This week the Plus Ultra case has been in the news again. The week began with the appearance of the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the Senate, specifically in the Koldo case commission, which has already become a catch-all for not only addressing the alleged corruption schemes of the former socialist minister José Luis Ábalos and his circle, but also other judicialized cases, such as that of Begoña Gómez, wife of Pedro Sánchez, President of the Government. Let's remember that Plus Ultra was rescued with public money, approved by the Council of Ministers in 2021. The Government handed over 53 million euros to the airline company.
The Upper House, with a majority from the Popular Party, summoned Zapatero to clarify his relationship with the businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, currently under investigation in the Plus Ultra case for his alleged link with the airline through his company Análisis Relevante and different corruption maneuvers. This company paid the socialist former president for different consulting tasks.
The popular party also summoned him to clarify if he could cooperate or participate in the alleged illicit use of the 53 million euros destined for the rescue. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office denounced Martínez Martínez. The complaint prospered and this judicial investigation keeps the businessman, among others, at liberty, although with precautionary measures. The main question from Feijóo's party is whether Zapatero facilitated or not the rescue of Plus Ultra with public money.
In his appearance before the Senate, the former President of the Government denied having had a “relationship” with Plus Ultra, although he did admit to having collected significant amounts from Relevant Analysis, a company owned by Martínez Martínez. This company did bill the airline and, furthermore, Zapatero himself suggested that his own daughters work there. As reported by TVE, in the words of the former President of the Executive: “In 2012 I registered as self-employed, I have been performing consultant tasks and I have carried out work for several consulting firms”.
It was a very tense session in which the former president even stated that he did not rule out going to the Constitutional Court over questions he considered incriminating. In short, Zapatero is not currently under judicial investigation and, as far as is known, is not in the spotlight of the investigation as an alleged mediator in the rescue.
The Plus Ultra case has acquired an enormous documentary volume and the investigating judge of Plaza de Castilla, for reasons of jurisdiction, recused herself in favor of the National Court so that it takes charge of the investigation.
The investigating magistrate José Luis Calama has taken charge of the case, accepted the request from Plaza de Castilla and is currently driving the investigation. The first action by the judge that we have learned of has been to declare the proceedings secret and request the case file, that is, all the documentation held by the previous court in order to delve deeper into the investigation.
What will happen now? The foreseeable outcome is that, after studying the documentation, witness statements and new reports from the police forces will be produced to clarify who are involved in an alleged money laundering with rescue money, as well as in different corruption maneuvers, some of them related to Venezuela, or if, on the contrary, this alleged case ultimately comes to nothing.
