Witnesses at the ongoing 'caso mascarillas' trial in Spain's Supreme Court testified this week that businessman Víctor de Aldama — a central figure in an alleged corruption scheme involving pandemic-era mask procurement contracts — moved freely through the most restricted areas of the Transport Ministry as if he were a staff member. The former president of Adif (Spain's state rail infrastructure manager) and a Civil Guard officer both confirmed that Aldama regularly accessed the ministry at all hours, parked in the authorities-only car park, and was seen even in the minister's office, always without being stopped. A former senior ports official further told prosecutors he had consulted Aldama directly on a contract to purchase four million masks because he believed the businessman "was on the ministerial side, helping to coordinate the planes" — underscoring how thoroughly Aldama appears to have been embedded in a ministry he had no formal role in.