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

BarcelonaJosé Luis Ábalos, in preventive custody for the mask case, raises his voice after the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In an interview with TVE from 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 the airline to receive 53 million euros from the Spanish government after the 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.

Ábalos does not stop there, and in the same interview assures that, when he learned of the bailout, he opposed it: "I referred to the president [Pedro Sánchez] to warn him that it was not appropriate, 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 coverage, while I was not given an opportunity," he laments. "I understand that the presumption of innocence applies to everyone at the same level and I feel very offended 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 the blocking of 490,780 euros from Zapatero's accounts, corresponding to the amount he received from the company at the epicenter 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 the former Spanish president denies. He does admit, in any case, that he invoiced for Análisis Relevante as a consultant.

The accusation made known this week has become the main battering ram for the PP to try to weaken the Sánchez government. The popular party, in fact, has called on the European Commission this Friday to review the conditions under which the executive granted the rescue to Plus Ultra. And all this while the scope of the investigation could grow further: according to sources close to the case who confirmed to Cadena Ser, Judge Calama is keeping a separate secret piece related also to an alleged crime of influence peddling that would affect new parties involved.

Links with Hard Rock

For the moment, according to the magistrate in his ruling, within the alleged plot that implicates Zapatero, there would also be an attempt at an 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% consideration." However, the judge admits that "no payment is recorded" related to this operation and that, therefore, the contacts "may not have materialized."