Last Tuesday, it was revealed that former Socialist Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is under formal investigation (imputación) by a National Court judge, who accuses him of four offenses, most notably “criminal organization” and “influence peddling.” Zapatero allegedly acted, among other roles, as the “fixer” (conseguidor) used by a minuscule airline with interests in Venezuela—Plus Ultra—to secure a €53 million bailout loan during COVID-19 from the Spanish State via SEPI (the state-owned holding company overseen by the Ministry of Finance).
And as opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo explained yesterday in Congress, the bailout would not have been possible without the active collaboration of Pedro Sánchez’s government, which insisted on ensuring that the bailout met all required conditions on the grounds that it was a strategic company. This argument is difficult to defend, given that Plus Ultra accounted for a mere 0.03% of domestic flights. Furthermore, the airline had been operating at a loss since its inception in 2015, whereas the bailout criteria required that financial losses stem directly from pandemic-related closures.
Consequently, just yesterday, the political party Iustitia Europa filed a lawsuit with the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court against the entire Cabinet (Consejo de Ministros) that authorized the airline’s bailout: “This criminal action is directed against the public officials holding special legal status (aforados) who made up the Cabinet during the session of March 9, 2021, as well as against those officials who provided the essential legal and administrative cover for the adoption of the agreement regarding Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, to the extent that their active participation is confirmed following the requested certification proceedings,” asserts the document, which insists that the bailout “flagrantly violated the established eligibility requirements” for granting state aid.
In fact, the airline held outstanding debts with the Social Security General Treasury (Tesorería General de la Seguridad Social). According to the court order by Judge Calama—who placed Zapatero under investigation—this debt was deferred following an alleged meeting between Zapatero and the then-Minister of Social Security, José Luis Escrivá (currently Governor of the Bank of Spain). “This event proved indispensable for the Cabinet to authorize the disbursement of €53 million in public funds on March 9, 2021,” the lawsuit claims.
