The judge of the National Court, José Luis Calama of Spain, summoned this Monday Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, daughters of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to appear on November 30 as individuals under investigation in the Plus Ultra case. According to reports from the agency EFE, Laura is to present herself at 9:00 am and Alba at 12:00 noon.
The decision comes at the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which in a document dated September 16 emphasized the "need" for the National Fraud Investigation Office (ONIF), under the Treasury, to prepare a fiscal and tax report on Zapatero and his two daughters covering the period from 2020 to 2025, in light of the "indications" that both may have received commissions related to the public bailout of 53 million euros granted in 2021 by SEPI to the airline.
The daughters of the former PSOE leader are co-owners of the company What the Fav, which according to the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) allegedly received transfers from several companies involved in the investigation: 561,440 euros from Inteligencia Prospectiva, 239,755 euros from Análisis Relevante, and 171,727 euros from Gate Center, among others.
According to data from the UDEF reported by Infobae, Laura would have received 247,191 euros between April 2021 and December 2025, and Alba 199,904 euros between April 2023 and December 2025. The UDEF claims that the company would not engage in regular business activities, but would instead be used to generate invoices and redistribute funds.
In the same ruling, Calama summoned José Ángel Partearroyo, former director of Participadas at SEPI, and Félix Martín, former financial director of Plus Ultra, as witnesses for November 19. The citation for Partearroyo follows the statement made by the former president of the airline, Julio Martínez Sola, who on September 7 admitted to having contacted him to secure the loan and acknowledged having paid 1% of that amount—about 530,000 euros—to the so-called "Zapatero group."
Meanwhile, the judge granted Zapatero a period of three days to provide documentation regarding the nearly 80 pieces of jewelry found in the safe in his office in Madrid, initially valued at 1,323,915 euros. The former president committed on June 27 to explain the origin of the pieces within ten days, a commitment he has yet to formalize. In an interview on Televisión Española on July 23, he described them as a "personal courtesy gift" received many years ago from a country he did not wish to reveal.
The magistrate also commissioned a new gemological expert report from Joyería Yanes, with support from the Spanish Gemological Institute, to individually describe each piece and identify the geographic area of production for the most valuable items. Zapatero is being investigated for alleged crimes of smuggling and tax offenses in connection with that finding.
The case gained new momentum following the guilty confession before the U.S. justice system by Alex Saab, the Colombian-Venezuelan businessman identified as the key financial operator of chavismo, which opened a channel connecting the financial activities of Plus Ultra with Venezuelan corruption networks.
With the testimonies of Zapatero's daughters on November 30, the process enters a decisive phase that for the first time places the entire family of the former Spanish socialist president accused of corruption before the investigating judge.
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