The General Intervention of the State Administration (IGAE), under the Ministry of Finance, determined there was a "non-compliance" with the Public Sector Contracts Law in a project award by Red.es to Innova Next, a company linked to entrepreneur Juan Carlos Barrabés. This finding is part of a broader investigation.

The IGAE claims that in one of the six examined awards, an incorrect "formula" was utilized to weigh objective and subjective criteria. This miscalculation led to a greater influence of subjective judgments than warranted, necessitating the creation of an external "expert committee" for evaluation.

In a detailed 144-page technical report accessed by EL PAÍS, the IGAE reviews the "actions taken during the preparation, bidding, awarding, and execution phases of six public contracts" awarded to Innova Next by Red.es, the Superior Sports Council, and the Madrid City Council — spanning the tenures of both Manuela Carmena (Ahora Madrid) and José Luis Martínez-Almeida (PP). Judge Juan Carlos Peinado is probing the ties between Barrabés and Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez, for potential influence peddling.

Under "conclusions," the IGAE states that the processes were "in line with applicable regulations, except for the aspects noted hereafter." It lists four objections across four awards (one by Red.es and three by the City Council), three of which did not impact the final award decision.

The most significant "non-compliance" pertains to the Red.es contract. The Intervention argues that "appraisal of award criteria based on subjective judgments should have been conducted by an expert committee or specialized technical body." Furthermore, had such an external body been formed, the Director of Digital Economy at Red.es wouldn't have been eligible to participate — he reportedly "signed the technical evaluation report of the bidders' offers concerning criteria reliant on subjective judgment."

Additionally, the IGAE report mentions that the Madrid City Council also used an incorrect formula in awarding two contracts to Innova Next during Mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida's term. Similarly, the objective criteria had less influence than specified. Notably, in one instance, the Public Sector Contracts Law was "breached" (though the technician concluded it was "unlikely this breach affected the award outcome"). In another case, an internal City Council directive was "violated."