A Social Security certificate accredited that Plus Ultra met one of the requirements to qualify for the rescue

The airline Plus Ultra included in the documentation presented to opt for the public bailout a certificate issued by the General Treasury of Social Security that accredited that the company was up to date with its obligations with this body. This was known according to the document disclosed by 'elDiario.es', issued on August 20, 2020, just eleven days before the airline officially registered the request for aid worth 53 million euros.

According to the certificate, the company "has no pending payment claims for debts already due with Social Security" and "as of December 31, 2019, the company was up to date with its obligations with Social Security". This requirement was part of the conditions demanded to access the support fund managed by the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI).

The meeting between Zapatero and Escrivá

The information published by 'elDiario.es' gains relevance in the framework of the investigation led by the judge of the Audiencia Nacional José Luis Calama on the rescue of Plus Ultra. The case analyzes, among other extremes, whether the former President of the Government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero could have intervened irregularly in the procedures related to the granting of public aid.

Among the evidence incorporated into the procedure is the meeting that Zapatero held on September 7, 2020 with the then Minister of Inclusion, Social Security and Migration, José Luis Escrivá, six days after the airline submitted its request for rescue and eighteen days after the issuance of the certificate.

The current governor of the Bank of Spain, José Luis Escrivá, has already spoken on this matter and has maintained that "companies that went to the fund were required to be up to date with Social Security, which is compatible with having deferred debts with Social Security." During an appearance in Congress in June, he explained that one of the requirements to access the fund was to be up to date with obligations with this body, a condition that, he affirmed, is also met when pending amounts have been deferred or fractionalized.

In that same intervention, Escrivá denied that the meeting held with Zapatero was related to the rescue of Plus Ultra and assured that the meeting responded to issues linked to the Pact of Toledo. "You establish a connection with something that is false," he then replied to the questions asked by the PP.