Posted on May 19, 2026
Former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is being investigated in Spain for alleged influence peddling and related crimes in the long-running Plus Ultra airline case.
The Superior Court reported this Tuesday that Zapatero’s office in Madrid was searched along with three other premises and added that the former president of the Government had been summoned to testify on June 2.
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The investigation is linked to the state bailout of Plus Ultra in 2021, which received 53 million euros ($62 million) through the state holding company SEPI during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The case escalated at the end of December after several arrests, including that of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, known as Julito, considered key to understanding the links between Plus Ultra and Zapatero.
Zapatero would have been the driving force behind the rescue of the airline and is accused of having pressured the Ministry of Transport, then led by José Luis Ábalos, to approve the rescue.
Suspicions also center on Analisis Relevante, Julito’s company, which supposedly received the same amount that Plus Ultra later paid to Zapatero. Víctor de Aldama, a Spanish businessman involved in other corruption investigations, has claimed that Zapatero received 10 million euros ($12 million) in commissions.
The bailout remained politically controversial as critics questioned both the financial viability of Plus Ultra and the company’s ownership ties to Venezuelan businessmen considered close to the government of then-President Nicolás Maduro, raising concerns about transparency and possible political influence.
The court is examining whether the aid was properly approved and whether there was lobbying or undue influence.
In statements to the newspaper El País, the president of the Junta de Andalucía, Juanma Moreno, stated: “There has never been a serious investigation process, much less an accusation against a former president. This is something unprecedented and will shake the Government.”
The conservative opposition Popular Party has used the case to sharpen its attacks against the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, of the Socialist Workers Party, to which Zapatero also belongs. Sánchez’s administration already faces separate corruption investigations involving figures close to the prime minister, as well as investigations affecting his wife and brother.
Zapatero, who governed Spain from 2004 to 2011, has long been a key ally of Sánchez and has also drawn criticism from the opposition for his business and political ties to Venezuela after leaving office. He has denied wrongdoing before a parliamentary committee.
