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Zapatero denies influence in Plus Ultra rescue and calls seized €1.3 million jewels a foreign courtesy gift
Former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is under investigation for alleged influence‑peddling in the 2021 state‑backed rescue of the airline Plus Ultra, which received a €53 million loan during the Covid‑19 pandemic. Prosecutors have charged him with traffic of influences, organized crime, money‑laundering, tax fraud and smuggling.
Police searches of Zapatero’s former office uncovered jewellery and luxury watches valued at about €1.3 million. The anti‑corruption prosecutor has asked the judge to broaden the appraisal of the items. Zapatero told TVE that the pieces are a “personal courtesy gift” from a foreign country received many years ago, that he had no intent to profit and that he would have declined the gift in hindsight.
In his first media interview since being indicted, Zapatero asserted he never spoke to anyone at the government or the state investment fund SEPI about the rescue and denied receiving any commission. The investigating magistrate, José Luis Calama, rejected Zapatero’s request to annul parts of the case, ruling the filing was out of the legal deadline, so the probe continues and the airline’s president and CEO have been summoned to testify.