UDEF links Zapatero to creation of Dubai offshore for Plus Ultra deal. Police have submitted new details to the court regarding the creation of an offshore company in Dubai. The case files mention Zapatero’s secretary, six emails, and a business plan. Investigators believe the initiative originated from the former Prime Minister.
New details have emerged in the case concerning the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra: police believe that it was José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero who gave instructions to create an offshore structure in Dubai to receive commissions. Following the lifting of secrecy from investigation materials, UDEF presented the court with a chain of six emails, a business plan, and information about meetings, which, according to investigators, confirm the former prime minister's involvement in organizing the scheme.
The key element of the investigation became the emails found on the phone of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez. The correspondence involved Zapatero's secretary Gertrudis Alcázar, entrepreneur Cristóbal Cano, and Halal Trade and Marketing Centre representative Tomás Guerrero Blanco. In one of the emails, Alcázar arranges a meeting with the participation of a security guard, which police see as evidence of Zapatero’s personal interest. The very next day, Guerrero Blanco sends a list of documents for company registration in the Emirates, while Cano promptly sends the completed forms and confirms that the new structure, Landside Dubai FZCO, is fully owned by Idella Consulenza Strategica—a firm linked to Martínez Martínez and a contract for 1% of the state support sum granted to Plus Ultra.
UDEF documents note that none of the letters were signed by Zapatero himself; however, according to investigators, the sequence of actions and the involvement of his closest associates suggest that the initiative came from the former Prime Minister. An important detail was the business plan attached to the correspondence: it outlines plans to obtain at least 3 million euros over five years through consulting services for Spanish and Latin American companies wishing to enter the UAE market. Police also draw attention to discrepancies in company names across different documents and do not rule out the possibility that there were actually two different entities involved.
After reviewing the materials, Audiencia Nacional judge José Luis Calama concluded that the scheme created could have been aimed at transferring commissions out of Spain. The ONIF report recorded no incoming transfers from Plus Ultra to Idella accounts in Spain, which heightens suspicions about the possible use of a foreign company to receive funds. The court decision notes that this is a “formation phase” of an international structure intended to hide actual owners and move capital.
The context of the Plus Ultra case has repeatedly attracted attention from both the media and investigators. It was previously reported that Zapatero's house in Madrid figured in police materials as the location where key instructions were given, but the court refused to authorize a search. Further details on this part of the investigation can be found in the article on the role of Zapatero's house in the Plus Ultra case.
For reference: Plus Ultra is a Spanish airline that received state support amounting to 53 million euros in 2021. The investigation centers on the conditions of the funding and possible commission withdrawal schemes. UDEF is a division of the Spanish National Police specializing in economic crime investigations. The Audiencia Nacional is the highest judicial authority for complex cases and corruption.
