Zapatero investigated for alleged €200,000 influence deal in Bolivia

Former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is the subject of a widening criminal probe known as the Plus Ultra case. The National Police’s Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) seized the phone of his secretary Gertrudis Alcázar and uncovered more than 3,000 WhatsApp messages showing Zapatero arranging to receive €200,000 from the Peruvian conglomerate Grupo Gloria. The money was transferred through a shell company, Focus Social Research, and was allegedly paid for lobbying Bolivian authorities – including President Luis Arce – to benefit the group’s cement subsidiary Soboce in a multimillion‑dollar dispute with the Bolivian state.

Judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional has ordered further steps: he has directed testimony in Madrid to identify the source of recent leaks of the seized material, and he has allowed a request to nullify parts of the investigation concerning a hard‑drive and a mobile phone. Parliamentarians from several parties have called for a special commission to examine the alleged influence‑peddling, while Zapatero’s allies in the PSOE defend his presumption of innocence. The case also implicates other figures, such as former minister Julio Martínez and Zapatero’s secretary, and it has generated a broader debate over the conduct of former office‑holders.