He former director of Barajas AirportJosé Antonio Álvarez Fernández, He assured this Monday before the Senate that he was unaware of the arrival of the vice-president of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, at the terminal in January 2020 Rodríguez and highlighted directly to Minister of the Interior Fernando Grande-Marlaska. Álvarez Fernández has repeatedly recalled that responsibility for border and customs control lies with the aforementioned Ministry of the Interior. Álvarez Fernández appeared before the Commission of Inquiry of the Upper House on public procurement carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic, linked to the intermediation of Koldo García Izaguirre, as well as on possible cases of corruption which, directly or indirectly, are linked to the activities and contacts of the people who are part of the plot investigated as part of Operation Delorme, report in relation to the purpose of the commission.
As highlighted José Antonio Álvarez Fernández, AENA as airport manager does not have information on the identity of people arriving at the airport and, therefore, he was not aware of the disembarkation of the Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, in January 2020. In this sense, denied any type of instruction from a senior official on this matter.
Álvarez Fernández has repeatedly said that responsibility for border and customs control lies with the Interior Ministry. During his speech, He stressed that he was also unaware of the alleged movements of former minister José Luis Ábalos, his former advisor Koldo García Izaguirre and the alleged plot organizer Víctor de Aldama in the restricted areas of the ‘airport.
In any case, the former director of the Airport defended that the only “extraordinary” performance linked to the Delcygate was the preservation and custody of the images and their subsequent delivery to the court.
Specifically, the recordings that were turned over to the court are from all cameras located inside the general aviation terminal and outside the business aviation terminal and the apron where the plane was parked.
However, the former director of Madrid-Barajas Airport said that he did not keep any copies of these recordings, which he kept from February 2020 to June 2022, because, as he said, these images are destroyed after 30 days.
In this regard, denied having received any call or pressure to delete or boycott these recordings regarding the arrival of Delcy Rodríguez at the airportwhose entry was the responsibility of Fernando Grande-Marlaska’s Ministry of the Interior. At the same time, he stated that José Luis Ábalos never called or met him nor did he know Koldo García Izaguirre.
However, he assured that Delcy Rodríguez did not use any of the authority rooms in Barajas or any of the VIP rooms managed directly by AENA. “Is the Barajas VIP zone on national territory?” asked the PP senator, to which the former airport director replied that this question should be entrusted to the National Police, because it is his responsibility.
