MADRID – In a significant development rocking Spanish political circles, Spain’s National Court has launched a formal investigation into former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero over claims of influence peddling and potential financial misconduct linked to a public sector bailout of a domestic airline. The probe centers on the 2021 rescue of Plus Ultra, a Spanish airline with Venezuelan-linked investment, which received 53 million euros (equivalent to roughly $62 million today) in public funds drawn from the European Union’s COVID-19 economic recovery package.
In an official statement released this week, the court confirmed that it had expanded its existing investigation to name Zapatero as a person of interest, and has formally summoned the 65-year-old former leader to appear before an investigating judge for questioning on June 2. On Tuesday, law enforcement officers executed a judge-issued search warrant at Zapatero’s personal office as part of the preliminary evidence-gathering phase of the probe.
Zapatero, who served two terms as Spain’s prime minister from 2004 to 2011, remains an active prominent member of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party, the same left-wing party currently led by incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez. This is not the first time the former prime minister has addressed the allegations: during a March hearing before the Spanish Senate, he flatly denied any improper involvement in the bailout process, telling lawmakers he “never received any commissions from Plus Ultra.”
Founded as a low-cost long-haul carrier, Plus Ultra focuses primarily on routes connecting Spain to Latin American markets including Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador, and counts a group of Venezuelan investors among its major stakeholders. Since stepping down from national office more than a decade ago, Zapatero has built a prominent profile as an informal diplomatic mediator, with much of his post-premiership work centered on fostering dialogue between the Venezuelan government led by Nicolás Maduro and Western nations. Maduro’s administration has faced widespread diplomatic isolation from the European Union and other Western powers following a widespread crackdown on opposition political groups and claims of electoral irregularities.
Notably, Zapatero had been out of elected public office for 10 years when the Plus Ultra bailout was approved by Sánchez’s government. The investigation marks the latest corruption-related scandal to hit Sánchez’s ruling party, which has already weathered multiple other corruption probes over the past two years that have eroded public support for the administration.