Phoenix 24
Power leaves traces where diplomacy becomes money.
Madrid, May 2026. Spain’s Plus Ultra investigation has moved from an airline bailout controversy into a wider political and financial case involving José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, Venezuela-linked aviation permissions, alleged commissions and corporate structures described by investigators as vehicles for laundering payments.
According to the judicial file reported by Euronews, Spain’s National Police notified the former prime minister of his formal investigation and searched both his professional office and the communications agency linked to his daughters. Judge José Luis Calama places the case within an alleged network involving payments, advisory contracts, shell companies, false invoices and intermediaries tied to Plus Ultra’s 2021 public rescue.
The core of the accusation is not only the 53 million euro bailout granted to the airline, but the suspected use of political influence to facilitate operations connected to Venezuelan aviation authorities during the pandemic. Investigators point to alleged payments routed through companies and individuals close to the airline, including transactions that judicial sources interpret as possible compensation for influence and access.
The Venezuelan angle gives the case a sharper geopolitical weight. The file reportedly refers to contacts with officials linked to Nicolás Maduro’s power structure, as well as broader connections involving oil interests, China, Dubai and the unresolved shadow of Álex Saab. What began as a question about a rescued Spanish airline now exposes a more uncomfortable map: money, diplomacy, authoritarian networks and the porous border between public power and private benefit.
Zapatero denies wrongdoing and frames the case as political persecution. But the judicial calendar now places him before Spain’s Audiencia Nacional on June 2, where the legal pressure could move from reputational damage to procedural consequences. For Spain, the case is no longer only about one former prime minister; it is about whether post-government influence became a corridor for opaque interests operating between Madrid and Caracas.
Phoenix24: claridad en la zona gris. / Phoenix24: clarity in the grey zone.