The businessman Julio Martínez points to Zapatero in the Plus Ultra rescue: "He marked the steps to follow"

MadridJosé Luis Rodríguez Zapatero denied a month ago, before the National High Court judge José Luis Calama, having exercised "the slightest influence" in the public rescue of Plus Ultra. The version he has presented, less than a day before testifying before the same magistrate as an investigated party, the businessman Julio Martínez Martínez, considered by investigators to be the "lieutenant" of the former Spanish president in the scheme, calls into question the former socialist leader. In a document sent to the National High Court, Martínez Martínez states that Plus Ultra paid 1% of the rescue amount, which amounted to 53 million euros, as "fees" for Zapatero "acting as an intermediary in obtaining public aid". This money was channeled through a business network in Martínez's name. "In his role as a consultant, Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero was the one who set the steps to follow," he assures regarding the former socialist leader's role in the rescue.

It is not the only document that points to the former Spanish president. The president of Plus Ultra, Julio Martínez Sola, also under investigation, confirms in another document sent to the National High Court that they made this payment for intermediation in the rescue. However, neither of them specifies what specific actions Zapatero would have taken to get the Spanish government to grant it. "There was never any verifiable record of the specific actions taken to influence or favor the granting of the rescue to Plus Ultra by SEPI," admits Martínez Sola, although he states that from the airline they assumed the payment to Martínez Martínez, "aware of the relationship" with Zapatero, for tasks that, "euphemistically, they called 'accompaniment'." The businessman who allegedly acted as a "front man" for the former Spanish president also does not specify in his statement what actions the former Spanish president would have taken to favor the airline.

Zapatero's role in granting the bailout is under judicial scrutiny for alleged influence peddling. "I did not speak with any political authority, any official, any public servant about the Plus Ultra bailout," assured the former Spanish president. However, Martínez Martínez explains that it was Zapatero who personally informed him, about ten days before the Spanish government approved it and, therefore, before it was public knowledge, that the bailout would be granted to Plus Ultra. He was the one who informed the airline, with whom he had signed a contract, through one of his companies, Análisis Relevante, six months earlier, for 5,000 euros per month. "Regardless of the wording of the contract, the reality was that the fees to be collected were for consulting services that Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero had been providing since May."

In parallel, another company owned by Martínez Martínez, called Idella Consulenza Strategica, agreed to a 1% commission conditional on "the success of the operation." Martínez Martínez states that his role in the bailout was limited to "accompanying the client in obtaining the requested financing" and says he informed Zapatero "punctually" about it. What he does admit is that he was the one channeling the payments for the former Spanish president's work. "Due to the media pressure at the time regarding the public financing granted to the airline, it was decided to defer payment over time, until 2026, and that part of these amounts would be invoiced through other companies related to Mr. Martínez Martínez," says the document sent by his defense, in which the businessman offers "collaboration" to clarify the facts.

Aldama Way

After the commissioner in the mask case, Víctor de Aldama, avoided prison by confessing against the former Minister of Transport José Luis Ábalos and his former advisor Koldo García, eyes are on those investigated in other alleged PSOE schemes to see if they decide to follow the same path. Martínez Martínez's filing points in this direction. In the document, his defense emphasizes that the businessman "had no possibility of obtaining anything by himself, much less public or private funding" and that Zapatero "led and decided all matters of strategy and client acquisition" for Análisis Relevante, the company at the epicenter of the scheme's corporate structure, even though the former Spanish president "was outside the shareholding and formal bodies of the company".