Spanish investigation into Plus Ultra airline bailout

A judicial investigation has been launched in Spain regarding the airline Plus Ultra, specifically focusing on the role of Venezuelan capital in the company’s shareholding from 2017 onward. Judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional ordered the economic and fiscal crime unit (UDEF) to investigate whether Venezuelan ownership influenced the airline’s receipt of a €53 million public-fund rescue package during the pandemic.

The situation has expanded into a legal dispute over transparency. The Spanish government, through the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), is preparing to defend its decision to withhold full documentation of the 2021 bailout before the Supreme Court. While previous rulings from the Transparency Council and the National Court favored public access to these files, the government argues that pandemic-era emergency decrees permit confidentiality.

Parallel to the investigation into the financing and corporate governance of the airline, the National Court is reportedly investigating former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for potential influence peddling related to the management of the aid, involving airline executives and businessman Julio Martínez Martínez.