The Moncloa defends the legality of the rescue of Plus Ultra pointed out in the Zapatero case

MadridOne of the issues for which former Spanish President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is accused is of intervening in the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra in 2021, in the midst of the pandemic. A loan of 53 million euros that the Council of Ministers granted and which generated astonishment in the sector. However, Moncloa defends its legality. After reading the order of Judge José Luis Calama, sources from Moncloa reaffirmed this Thursday the granting of this aid.

They refer to a chronology of events: they explained that on March 9, 2021, Plus Ultra received aid from the Fund for the Support of the Solvency of Strategic Companies (FASEE), asserting that it "met the requirements" and that it was done following a regulated administrative process. In this regard, it cites other companies that also received aid for a total of 890 million euros, such as Air Europa, Volotea, Air Nostrum, Wamos Air, and Evelop Airlines. An award, they emphasize, where there is no room for "discretion, nor arbitrariness, nor discrimination", as several people are involved: on the one hand, the technicians from the State Industrial Participations Company (SEPI), external advisors, and the company itself, after a "dozen" technical reports.

Judge Calama points out that Plus Ultra could have used Zapatero in exchange for commissions to obtain this money. A point that Moncloa implicitly denies by asserting that there is an "exhaustive control" by the administration of these loans. Furthermore, they add that it was also audited by investigating court number 15 of Madrid, by the Prosecutor's Office and various popular prosecutions, and that it was ultimately validated. At the same time, they also assure that it was analyzed by the European Commission, the General Intervention of the State Administration, by the Court of Auditors and also the Court of Justice of the European Union, which has validated this aid regime.

In this way, after the initial shock, Moncloa tries to take the reins of the crisis and weave a defense strategy. It should be kept in mind that if influence peddling by Zapatero is proven, it would drag down Sánchez's entire executive, as it would imply that he managed to influence someone in the public sector. In this regard, the entity Iustitia Europa has already announced a lawsuit against the entire council of ministers, while the popular prosecution of Hazte Oír has requested the National Court for former minister María Jesús Montero, on whom SEPI depended at that time, to appear.

The PP does not believe them

The PP, for its part, does not believe Moncloa and has announced a "total offensive" in the Senate to try to ascertain more details about this bailout and Zapatero's alleged intervention. The popular parliamentary spokeswoman in the upper house, Alicia García, has announced that they will call María Gertrudis Alcázar, who has been Zapatero's secretary for years, and former Minister of Social Security José Luis Escrivá, among other names, to the SEPI investigation commission, which they already have underway, for having contributed to the alleged irregularity. In Escrivá's case, currently governor of the Bank of Spain, the PP maintains that he would have "magically unlocked" the bailout at Zapatero's request, with the deferral of a debt to Social Security.

Sources from the current Ministry of Social Security reply that the granting of this deferral "was confined at that time to the current regulations and normal procedure." "It is a usual tool" that is carried out with "the utmost rigor," they maintain. The popular party, on the other hand, insists on giving veracity to the hypothesis of Zapatero's pressures to profit from the bailout and also points to Pedro Sánchez. "He opened the doors wide open to Zapatero and gave him free rein for his businesses," García assured at a press conference.