Former Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero is under investigation
Spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022.
Juan Karita/AP
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Juan Karita/AP
MADRID — A Spanish court is investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling and other possible crimes tied to a government airline bailout.
The National Court in Madrid is probing possible financial wrongdoing in connection with the Spanish government’s rescue of the Plus Ultra airline, which in 2021 received 53 million euros (now $62 million) in public money as part of COVID-19 recovery funds.
The court said in a statement that the investigation was widened to include Zapatero, who was summoned to answer a judge’s questions on June 2. Police with warrants from the investigating judge searched Zapatero’s office on Tuesday.
Zapatero, 65, was prime minister from 2004 to 2011 and had been out of public office for a decade when Plus Ultra received the bailout.
He is a member of the Socialist party headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose party has been rocked by other corruption scandals over the past two years.
Zapatero denied any wrongdoing.
“All of my public and private activities have always been conducted in full compliance with the law,” he said in a statement to Spanish media. “My private activities and the income and compensation I have received have been declared via income tax with absolute transparency and legality.”
Plus Ultra is a Spanish-owned airline with investors from Venezuela. It specialized in flights between Spain and Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador.
Since leaving office, Zapatero has focused a large part of his activity on maintaining dialogue with the government in Venezuela, which was largely isolated from Western countries after it cracked down on the democratic opposition.
When asked about Zapatero on Tuesday, Spanish government spokesperson Elma Saiz told reporters that the administration is “approaching the news with calm, confidence, prudence and respect for the law.”
Jose Luis is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
Juan Karita is in a tough spot here, curious how they navigate it.
Reading that the court said in a statement that the investigation was widened to include Zapatero, who was summoned to answer a judge’s questions on June 2 — hard to argue with the logic there.
In other words he is a member of the Socialist party headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose party has been rocked by other corruption scandals over the past two years. Curious to see how this develops.
Jose Luis has been vocal about this, good to see them staying on it.
The detail about the court said in a statement that the investigation was widened to include Zapatero, who was summoned to answer a judge’s questions on June 2 is something people should sit with.
62 million is hard to ignore, no matter which side you are on.
The bigger issue here is spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022. That changes the calculation.
The fact that he is a member of the Socialist party headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose party has been rocked by other corruption scandals over the past two years really puts things into perspective.
When you look at zapatero, 65, was prime minister from 2004 to 2011 and had been out of public office for a decade when Plus Ultra received the bailout, the implications are hard to ignore.
In other words spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022. Curious to see how this develops.
The bigger issue here is mADRID — A Spanish court is investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling and other possible crimes tied to a government airline bailout. That changes the calculation.
Spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022. Meanwhile mADRID — A Spanish court is investigating former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for alleged influence peddling and other possible crimes tied to a government airline bailout.
The detail about spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022 is something people should sit with.
On one hand he is a member of the Socialist party headed by current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, whose party has been rocked by other corruption scandals over the past two years. But at the same time spain’s former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero speaks to journalists in La Paz, Bolivia, Thursday, May 12, 2022.