Zapatero's jewelry appraisal values them at 1.3 million euros

MadridOne of the images left by the Spanish police's entry into José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's office almost a month ago was all the jewelry found in a safe. The photos, which are part of the report by the Economic and Fiscal Crimes Unit (UDEF) accessed by ARA, appeared shortly after in all the media and provoked mockery from the Popular Party. An initial appraisal of the jewelry values them at 1.3 million euros, according to OK Diario and confirmed by Europa Press. Initially, Luis Arroyo, who is acting as spokesperson for the former Spanish president, assured that the jewelry would be valued at between 30,000 and 50,000 euros, according to an expert he did not identify. Now it remains to be seen what defense line his lawyer follows, how he refutes this first report and if he requests an alternative analysis with his own experts to deny that they could be payments in kind in exchange for political favors.

It was last week when Judge José Luis Calama, who is investigating the Plus Ultra case at the National Court, requested an appraisal of the jewelry to determine its "nature, authenticity, and economic value", as well as the manufacturer, the jeweler's stamp or brand, and the approximate date of manufacture. The task was carried out by the Ansorena jewelry store, which studied them with the collaboration of the Spanish Gemological Institute.

According to the report of the Spanish police who searched the office of the former Spanish president on May 19th, his secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, attributed the origin of the jewelry to the inheritance of Sonsoles Espinosa, Zapatero's wife, and to "gifts from trips". The document lists the seized jewelry: a silver necklace with thirteen blue stones, another with two green stones, or a bracelet with two red stones, in addition to various earrings and watches.

The jewels were found in a safe in the office of Zapatero's chief of staff, which would have come from Zapatero's home. To open it, the UDEF summoned the Operational Group of Technical Interventions (GOIT), but the lawyer offered the possibility of making a call to get the key. Finally, a person went there who opened the safe without the intervention of the GOIT being necessary.

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will have to go to testify before the National Court next Wednesday, June 17 to give explanations about these jewels and about the rest of the evidence against him. José Luis Calama believes that he led an "organized plot of illicit exercise of influence" and a "stable and hierarchical structure" whose purpose was to obtain "economic benefits" through "intermediation and the exercise of influence before public bodies in favor of third parties". At the center of the target are possible illegal commission payments in exchange for the rescue of 53 million euros that the Spanish government granted to the airline Plus Ultra in March 2021.