A major trial in Spain, which begins on Monday, will once again focus on the illegal funding scandal that has plagued the People’s Party for years and has been the shadow of the country’s main conservative party, despite its promises to regenerate.
The trial at the National Court in Madrid will examine whether the remodeling of the party’s headquarters in the Spanish capital more than a decade ago was paid for with alleged illegal funds made up largely of bribes. The case is the latest in a judicial saga that began when the inaccurate accounting allegations that the party has held for decades first appeared.
The PP, which has been a dominant presence in the last four decades of Spanish democracy, has already paid a high political price for the corruption scandals in which its members or elected officials have been involved.
In mid-2018, its former leader Mariano Rajoy was fired as prime minister after a court ruled that the party took advantage of a bribery conspiracy.