The questions Zapatero will have to answer before Judge Calama: from the rescue of Plus Ultra to the origin of the jewels

The former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will appear this Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. at the Audiencia Nacional to testify before Judge José Luis Calama in the 'Plus Ultra case'. The appointment has an evident political and institutional significance, as it will be the first time that a former president of the democracy testifies as an investigated party.

The testimony will have two levels. The first is the main case, focused on the rescue of 53 million euros granted to Plus Ultra during the pandemic through the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI). The second is the separate piece opened due to the origin of the jewels seized from the former president's office safe, preliminarily valued at 1.3 million euros, about which Calama also wants to question him.

The judge is investigating whether there could have been an influence structure around the airline's rescue, aimed at facilitating favorable decisions from the Administration. In that main case, Zapatero is being investigated for alleged crimes of influence peddling, money laundering, criminal organization, and document forgery, according to the facts incorporated into the procedure.

The key to his testimony will be to clarify what role he truly played in the actions attributed by the investigators and whether or not he received compensation linked to those works.

The Plus Ultra rescue, the main piece

The rescue of Plus Ultra was one of the most debated aids from the public fund enabled for strategic companies during the health crisis. The investigation seeks to determine whether that operation responded solely to the foreseen administrative criteria or if there was irregular intermediation to favor the company. The Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police places the former president at the center of an alleged influence network, an attribution that will now have to be contrasted before the judge with the defense's explanations.

Zapatero's testimony comes after several postponements and a summary that has incorporated new elements in recent weeks. The former president will have to answer about his contacts, the scope of his actions, and the relationship that investigators establish between the airline's rescue and certain payments or economic movements attributed to his circle. The defense, for its part, maintains that it will be able to provide explanations and trusts in clarifying the facts before the instructing judge.

The jewels that Calama does not leave for another day

The second front opened after the discovery of several jewels in the safe of Zapatero's office, whose origin "is not justified" at this moment, according to the judge's order. The appraisal commissioned by Calama from the Ansorena jewelry store has raised their preliminary value to 1,323,915 euros, a figure much higher than that initially reported by the former president's spokesman, Luis Arroyo, who spoke of between 30,000 and 50,000 euros and then apologized for having misled.

The defense requested to postpone this part of the declaration to gather documentation on the origin of the pieces, but Calama has rejected the request. The magistrate considers that the new separate piece does not introduce surprising facts, because the intervention of the jewels was already recorded in the main case since the search carried out last May 19. For the judge, the separation responds to a question of procedural order and does not prevent the former president from exercising his right of defense or requesting further proceedings later.

The origin of the jewels will, therefore, be one of the central questions of the morning. According to the explanations provided so far, they would come from inheritances and travel gifts from the former president's wife, Sonsoles Espinosa, but Calama wants to clarify their traceability, their acquisition and the possible associated tax obligations. In his order, the judge recalls that assets of that value can generate tax effects in VAT, Property Transfer Tax, Inheritance and Gift Tax or Personal Income Tax, depending on the nature of each operation.

The judicial appointment opens a particularly delicate morning for the PSOE, which has defended the presumption of innocence of the former president and has avoided turning the case into an anticipated political trial. The photograph of Zapatero entering the Audiencia Nacional will mark the start of the day, but the decisive part will be inside: what he answers about the rescue of Plus Ultra, what documentation he provides about the jewels and to what extent Calama considers that these explanations clear up the suspicions opened in the case.