SENTENCES totalling more than 350 years have been handed down by Spain’s National Court in a long-running corruption case at the centre of which is Mariano Rajoy’s ruling People’s Party (PP).

Former party treasurer Luis Bárcenas was sentenced to 33 years in jail and fined €44 million (£38.5m) and the PP itself around €250,000 (£218,700) for benefiting from kickbacks given in exchange for awarding contracts to a network of business people.

Businessman Francisco Correa, the scheme’s ringleader, was jailed for 51 years and Pablo Crespo, another businessman, for 37 years for his part in what was known as the “Gürtel” plot - named after the German translation for belt, for which the Spanish word is correa.

Former Spanish health minister Ana Mato will have to pay back €28,000 (£24,500) for using Gürtel money for personal trips and events for her family.

The case saw Rajoy give evidence in July, the first time a serving prime minister has appeared in court while holding office since Spain’s transition to democracy four decades ago.

He was not accused of wrongdoing but gave evidence as the PP’s vice secretary until 2004 and secretary general until 2004, when the illegal scheme was still running.

During his appearance, Rajoy told the court he did not know anything about the PP’s accounting practices, when it was being partly funded by corruption.