour from the Partido Popular government.
Among revelations to have emerged from court and Guardia Civil documents is one that concerns a conversation between García and Francina Armengol when she was president of the Balearics. He said: "Okay, darling, I'll keep you informed about everything." Armengol sent him contact information for the regional health minister, Patricia Gómez, to discuss the purchase of PCR tests for minors. These messages supported a Guardia Civil theory about García's ability to access PSOE politicians. But while what occurred in the Balearics offers clues to the alleged activities of García, Abalós, Aldama and others, this is not being exhaustively investigated.
There was a major turn in November 2024 when Aldama was indicted in another fraud. Since then, the masks case has been sidelined, although the involvement of Abalós and his refusal to leave his seat in Congress have led to further proceedings being sent to the Supreme Court. But the masks contract for the Balearics has not; it remains under the jurisdiction of the National Court.