News from Madrid courts take a sharp turn as Alfredo Prada, once the vice president of the Madrid regional government and a close ally of Esperanza Aguirre, faces intense scrutiny. In the opening round of witnesses at the National Court, one of the co-accused who stood alongside Prada during the inquiry pointed directly to him as the ultimate decision-maker behind the construction fiasco known as the Campus of Justice in Madrid.
Accused of orchestrating a criminal plan with the other five defendants to steer contracts toward favored firms, the former high-ranking member of the Popular Party confronts a request from the Prosecutor for eight years in prison on charges of continued prevarication and malversation totaling more than 100 million euros.
Lourdes Manovel, previously the technical general secretary of the Justice and Interior Department, testified that Prada bore ultimate responsibility for all decisions tied to the failed campus project. “The board had delegated all powers to the president of the council [Prada]. He was the one who had to sign”, Manovel said.
Alongside Prada, the indictment includes Isabelino Baños Fernández, the technical director general, Mariano José Sanz Piñar, the deputy technical director general, Alicio de las Heras Rodríguez, the financial director, Andrés Gómez Gordo, the campus security director, and Félix José García de Castro, the administrator.
The Campus of the Justice project, conceived under Aguirre’s government, aimed to consolidate all regional judicial bodies in a single site. The work stalled in 2011 amid an economic crisis and rising costs. To date, only the Institute of Legal Medicine was constructed, not opening until 2020.
“Absolute trust” in Prada
During the testimonies, Manovel testified that she had absolute confidence in Prada and denied involvement in the decisions surrounding the failed project. Her statement is viewed as a central pillar by the Prosecutor’s Office in building its case against Prada.
Another key witness, Paloma Mateo, who served as the board secretary and was an assistant to the vice presidency, indicated that Prada directed her on which points to include in meetings, although the awards themselves never passed through those sessions. Mateo also faced investigation during the inquiry phase, but the charges against her were later dropped.
Prada, who stood as Esperanza Aguirre’s right-hand man during her tenure as regional president, denies any wrongdoing and maintains that he acted within the law. However, prosecutors and Judge José De la Mata, who initially oversaw the case, contend that the former vice president and the other five defendants plotted a plan to irregularly award contracts to allied companies.
In the recent session, Prada’s defense argued that the process rested on “unrealistic bases”. The defense plan includes arguing that part of the documentation was destroyed by the Community of Madrid, complicating the ability to quantify the alleged harm to public coffers.
This development makes the prosecution’s case harder to sustain, as it complicates the calculation of damages to the public treasury and the overall impact of the alleged crimes.
As the trial moves forward, the former president of the regional government will appear as a witness. She is said to have cut professional ties with Prada after he openly supported Mariano Rajoy in a leadership dispute within the Popular Party in 2008. Meanwhile, Francisco Granados, formerly the Justice and Interior minister and Prada’s successor in that role, is also charged, though in a separate count within the same multi-phase case.
The entire matter centers on whether a coordinated strategy misused public funds and favored private interests at the expense of transparent public procurement processes. The forthcoming sessions will further illuminate the roles of all involved and the strength of the prosecution’s assertions about a coordinated plan for awarding projects tied to the Campus of the Justice.