The questions pile up on the Zapatero case
BarcelonaThe procedural situation of former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero worsens with each passing day and threatens to become a ordeal for him and also for the PSOE. The episode of the jewels found in a safe in his office, which his entourage initially downplayed and valued at around 50,000 euros, but which have now been appraised at 1.3 million, leaves the former president in a very difficult situation. The judge has decided to open a separate piece of the Plus Ultra case to investigate him for alleged smuggling and tax offense, as he considers that there is no record that they have been declared or that they have a clear origin.
If in the beginning it was already surprising that Zapatero and his daughters received nearly two million from a consulting firm, the fact that the former president kept a fortune in jewels more typical of a royal house or aristocracy now opens many questions that are difficult to answer. Firstly, it must be said that the fact that the former leader did not issue a statement this very Friday to clarify the origin of the jewels is already unsettling, because surely the PSOE would have liked to have a convincing explanation right now instead of having to wait until Wednesday and Thursday of next week, which is when he is summoned to testify.
What is evident is that the thesis of a family inheritance from his wife is difficult to believe due to its value. But at Ferraz they must be crossing their fingers that this is the case and that they are perfectly declared and all taxes paid, because otherwise the former president would face a penalty for tax offense, which in political terms is one of the worst things that can happen to a socialist. But of course, if it is not an inheritance and they are gifts, the suspicion that they are illegal commissions paid in kind by corrupt regimes like the Venezuelan one would grow and place Zapatero in an even worse situation. All the scenarios on the table, except for an inheritance with everything registered, are very uncomfortable for him and for the PSOE.
Next week we will know if Zapatero's figure definitively falls from the socialist pedestal. In that case, Pedro Sánchez and the PSOE would not only lose a political pillar, but also a moral reference, which is the most important. In fact, the PSOE would be left without references, once Felipe González has clearly aligned himself with the right-wing theses against sanchismo.
The days remaining until Zapatero's statement will be a Calvary for the PSOE. But at least, as long as it doesn't happen, there will be a glimmer of hope. Because the socialists' real fear is that their former general secretary will admit to some crimes with the aim of reducing the sentence or excluding his daughters from the process. It is assumed that after this, Zapatero himself would resign from the PSOE and Sánchez would have to decide whether to withdraw all the prerogatives he enjoys as former president, starting with the office opposite the headquarters in Ferraz, just as Artur Mas did with Jordi Pujol in 2014.
