The State Legal Service (Abogacía del Estado) will formally participate in the investigation into jewellery found in former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s professional office. The move follows National Court investigating judge José Luis Calama’s offer to the Tax Agency to join the proceedings as a potentially harmed party in a case examining suspected tax offences and smuggling. The inquiry is part of the broader Plus Ultra proceedings, where Calama is also examining the items’ origin and legal status.
Police seized the jewellery during a search on 19 May 2026. The collection was initially described as comprising more than 60 pieces, and an appraisal by Madrid jeweller Ansorena placed its value at approximately €1.3 million. Reports describe pieces made from white gold, with Zambian emeralds and sapphires among the stones. Brilliant-cut diamonds also feature. Zapatero appeared before the court on 17 June and declined to answer questions about the jewellery. His legal team had sought to postpone that part of his testimony, citing insufficient time to prepare a defence.
Zapatero has said the jewellery was a gift from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud during an official visit to Spain in 2007. His defence sought a judicial commission to Saudi Arabia to verify that account. Calama has first requested Spanish government records of institutional gifts received by the Presidency during Zapatero’s two terms, covering the 2004-2008 and 2008-2011 legislatures. The records sought include documentation on the acceptance and transfer of gifts placed in the state’s patrimony. The administration was reportedly given two days to provide them.
The records request also bears on a separate public-property question raised by the Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office, which asked the court to examine possible misappropriation of public funds. Prosecutors are concerned that valuable gifts may have been accepted but not transferred to the State Heritage authorities, unlike other gifts Zapatero reportedly surrendered when leaving office. The court’s review of institutional-gift records is intended to help establish whether the jewellery was a personal gift or property that should have passed to the state.
The valuation has become contested. Zapatero’s defence challenged Ansorena’s €1.3 million estimate, arguing that it exceeded the pieces’ real market value. A second valuation was commissioned from Joyería Yanes to provide an additional expert assessment, and the defence has also challenged that appointment. The competing appraisals will inform the investigation’s assessment of the collection and the allegations under examination.
The case has drawn attention because it involves a former head of government and intersects with the wider Plus Ultra investigation. It also echoes other legal developments involving Zapatero’s circle, including Senate scrutiny of his secretary’s silence in the Plus Ultra investigation, as reported in a related Senate session on corruption questions.
The State Legal Service’s participation puts the state’s tax and property interests before the court as investigators examine the jewellery’s origin and legal status, with its valuation also under review. The proceedings continue alongside the broader inquiry. The requested government records and expert assessments form part of the evidence the judge is considering.
