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Former Spanish Prime Minister Under Criminal Investigation

2026-05-19 14:41:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation on suspicion of influence peddling and other criminal offenses by a judge reviewing the state bailout of a Venezuela-linked airline during the Covid pandemic.

Zapatero, a socialist who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, has been ordered to appear before Spain's highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, on June 2.

Although other former and serving Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time a former prime minister has been placed under criminal investigation.

The latest investigation is part of an investigation into the €53 million (£46 million) state bailout of Spanish airline Plus Ultra in March 2021. Prosecutors are looking into whether the company made “inadequate use” of public funds the government approved for the rescue, while anti-corruption police are investigating whether the airline used the bailout money to launder funds from Venezuela through France, Switzerland and Spain.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the court said a judge had authorized police to search Zapatero's office, as well as those of three other companies.

"The judge of the Audiencia Nacional, José Luis Calama, has ordered former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to appear as a suspect on June 2 on charges of selling influence and related offenses," the statement said.

Calama was said to have lifted secrecy restrictions regarding the proceedings and accepted jurisdiction after a lower court was ruled out in favor of the Audiencia Nacional.

Zapatero, who denies any wrongdoing, appeared before a senate committee in March, where he said he had "never received commissions from Plus Ultra". But he admitted to doing some consultancy work for his friend Julio Martínez Martínez, a businessman who worked with Plus Ultra and who was arrested by anti-corruption officers in December last year.

Appearing before a Senate committee in February, Plus Ultra president Julio Martínez Sola insisted that the rescue had been carried out in full compliance with the relevant laws. "There was no extraordinary procedure outside the norm; there was no preferential treatment or unnecessary intervention; there was no illegal aid," he said. "There was a regulated process, with checks, reports and very strict conditions that were met. Nobody gave us anything for free."

Zapatero's socialist successor as prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, is facing a series of corruption charges involving his family, party and administration.

Last month, Sánchez's wife, Begoña Gómez, was charged with embezzlement, influence peddling, corruption in business dealings and misappropriation of funds at the end of a two-year investigation by a judge in Madrid. The prime minister's younger brother, David Sánchez, is also facing trial this month on influence peddling charges.

Both Gómez and David Sánchez deny any wrongdoing, and the prime minister has accused his political and media opponents of smearing and persecuting his family.

Two former senior figures in Sánchez's government are on trial for alleged corruption. The prime minister's former right-hand man, former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, is accused - along with his former aide Koldo García and businessman Víctor de Aldama - of taking bribes in public contracts for sanitary equipment during the Covid pandemic. Ábalos and García, who deny all charges, face sentences of 24 years and 19 years respectively, while Aldama, who has already admitted his role in the alleged scheme, faces a seven-year sentence.

The Socialist Party issued a statement in support of Zapatero on Tuesday, calling him a pioneering prime minister, “whose two terms were defined by an ambitious program to expand rights, equality and social protection.” It added: “The right and the far right have never forgiven him for these advances.”

The opposition conservative Popular Party described Zapatero as "Sánchez's muse" and said, "the principle that links Spain's two most recent socialist prime ministers is corruption... this indecency must end."