Spain's Supreme Court upholds order for UGT to repay millions to Andalusia

An appeal by the Andalusian branch of UGT to the Supreme Court was dismissed, confirming a 2023 regional court judgment that the union must return a multi-million-euro subsidy to the Junta de Andalucía. The court found that the training courses for unemployed residents were delivered outside the legal framework, with notable infractions such as unauthorized subcontracting and salary setting beyond official scales. The dispute originated from a 2015 administrative file launched by the regional government amid press coverage of alleged training fraud, which also implicated the spouse of a former regional president.

After a change of government in 2019, the new administration revived the file and ordered repayment, a decision UGT-A contested in administrative courts before the Supreme Court upheld the original penalty. Parallel criminal proceedings in Seville have also held the union civilly liable for a separate €40 million training fraud case, pending final resolution.