The role of Zapatero's daughters in the alleged plot

MadridThe company of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's two daughters, What The Fav, had a role of "operational coordination" with the alleged influence peddling scheme of the former Spanish president. This is the conclusion reached by the Economic and Fiscal Crimes Unit (UDEF) of the National Police in the summary: "It is observed that the commercial relationship, combined with the personal ties existing between the participants, is not limited to sporadic contacts". The police force requested the National Court judge José Luis Calama, among other things, to access the content of emails with the domain name @whathefav.com.

In the opinion of the UDEF, the official legal link between What The Fav and the main company of Julio Martínez Martínez's corporate structure, Análisis Relevante, associated with Zapatero, was a cover-up. In June 2020, they signed a contract for the "design, development and execution of a marketing program". There are also invoices issued between 2020 and 2024 with the generic concept of "agency services". "The company [What The Fav] could be being used [by Análisis Relevante] as a channel for logistical and documentary support, which would allow formal coverage to be given to certain financial or commercial transactions, by issuing invoices or validating documents generated to give a formal appearance to an activity".

The UDEF's hypothesis, endorsed by Calama in the order that supports requesting access to What The Fav's emails from the last six years, is that the company jointly administered by Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa "does not carry out ordinary business activity" but is an "instrumental vehicle" of the scheme allegedly led by their father. The UDEF bases this on the fact that one of the tasks it performed for Análisis Relevante was to format monthly reports. A task that "does not provide special technical value". "This lack of organizational coherence may not correspond to real business needs and may be aimed at channeling payments".

The search of the offices

Last Tuesday, seven agents of the National Police searched the offices of What The Fav, located in the north of Madrid, considered by the judge to be a "physical space directly linked to the illicit activity under investigation". Alba, Zapatero's younger daughter, accompanied by her older sister, opened the door for them. "Premises consisting of a hall from which a furnished open-plan space is accessed with a work desk with seven computers," says the entry and search report included in the case file.

From another room "for meetings and common use," the agents took more than 350 pages, including a contract between What The Fav and Huawei from October 2020, which does not appear in the UDEF reports that led to the indictment of the former socialist leader. They also examined the electronic devices associated with the emails of Zapatero's daughters and six other workers to download files related to the case.

Access to accounts

"The economic analysis reveals that What The Fav acts as a center for the redistribution of financial flows", Calama confirms after receiving the UDEF reports. The daughters' company appears as the main supplier of one of the most important clients of Julio Martínez Martínez's network, Inteligencia Prospectiva, owned by two Venezuelan brothers, which also received money from Análisis Relevante. There is a "circular circuit of funds between clients, companies in the network, and final beneficiaries", with Zapatero as one of the elements in the chain.

Another element that supports the thesis against What The Fav and its "operational connection" with the plot is that the former Spanish president appears as "authorized on the bank accounts of his daughters", who are "recipients of significant amounts transferred by What The Fav". Laura's would have received 247,191.06 euros between April 2021 and December 2025 and Alba's, 199,904.25 between April 2023 and December 2025. Hazte Oír, one of the popular accusations, formally asked Calama this Monday to indict them.