Plus Ultra president and CEO resign after admitting 1% bailout fee went to Zapatero's friend
Julio Martínez Sola and Roberto Roselli quit the Spanish airline they led, days after admitting in court that the company paid a 1% commission on its €53 million pandemic bailout to a friend of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.
Resignations after loss of confidence
Both men had already been stripped of their powers of representation on 22 July, a move published in the Official Gazette of the Commercial Registry (BORM). The company's minority shareholders had grown increasingly dissatisfied with the two executives, and Hugo Castaño, a minority shareholder and Airbus A330 flight instructor, emerged as the candidate to unify the roles of president and CEO. His appointment, however, must be approved by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), the state holding that oversees the airline because of the public loan.
The bailout and the 1% commission
Plus Ultra received €53 million in March 2021 from the Fund for the Support of Strategic Companies' Solvency (FASEE), managed by SEPI. In their written submissions to the Audiencia Nacional, Martínez Sola and Roselli acknowledged that the airline signed a contract with Idella Consulenza, a company owned by Julio Martínez Martínez, which tied the remuneration directly to the outcome of the SEPI procedure. The contract stipulated a fee of 1% of the total bailout plus VAT.
The cited 1% for the rescue was broken down into the following payments made to the different companies controlled by Martínez Martínez: €249,000 to Análisis Relevante SL, €98,617.53 to Voli Analítica SL, and €110,799.47 to IOT Domotic Europe SL.
The total paid, including 46 business-class flights that Martínez Martínez requested and never paid for, reached €530,000, exactly 1% of the €53 million rescue.
- Análisis Relevante SL
- 249000 €
- Voli Analítica SL
- 98617.53 €
- IOT Domotic Europe SL
- 110799.47 €
The investigation and Zapatero's role
The executives stated they were aware that Martínez Martínez and former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero intended to charge for their mediation, though they claimed they never had concrete proof of specific actions taken to influence the SEPI decision. They described the contract as a desperate measure to save the company. Judge José Luis Calama is investigating both former executives and Zapatero for alleged influence peddling. The case began with arrests in December 2025 by the UDEF economic crime unit, after more than a year of investigation led by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office.
- Plus Ultra receives €53 million bailout from FASEE via SEPI
- Martínez Sola and Roselli arrested by UDEF, later released
- Company revokes all powers of representation from both executives (BORM)
- Both resign; Hugo Castaño proposed as new executive president
What comes next
Plus Ultra is simultaneously negotiating with SEPI to restructure its debt. The airline missed a payment on the first €19 million tranche of the ordinary loan in March 2026 and is seeking to push the maturity to 2028. The talks are complicated by the ongoing judicial process. The company has signalled to the court its full cooperation, distancing itself from the actions of its former leaders.
