Madrid (Spain), 25 May (LaPresse) – New details have emerged in Spain regarding the case in which former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is under investigation for influence-peddling and other offences. Over the weekend, the Spanish media reported on the reports that the National Police’s Economic and Financial Crimes Unit (Udef) had submitted to the investigating judge of the National Court, José Luis Calama, in which the former Socialist leader is alleged to have been at the head of an organised influence-peddling network involved in the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra. Zapatero is also identified as the ‘main beneficiary’, through a company registered in the names of his two daughters, of payments received from the network in exchange for his favours. The report also reveals that the former prime minister received €2.6 million over five years from companies under investigation and from companies with Chinese capital. However, not all the payments came from the companies under investigation, El País points out. According to the Udef reports, the businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, arrested on 11 December 2025 as part of the investigation into the alleged misuse of the €53 million allocated by the government to bail out the airline Plus Ultra, is said to have paid Zapatero a total of €490,780 over five years via the consultancy firm Analisis Relevante.
Spain: Zapatero case – new details emerge regarding the Plus Ultra bailout investigation
Madrid (Spain), 25 May (LaPresse) – New details have emerged in Spain regarding the case in which former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is under investigation for influence-peddling and other offences. Over the weekend, the Spanish media reported on the reports that the National Police’s Economic and Financial Crimes Unit (Udef) had submitted to the investigating judge of the National Court, José Luis Calama, in which the former Socialist leader is alleged to have been at the head of an organised influence-peddling network involved in the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra. Zapatero is also identified as the ‘main beneficiary’, through a company registered in the names of his two daughters, of payments received from the network in exchange for his favours. The report also reveals that the former prime minister received €2.6 million over five years from companies under investigation and from companies with Chinese capital. However, not all the payments came from the companies under investigation, El País points out. According to the Udef reports, the businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, arrested on 11 December 2025 as part of the investigation into the alleged misuse of the €53 million allocated by the government to bail out the airline Plus Ultra, is said to have paid Zapatero a total of €490,780 over five years via the consultancy firm Analisis Relevante.
