Luis Bárcenas

[4] His time as treasurer was short, as he "temporarily" resigned in 2009 when his implication in the Gürtel scandal became too much of a public embarrassment for the party.

Until early 2013, he nonetheless retained access to a private office at the PP headquarters and continued to receive payments from the party equivalent to his salary, under circumstances which are disputed.

Two former treasurers, Bárcenas and his predecessor Lapuerta, allegedly used these illegal donations in part "to make under-the-table payments to PP leaders".

[10] The donations in question appeared to contravene party financing laws on two counts: first, for exceeding the 60,000-euro limit for any one individual or company; second, many alleged donors were involved in the construction sector and were simultaneously being awarded government contracts.

[11] El País published facsimiles of handwritten "secret ledgers" (purportedly in Bárcenas' hand) suggesting that Mariano Rajoy, the Prime Minister of Spain, María Dolores de Cospedal, the Secretary-General of the People's Party, and many other high ranking PP officials, received undeclared money.

[18] Facing a range of charges including tax fraud and money-laundering, on 27 June 2013, Bárcenas was sent to prison pending trial.

[19] The decision not to grant bail at that time was taken by judge Pablo Ruz to "avoid the risk of flight and ensure the preservation of sources of evidence".