Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain's National Court has dismissed the ambulances case, a spin-off from the 3% case on irregular financing of Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya (CDC). The ruling comes after three years of investigation failing to prove criminal irregularities in a 2014 tender. Anticorruption Prosecutors support the dismissal.
Judge Santiago Pedraz of Spain's National Court has ordered the dismissal of the so-called ambulances case in a ruling dated Monday, March 25, 2026. The probe, launched in 2023, examined alleged irregularities in a 2014 public tender called by the Catalan government for ambulance transport services, during CDC's administration under Artur Mas from 2010 to 2016. It was a separate strand of the 3% case, focusing on the late Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya's alleged illegal financing through kickbacks for public contracts. Those charged included former CDC leader David Madí, ex-Health councillor Boi Ruiz, former Catalan Health Service director Josep María Padrosa, and Ambulancias Egara owner Óscar Simón, among others. The initial complaint came from Carlos Simón García, linked to Ivemon Ambulancias Egara, who told Mossos d'Esquadra in 2022 about irregularities in 2011 negotiations, citing an intermediary acting on behalf of Madí with access to CDC's former manager Germà Gordó and Mas. However, Simón García did not ratify his complaint in court. Pedraz states that “the initial premises of the investigation have not been proven,” finding only “mere subsanable administrative irregularities” without criminal gravity. Anticorruption Prosecutors back the move: “Neither prior agreement nor arbitrary resolution in awarding the contract has been proven,” nor any kickbacks to public officials. The award had previously been upheld by Catalonia's Superior Court of Justice and the Audit Office. The judge emphasizes no deliberate intent to skew the administrative process.
