Mariano Rajoy

The prosecution in the Kitchen trial maintained that, between 2013 and 2015, Interior Ministry officials used a covert police operation and secret funds to monitor Luis Bárcenas and retrieve documents potentially incriminating the PP. The trial ran from April to July 2026. Rajoy testified on 23 April, denied knowing about or ordering the operation and was not a defendant. A former Gürtel investigator claimed he had faced pressure to omit Rajoy and Cospedal from certain reports. On 28 July, the Audiencia Nacional closed the hearings and reserved judgment; no ruling had been identified as at 13 September 2026.

Person targeted by the proceedings

d'anciens responsables du ministere de l'Interieur

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Investigators suspect that companies paid several million euros to a consultancy linked to Montoro to secure favourable legislative or tax changes during his years as minister, particularly under Rajoy. Montoro and his former consultancy dispute the allegations. The case constitutes a new retrospective controversy concerning the operation of Rajoy's administration, but none of the sources considered identifies Mariano Rajoy as formally placed under investigation or establishes that he knew of corrupt payments.

Attribution

Indirectly implicated

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

In 2017, a Catalan parliamentary committee attributed political responsibility to Rajoy's government, while further revelations and congressional inquiries in 2024–2025 re-examined police operations targeting independence supporters, Podemos and Andorran banking interests. Rajoy denies that any illegal operation existed, maintains that he never ordered political surveillance and rejects any involvement. Parliamentary inquiries are politically significant but do not constitute a personal criminal conviction.

State of the evidence

Unproven

Attribution

Political responsibility

In 2021, the Audiencia Nacional convicted Bárcenas, notably for paying 1.072 million euros to Unifica outside the official accounts. In 2024, the Supreme Court confirmed the PP's subsidiary civil liability for the off-the-books payments. Bárcenas also claimed that Rajoy had seen and then destroyed a sheet from the parallel accounts in 2009; Rajoy denied this. Bárcenas's computers handed over to the courts had been erased or physically damaged by the PP, prompting separate proceedings, but the party and the defendants were acquitted in 2019. No decision attributes the erasure of drives or destruction of evidence to Rajoy.

Attribution

Personally implicated

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist is a witness

The PP was found civilly liable as a beneficiary for 245,492 euros in expenses paid by the Gürtel network in PP-run municipalities. The 2018 judgment considered Rajoy's and other officials' denials insufficiently plausible to invalidate evidence concerning parallel accounts mentioned in its reasoning. In 2020, the Supreme Court upheld the principal convictions and the PP's civil liability but considered certain references to the 'caja B' excessive in these proceedings because the parallel accounts were not the subject of charges allowing the PP to defend itself in criminal proceedings. Rajoy was neither charged nor convicted in Gürtel.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

The motion secured 180 votes. The immediate political trigger was the conviction of the Gürtel network and the finding that the PP had benefited financially from some of its activities. Rajoy disputed the suggestion that he was personally corrupt and maintained that the motion was primarily intended to allow Sánchez to take power. Nevertheless, the political outcome was directly linked to the crisis of confidence generated by the PP's corruption scandals.

Attribution

Directly implicated

The measure sought to increase revenue during the budget crisis and formally required payment of 10% of the declared value, but was heavily criticised as favouring tax evaders. The Constitutional Court found that the decree-law used had impermissibly affected the constitutional duty to contribute according to economic capacity. The decision did not retroactively invalidate already finalised regularisations. The setback is directly attributable to the Rajoy government's tax policy but does not constitute a personal offence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

As early as 2016, Reuters described corruption as a major obstacle to Rajoy's ability to retain or form a majority and documented dozens of arrests in Valencia linked to alleged kickbacks in public procurement. The 2017 Lezo affair notably led to the arrest of former Madrid regional president Ignacio González and further political resignations. Rajoy was responsible for the PP's national leadership, but no evidence considered demonstrates that he personally participated in the specific offences committed by these networks. This event provides a systemic overview and must not double-count the Gürtel/Bárcenas allegations.

Attribution

Command responsibility

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

The referendum had been suspended and then declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court. On 1 October, Reuters reported more than 760 injuries, while the Catalan health service subsequently reported 893 people receiving treatment. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International documented excessive or disproportionate use of force by the National Police and Guardia Civil at several locations. Rajoy stated that the state had acted to enforce the law and that no lawful referendum had taken place. On 27 October, he invoked Article 155 for the first time, dissolved the Catalan government and called elections. Both the constitutional basis for the intervention and criticism of police proportionality must be preserved.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Human rights organisations, press freedom groups and the opposition particularly criticised the heavy fines, restrictions on demonstrations near institutions and provisions concerning unauthorised use of images of police officers. The government defended the law as a framework providing legal certainty and protecting public order. The law remains a major civil liberties controversy but does not entail criminal liability for Rajoy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The Rajoy government had prepared a highly restrictive reform of abortion legislation led by Justice Minister Alberto Ruiz-Gallardón. Faced with public opposition, internal PP divisions and a lack of consensus, Rajoy announced the withdrawal of the proposal in September 2014.

Attribution

Political responsibility

Reuters noted that the package broke several campaign promises and was introduced under intense European pressure. Standard VAT rose from 18 to 21%. Unemployment reached a record 27.2% in spring 2013 amid recession and protests. The government's defence was that the measures were necessary to preserve access to financing, restore confidence and avoid a full sovereign bailout. The record does not present austerity as an offence.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

The revelation gained further political significance with the publication of text messages between Rajoy and Bárcenas while the latter was already at the centre of the scandal. Rajoy notably sent messages of support that became famous through the phrase 'Luis, stay strong' [Luis, sé fuerte]. Rajoy maintained that he still trusted him before learning the extent of his Swiss accounts and published his tax returns to defend his integrity. Allegations of personal payments did not lead to a criminal conviction of Rajoy.

Attribution

Directly implicated

Bankia's financing requirement was initially announced at around 9 billion euros before reaching approximately 23.5 billion euros. The rescue was intended to stabilise a banking system weakened by the collapse of the property bubble, but it prompted considerable public anger because banks received support while households and public services faced cuts. Rajoy stressed that this was support for the financial sector rather than a full sovereign bailout. The case concerns economic policy, not personal corruption.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

Environmental organisations accused him of casting doubt on an already robust scientific consensus. Rajoy subsequently explained that he was not denying climate change and acknowledged that he might have expressed himself poorly. The event is secondary to the judicial cases but constitutes a direct and longstanding personal controversy.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

As First Deputy Prime Minister and spokesperson for Aznar's government, Rajoy publicly defended Spain's position on Iraq and maintained in 2002–2003 that Saddam Hussein still possessed weapons of mass destruction. In June 2003, he stated that the international community shared this belief. On 10 March 2004, as the PP's candidate for Prime Minister, he acknowledged that there 'were none' in Iraq.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Directly implicated

On 11 March 2004, following the Madrid bombings, Rajoy publicly attributed the massacre to ETA and spoke of the need to 'go after' those responsible. The following day, as the Islamist lead gained importance, he indicated that ETA remained the investigation's priority but other possibilities could not be ruled out. After the PP's electoral defeat, he defended the government against accusations of lying or concealing information.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Personally implicated

The oil spill subsequently affected a vast stretch of the Galician coastline and became one of the greatest environmental disasters in Spanish history. Rajoy's wording remains emblematic of government communications criticised as belated and minimising the crisis. The Prestige trial mainly concerned the crew and a maritime official; no personal conviction of Rajoy has been identified. The controversy therefore concerns crisis management and communications.

Attribution

Directly implicated