Prosecutors have shifted their focus to Plus Ultra’s leadership after recent statements implicated former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the airline’s efforts to secure public funds. The inquiry concerns the airline’s €53 million rescue, granted by the state-owned Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI) in March 2021 through Spain’s Fund to Support the Solvency of Strategic Companies, established to address the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Julio Martínez Martínez, a businessman with ties to Zapatero, told the National Court that he passed impressive information about the financing request to the former prime minister. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office has requested testimony from Plus Ultra president Julio Martínez Sola and company executive Roberto Roselli. Both have since adopted a cooperative approach in the investigation.
Martínez Sola and Roselli had previously declined to testify after their arrests by the National Police on 11 December. Months later, at a Senate commission hearing, Martínez Sola denied irregularities, saying the bailout process was strictly regulated and free from favoritism. In a subsequent written submission to the court, he acknowledged that Plus Ultra hired Martínez Martínez because of his connection to Zapatero and agreed to pay for what the company described as “accompaniment,” or support services during its financing effort. The reported 1% fee would amount to about €530,000 against the €53 million rescue. Court reporting says payments through related companies allegedly exceeded that calculation. Martínez Sola reportedly told the judge the company paid the 1% “in case of doubt,” before it knew whether the rescue would be approved.
Martínez Martínez, who was connected to the consultancy relevant analysis, described his role as relaying information between Zapatero and Plus Ultra. He also told the court he had not carried out specific démarches with SEPI and did not know anyone there, distinguishing his claimed political access from direct contact with the body’s officials. Information from his testimony, Zapatero also spoke by telephone with Plus Ultra’s president while the airline sought solutions to its pandemic-related financial difficulties. The investigation, led by José Luis Calama, investigating judge at Basic Investigating Court No. 4 of the National Court, is examining possible influence-peddling and document falsification, along with money laundering and other irregularities.
SEPI’s decision followed favorable external assessments by Daiwa Corporate Advisor, Deloitte and Spain’s State Aviation Safety Agency (AESA). Former SEPI officials are expected to maintain that the external firms were responsible for assessing the airline’s suitability, while SEPI retained oversight duties concerning the company’s structure and financial links. The reviews are basic to questions about how due diligence was divided between the state holding company and the consultants it commissioned. José Ángel Partearroyo, former director of Participated Companies at SEPI and an official who dealt with Plus Ultra, and Félix Martín, the airline’s former finance director, were scheduled to testify as witnesses on 19 November about SEPI’s communications with the airline and its handling of the company’s financial information.
Judge Calama is not expected to schedule further hearings until after the August court recess. He still needs to set dates to question Zapatero’s daughters and his secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, who are also under investigation. Meanwhile, the conservative group Hazte Oír, acting as a popular prosecution, has announced plans to call former government officials and members of the SEPI board from 2021, which oversaw the Plus Ultra aid. Those named include Pedro Saura, José Luis Escrivá and María Jesús Montero. The proceedings also include inquiries into institutional gifts made to the Prime Minister’s Office during Zapatero’s governments from 2004 to 2011.
Prosecutors do not currently see grounds to summon Zapatero for further questioning unless new charges are brought. The former prime minister faces a separate line of inquiry into the origin of jewelry worth €1.3 million seized from his office by the National Police’s Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF). The case also led to additional charges of smuggling and tax offenses. At his last court appearance, on June 17, Zapatero exercised his right not to answer questions about the jewelry and asked his legal team for more time to clarify its provenance.
After his initial court appearance a month earlier, Zapatero publicly defended his conduct, saying he had always acted with integrity and would prove his innocence. At the time, neither Martínez Martínez nor Plus Ultra’s leadership had shifted their defense in a way that implicated the former prime minister. Zapatero has made no public comment since their recent statements.
The case has drawn attention to the distribution and oversight of public aid in Spain, particularly pandemic-era bailouts. It has expanded beyond Plus Ultra’s eligibility for emergency support to examine the airline’s use of intermediaries and payments linked to its financing effort, as well as the role of public bodies and outside assessors in approving the rescue. For further background, see this earlier report on the Plus Ultra controversy.
The investigation may influence future procedures for state-backed rescues and prompt calls for tighter controls. Its outcome could shape how authorities handle political connections and financial assessments when public funds are allocated to struggling companies.
