The judge of the National Court of Spain, José Luis Calama, summoned this Monday Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, daughters of former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, to appear on November 30 as persons under investigation in the Plus Ultra case.
The decision comes at the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, which in a letter dated September 16 highlighted the "necessity" for the National Office for Fraud Investigation (ONIF), under the Ministry of Finance, to prepare a fiscal and tax report on Zapatero and his two daughters covering the period from 2020 to 2025, in light of "indications" that both may have received commissions related to the public bailout of 53 million euros granted in 2021 by SEPI to the airline.
According to a report from the agency EFE, on the date set by the judge, Laura must appear at 9:00 am and Alba at 12:00 pm.
The daughters of the former leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) are co-owners of the company What the Fav, which, according to the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF), reportedly 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 collected by Infobae, Laura would have received 247,191 euros between April 2021 and December 2025, while Alba would have received 199,904 euros between April 2023 and December 2025. The UDEF claims that the company would not engage in ordinary business activities, but would instead be used to generate invoices and redistribute funds.
In the same ruling, Judge Calama summoned José Ángel Partearroyo, former director of Participadas of SEPI, and Félix Martín, former financial director of Plus Ultra, as witnesses for November 19. Partearroyo's summons comes after the testimony of the former president of the airline, Julio Martínez Sola, who admitted on September 7 to having had contacts with him to secure the loan and acknowledged paying 1% of that amount—approximately 530,000 euros—to the so-called "Zapatero group."
Meanwhile, the judge granted Zapatero a period of three days to submit documentation regarding the almost 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 10 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 chose not to reveal.
Calama also commissioned a new gemological expert report from Joyería Yanes, with the support of the Spanish Gemological Institute, to individually describe each piece and identify the geographical area of production for the most valuable items. Zapatero is under investigation for alleged smuggling and tax offenses in connection with this finding.
The case gained new momentum after the guilty plea before the U.S. justice system by Alex Saab, a Colombian-Venezuelan businessman highlighted as the main financial operator of chavismo, who revealed a connection between the financial movements of Plus Ultra and the networks of corruption in Venezuela.
With the summons of Zapatero's daughters for November 30, the process enters a decisive phase that for the first time places the entire family of the former Spanish socialist president charged with corruption before the investigating judge.
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