Ábalos points to Zapatero from prison for the Plus Ultra bailout: "I warned that it was not pertinent"

Barcelona / MadridJosé Luis Ábalos, in preventive detention for the mask case, raises his voice after the imputation of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In an interview with TVE from Soto del Real prison, the former Minister of Transport has distanced himself from the Plus Ultra bailout and stated that it was the former Spanish president who, as the National High Court points out, allegedly pressured for the airline to receive the 53 million euros from the Spanish government in 2021, during the covid-19 pandemic. The former PSOE organization secretary, in fact, assures that he learned of the bailout when he arrived at the council of ministers. "Zapatero bypassed me and spoke directly with Pedro Saura [Secretary of State for Transport]," he states.

An extreme that Saura has denied, according to sources close to him cited by El País. However, Ábalos does not stop there, and in the same interview he assures that, when he learned of the bailout, he opposed it: "I addressed the president [Pedro Sánchez] to warn him that it was not pertinent, that it was not a consolidated airline," says the former minister. Likewise, he criticizes the "double standard" that he considers the PSOE has had with him and with Zapatero: "Zapatero is supported, protected, given cover, while I was not given any opportunity – he laments –. I understand that the presumption of innocence applies to everyone at the same level and I feel very aggrieved by the party's stance," he concludes.

block 490,780 euros from Zapatero's accountsThe accusations from the former socialist leader come a day after Judge José Luis Calama ordered to block 490,780 euros from Zapatero's accounts, corresponding to the amount he received from the company at the epicentre of the investigation, Análisis Relevante, owned by his friend Julio Martínez Martínez. The magistrate's suspicion is that Zapatero received commissions through this company and others to achieve the rescue of Plus Ultra, something that the former Spanish president denies. He does admit, in any case, that he billed for Análisis Relevante as a consultant. Zapatero is summoned to testify as an investigated party on Tuesday, June 2, although legal sources suggest that it could be postponed for a few days because the case file is not expected to be known until next week. This is precisely what happened with Santos Cerdán, the other former socialist organization secretary investigated for alleged corruption. Almost a year ago, his statement before the Supreme Court was postponed by five days because his defense requested more time to study the evidence against him.

The indictment made known this week has become the PP's main battering ram to try to weaken the Sánchez government. The popular party, in fact, has requested this Friday from the European Commission to review the conditions under which the executive granted the rescue to Plus Ultra. In parallel, the Spanish government maintains the same position of support for Zapatero and confidence in his innocence until proven otherwise. And all this while the scope of the investigation could grow further: according to sources close to the case confirmed to Cadena SER, Judge Calama is keeping secret a separate piece also related to an alleged crime of influence peddling that would affect new parties involved. For now, as far as the public one is concerned, the magistrate of the National Court has asked the popular prosecutions this Friday to group together – there are already three accepted and five more pending confirmation – and has formalized the appointment of Víctor Moreno Catena as Zapatero's lawyer.

Links with Hard Rock

For the moment, according to the magistrate in his ruling, within the alleged scheme involving Zapatero there would also be an attempted operation on the controversial Hard Rock project in Tarragona. In this regard, he points to a contract signed on October 1, 2021, between two companies and Zapatero's alleged intermediary, Julio Martínez, "for the search for business opportunities" with a "3% remuneration." However, the judge admits that "no payment has been recorded" related to this operation and that, therefore, the contacts "may not have materialized."