Politics · Spain · 5 hrs ago
Former Adif chief says government officials urged her to appoint PSOE allies
Isabel Pardo de Vera, a former transport secretary and Adif president, says government officials urged her to appoint people aligned with the PSOE to senior roles at the rail infrastructure company.
She says she rejected nearly 20 proposed candidates, because they lacked the qualifications for those jobs.
Pardo de Vera has been under investigation for 18 months over alleged irregularities in public works contracts and the hiring of Jésica Rodríguez at Ineco, a state-owned engineering company.
She says she passed Rodríguez’s CV to Ineco’s president after Koldo García asked her to do so on behalf of former minister José Luis Ábalos, but says she had no role in the hiring decision.
She says she wants to cooperate with the courts and would give investigators information about the people who made the appointment proposals if it helps the case.
The investigation is still under way, and Pardo de Vera says she expects the circumstances of Rodríguez’s hiring to be clarified.
Former Adif president Isabel Pardo de Vera said government officials urged her to appoint people aligned with the PSOE to senior roles at the rail infrastructure company.
She said she rejected the proposals because the candidates lacked the qualifications for those positions.
Pardo de Vera said she had received nearly 20 CVs of people aligned with the party or former transport minister José Luis Ábalos.
She said she was willing to provide names to a judge if they were relevant to the case.
She is under investigation in connection with the hiring of Ábalos’s former partner and alleged irregularities in public works contracts.
- Who
- Isabel Pardo de Vera, former president of Adif and former secretary of state for transport.
- What
- She said government officials proposed candidates aligned with the PSOE for senior Adif posts, and that she refused.
- When
- She said the proposals came during her time at Adif. The interview was published on 13 October 2026.
- Where
- Adif, Spain’s rail infrastructure company.
- Why
- She said the proposed candidates did not have the qualifications for senior management roles.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Pardo de Vera said she had been under investigation for 18 months.
El Mundo published its interview with Pardo de Vera.
- Former Adif president
- Isabel Pardo de Vera
- Proposed candidates
- Nearly 20 CVs, she said
- Proposed affiliations
- PSOE and José Luis Ábalos, she said
- Investigation period
- 18 months, according to Pardo de Vera
- Interview publication
- 13 October 2026
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What people are saying
Many times the minister or even some other government officials.
I always said no, because they did not have the qualifications to be in Adif’s senior management.
If it contributes something to the case, of course I would tell the judge.