A woman who worked in Saudi public procurement says the jewellery was payment linked to the AVE maintenance contract to Mecca. She puts the alleged commission at 2.5% of the award.
Documents sent from Jeddah brought a former procurement manager’s allegations to Spain’s anti-corruption authorities. The woman held a management post in public procurement at a Spanish company in Saudi Arabia, according to El Debate. Fiscalía Anticorrupción received the material in late September 2026, according to later reporting by El Nacional and elDiario Alerta.
She says the jewellery found by the UDEF in José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero’s office safe on Madrid’s Ferraz street was payment for the Haramain high-speed rail project between Medina and Mecca. Her account alleges a commission worth 2.5% of the maintenance contract award.
Four other people could corroborate her account, she says: a Saudi negotiator and three Spanish rail executives. She has asked for protection for her family and work circles. The material described by El Debate sets out her claims and documents, but does not prove that the alleged payment took place. Reports say the safe held 103 pieces of jewellery and watches.
The contract’s timeline is central to the allegation. Haramain negotiations began in 2009, while Zapatero was still at La Moncloa. The contract was signed on 14 January 2012, after he had left office. A Spanish consortium won the project after negotiations between Spanish companies and Saudi authorities. The witness says the jewellery was payment in kind, intended to conceal an illegal commission.
She also describes business lobbies and alleges that Zapatero led a group mediating between politicians and companies. In her account, he used his position as manager of the PSOE to press public officials. She says payment records support her claims.
The witness puts the jewellery’s accounting value above €4 million, well over the first appraisal. Judge José Luis Calama commissioned experts from Ansorena to examine more than 60 pieces. They valued them at over €1.3 million. One white-gold necklace set with diamonds and two Zambian emeralds was valued at €278,000. El Nacional has also reported that Zapatero initially put some necklaces at between €30,000 and €50,000. The report says earrings and bracelets were included in that estimate. A separate RUSSPAIN report covered a Madrid foreclosure case involving housing advocate Maricarmen Abascal; the present dispute concerns the origin and value of the jewellery.
Zapatero says the 12 most valuable pieces were a gift from Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, received during the king’s official visit to Spain on 18–19 June 2007. He said he did not declare them to the Agencia Tributaria because he held them without patrimonial intent. The witness’s account disputes that explanation.
Calama ordered a second appraisal by jeweller Yanes to establish replacement value and the pieces’ age. Zapatero’s defence sought to disqualify the appraiser after its director general publicly estimated the jewellery could be worth around €2 million. Calama rejected the challenge on 29 September and dismissed the appeal against the new appraisal on 6 October. That second valuation remains in place. Calama is handling the investigation at the Audiencia Nacional in proceedings connected with the state rescue of airline Plus Ultra.
