José Vicente Marí Bosó, the People's Party (PP) candidate for Congress in the Balearic Islands, has demanded explanations from Francina Armengol over the pandemic-era purchase of protective masks by the Balearic Health Service (IB-Salut) and the money that remains subject to recovery proceedings.

Speaking on Saturday, 7 November 2026, Marí Bosó criticised the former Balearic president's handling of the contract with Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas SL, a company connected to the investigation known as the Koldo case.

The PP candidate claimed that approximately €4 million remained to be recovered by the Balearic institutions and questioned why, according to his account, the previous government took three years to begin the process of reclaiming the money.

Marí Bosó Questions Armengol's Handling of the Contract

Marí Bosó argued that the government led by Armengol had a responsibility to scrutinise the procurement arrangements and ensure that public money was properly protected.

He criticised what he described as the previous administration's acceptance of contracting instructions originating from people connected to former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos, who was also the PSOE's former organisational secretary.

The PP candidate said Armengol, as president of the Balearic Government at the time, had ultimate political responsibility for the decisions taken by her administration.

He also questioned why the government had not acted sooner to recover the money, arguing that the delay had left public funds at risk.

Marí Bosó called on Armengol to explain both the original procurement decision and the subsequent handling of the recovery process. He also demanded that political responsibilities be established and that every recoverable euro be returned to public funds.

These statements represent the PP candidate's political assessment of the case.

The Original Mask Contract Was Worth €3.7 Million

The contract at the centre of the controversy was awarded by IB-Salut to Soluciones de Gestión y Apoyo a Empresas SL during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The purchase was valued at €3,701,500 and involved protective masks intended for healthcare use.

The material subsequently became the subject of a dispute because the masks did not meet the required specifications for the intended FFP2 classification. The Balearic Health Service stored the material rather than distributing it for its original intended use.

In August 2020, an IB-Salut official had issued a certificate of conformity for the supply, stating that the contract had been fulfilled satisfactorily and without knowledge of incidents.

This certification later became relevant to the dispute over recovering the money, as the supplier referred to it in its response to the administration's claims.

Why Two Different Recovery Figures Have Been Reported

The financial situation requires an important distinction.

The original contract was worth approximately €3.7 million. However, the initial administrative recovery process focused on approximately €2.6 million, representing the difference between the amount paid for the masks and their assessed value.

The previous government began the process of claiming this difference after the end of the pandemic in May 2023, according to reporting published in February 2024.

In September 2024, the Balearic Consultative Council supported declaring the contract null, citing concerns about the supplier's legal capacity and technical solvency.

The Balearic Government subsequently announced that it would continue pursuing the recovery of the full contract value of approximately €3.7 million through administrative procedures and would examine further legal options.

Marí Bosó referred to approximately €4 million in his statements on 7 November 2026. This is a rounded figure used in his political criticism, rather than a separately established final amount outstanding.

Prosecutor Requests Trial in the Wider Mask Procurement Investigation

Marí Bosó's comments followed new developments in the judicial investigation into the pandemic-era procurement contracts.

On 7 November, the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor requested that three individuals face trial in connection with alleged irregularities involving the purchase of masks by the Balearic and Canary Islands health authorities.

Those named were Koldo García, former adviser to José Luis Ábalos; businessman Víctor de Aldama; and Íñigo Rotaeche, an executive at Soluciones de Gestión.

The prosecutor's allegations include influence peddling and money laundering against García, and bribery and a tax offence against Aldama.

The prosecution's request did not include former Balearic Government officials or civil servants. The National Court judge still had to decide whether to open the requested trial.

The judicial proceedings and the administrative recovery process are separate matters. The request for trial does not itself determine whether the Balearic Government will recover the money paid under the contract.

Armengol Defends Her Former Government's Actions

Armengol also addressed the mask procurement controversy during a visit to Ibiza on 7 November.

The former Balearic president, who is now president of the Spanish Congress of Deputies, described her government's management as honest and transparent, saying decisions had been taken in the public interest during an exceptionally difficult period.

She also highlighted that no former Balearic Government official or civil servant had been included in the prosecutor's request for trial in this particular investigation.

Her defence came in response to the latest judicial developments and renewed criticism from the PP.

PP Calls for Political Accountability and Recovery of Public Money

Marí Bosó maintained that Armengol should not avoid questions about the decisions taken during her presidency and the time taken to pursue the recovery of the funds.

He argued that residents of the Balearic Islands deserved a full explanation of how the contract was handled, why the recovery process took the course it did and what steps were being taken to protect public money.

The dispute remains part of the wider political debate surrounding the pandemic-era mask contracts, with the PP demanding political accountability and Armengol defending the actions of her former government.

Meanwhile, the administrative efforts to recover the money and the judicial proceedings involving the supplier and other individuals continue on separate tracks.