{"id":454059,"date":"2026-05-19T19:07:18","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:07:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/2026\/05\/19\/spagna-lex-premier-zapatero-a-processo-per-riciclaggio-e-traffico-di-influenze\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T19:28:46","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T17:28:46","slug":"spain-former-prime-minister-zapatero-on-trial-for-money-laundering-and-influence-peddling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/2026\/05\/19\/spain-former-prime-minister-zapatero-on-trial-for-money-laundering-and-influence-peddling\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain: former Prime Minister Zapatero on trial for money laundering and influence peddling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brussels \u2013 At the very moment when the former German Chancellor, Angela Merkel<\/strong>, is receiving the European Order of Merit<\/a> for \u201cher contribution to the integration and values of the European Union\u201d, there is another “grand old man” of European politics navigating far more turbulent waters<\/strong>. This is Jos\u00e9 Luis Rodr\u00edguez Zapatero<\/strong>, Prime Minister of Spain from 2004 to 2011, who today (19 May) was formally charged by the National Court in Madrid with money laundering, influence-peddling, membership of a criminal organisation, and forgery of documents<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The charges against Zapatero\u2014the first of their kind to be brought against a former prime minister in the entire history of democratic Spain\u2014<\/span>are part of a broader line of inquiry<\/a>, related to the controversial <\/span>bailout of the airline Plus Ultra<\/strong> carried out by the government of the current Prime Minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, in 2021.<\/span> And it may be the current government that pays the political price for this case: Zapatero is the latest in a series of prominent figures from the Socialist Party to find themselves at the centre of judicial investigations into corruption cases.<\/p>\n

The court case<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The so-called “Plus Ultra case” first made headlines six years ago. In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Spanish government drew up a support plan for companies deemed to be of “strategic importance”<\/strong>, and the list included the airline founded in 2011 by the Alicante-based entrepreneur, Julio Miguel Martinez Sola<\/strong>. The \u20ac53 million in public funding<\/strong> immediately drew investigators’ attention because of Plus Ultra’s size, which was deemed too small to justify such a substantial intervention. According to the fact-checking website Newtral<\/em><\/a>, the company reportedly had only four aircraft<\/strong> operating between Spain and Latin America, and in 2020, the number of passengers carried was reportedly less than 50,000: a national market share of less than 0.1 per cent<\/strong>. Furthermore, the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office hypothesised links between the company\u2019s board and the regime of the then-President of Venezuela, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The aim of the initial investigations six years ago, therefore, was to determine whether some of the public funds used for the bailout had ended up in the wrong hands, but the prosecution was unable to produce sufficient evidence to support its case. And the investigations came to nothing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In 2024, however, the case was reopened following the discovery of suspicious money transfers from Plus Ultra to Analisis Relevante<\/strong>, a consultancy firm owned by Martinez himself. This company, according to the prosecution, allegedly acted as a “front company” in a large-scale operation to launder money and gold originating from Venezuela<\/strong>. More specifically, Plus Ultra is alleged to have moved the dirty money in two ways: by mixing it with public funds received from the government and by disguising it as payments<\/strong><\/span> for consultancy services provided through Analisis Relevante<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

On this basis, Martinez was charged with money laundering and arrested in December 2025<\/strong>. Shortly afterwards, the CEO of Plus Ultra, the Venezuelan Robert Boselli<\/strong>, was also jailed on the same charges.<\/p>\n

Zapatero\u2019s alleged involvement<\/strong><\/h4>\n

As the scope of the investigation rapidly expanded, Zapatero also came under the scrutiny of the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office<\/strong>. The former prime minister is a personal friend of Martinez and worked for six years as a consultant for Analisis Relevante<\/strong>. Based on these and other factors, the investigators\u2019 theory is that Zapatero used his network of contacts and his political influence to facilitate the Sanchez government\u2019s bailout of the company<\/strong>. Furthermore, the fees he is alleged to have received for his consultancy work\u2014around \u20ac460,000 in total<\/strong>\u2014are said to be among the payments Plus Ultra made to Analisis Relevante to facilitate the flow of dirty money.<\/p>\n

According to the prosecution, Zapatero is alleged to be the head of “a well-established, hierarchical influence-peddling network<\/strong>” aimed at obtaining “financial gain through intermediation and the exertion of influence over public authorities on behalf of third parties.”<\/p>\n

The politicisation of the court case<\/strong><\/h4>\n

The Zapatero affair risks becoming a new thorn in the side of Pedro S\u00e1nchez\u2019s government<\/strong>, which is already grappling with several legal cases involving members of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and figures close to the Prime Minister (from S\u00e1nchez\u2019s own wife, Begona Gomez, to the former Transport Minister, Jos\u00e9 Luis Abalos<\/a>, and the party\u2019s former organisational secretary, Santos Cerdan<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The reason is that\u2014having overcome the initial scepticism typical of the entire old guard of the PSOE\u2014Zapatero has grown considerably closer to S\u00e1nchez in recent years<\/strong>. He has become a staunch supporter of his government, and, according to several observers, his active backing was one of the key factors enabling the Prime Minister to secure a (initially unexpected) re-election in the 2023 elections.<\/p>\n

\n

As expected, the opposition immediately pounced on the story<\/strong>, extending the purely political collusion between S\u00e1nchez and Zapatero to the judicial sphere. “Corruption is the very foundation of this government: S\u00e1nchez has remained in power thanks to Zapatero\u2019s intervention<\/strong>“, the secretary of the People\u2019s Party (PP), Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o, has pointed the finger via X<\/a>. At this point, “he has only one dignified way out: to stop tarnishing the good name of politics, justice, and Spain for even a minute longer<\/strong>“, he remarked.<\/p>\n

The Socialists, however, are holding their ground<\/strong> and\u2014seizing on Feijoo\u2019s attempt to “politicise the issue”\u2014are pointing the finger at the source of the complaint that triggered the investigation. “This is an extremist organisation such as Manos Limpias<\/em><\/strong>,” explained the government spokesperson, Elma Saiz<\/strong>. In fact, what began as a trade union for Spanish civil servants is in fact regarded by many as an offshoot of the far right within civil society<\/a>: its founder, Miguel Bernad<\/strong>, was a leading figure in the neo-Francoist party National Front<\/strong>, for which he stood as a candidate in the European elections of 1987 and 1989.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The name of the Socialist Prime Minister from 2004 to 2011 has come under scrutiny in the investigation into the controversial state bailout of the airline Plus Ultra. He defends himself, saying: “It is completely false.” Meanwhile, the right is seizing the opportunity to attack S\u00e1nchez<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7899,"featured_media":454042,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"right-sidebar","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_author_image":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_category":"1","show_post_reading_time":"0","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","show_popup_post":"1","show_comment_section":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"0","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":""},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[25681],"tags":[34174,27709,26870],"class_list":["post-454059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-jose-zapatero","tag-pedro-sanchez-en","tag-spain-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7899"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":454060,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454059\/revisions\/454060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.eunews.it\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

The former prime minister has always denied all allegations<\/strong>. At a Senate hearing on 2 March<\/a>, he had described any involvement on his part in the Plus Ultra bailout as “completely false<\/strong>“, denying that he had received any money from the airline<\/strong>. And today he reiterated this point in a video message broadcast on the main national media: “I have never held any position in any public administration or in the public sector in relation to the rescue of Plus Ultra<\/strong>,” he explained, also emphasising that “my entire public and private life has always been conducted in full compliance with the law, and all my income and remuneration have been declared to the tax authorities with absolute transparency and legality<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n