UCO confirms bid-rigging in Zubieta prison construction contract

The Guardia Civil's Central Operative Unit (UCO) has confirmed that Antxón Alonso, a business partner of PSOE official Santos Cerdán, received €181,492 in payments from Cycasa, a company that formed part of the joint venture awarded the €44.5 million contract to build Zubieta prison in Guipúzcoa. The contract was awarded by the Interior Ministry in February 2021.

Key findings from the UCO report:

• In October 2018, Alonso alerted Acciona executive Tomás Olarte about the future prison project via WhatsApp Source: El Confidencial.
• After the tender was published in November 2020, Alonso informed Juan Sumelzo, a businessman and brother of a government official, that their 'friend' was interested Source: Infobae.
• Alonso later detailed the joint venture structure: Acciona (50%), Murias (25%), Cycasa (25%), with Alonso and Sumelzo controlling 10% of Cycasa's share Source: El Confidencial.
• Servinabar, linked to Alonso and Cerdán, received payments from Cycasa from 2021–2023 totalling €181,492 Source: Infobae.

The government has defended the contract, stating the process followed public procurement law and that the disqualification of a lower bid was justified Source: El Confidencial. This is the first time the Interior Ministry has been implicated in the broader public works corruption scandal.