Zapatero, first ex-PM investigated, faces scrutiny over €1.3m jewels and payments from friend’s firm
Once the moral icon of Spain’s left, former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero now faces a corruption probe over €1.3m in undeclared jewels and payments routed through a friend’s consultancy. Pedro Sánchez has closed ranks, treating the case like a family matter.
Five months that destroyed an icon
Since January 19, when EL MUNDO disclosed that Zapatero had received payments from Julio Martínez, a businessman detained in the Plus Ultra airline rescue probe, the former leader’s reputation has collapsed. Police raided Plus Ultra on December 11, 2025, and arrested Martínez. By February, it emerged that Zapatero earned €450,000 from Análisis Relevante, a consultancy linked to Martínez, representing 45% of the firm’s total income. On June 17, he became the first former Spanish prime minister investigated for corruption.
The safe full of jewels
When investigators opened Zapatero’s office safe, they found jewels valued at €1.3 million. No immediate explanation was offered. The former president’s entourage first suggested a family inheritance, then, after the valuation, a gift from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during his 2007 state visit. Yet the version has three fissures: Zapatero did hand over two emerald watches from that visit to the national heritage collection; his spokesperson denied any Saudi origin; and the king is dead, making verification impossible. If the jewels were an institutional gift, they should have been declared under Zapatero’s own 2005 code of good governance. Instead, he may face fiscal and smuggling charges.
Esa pregunta quien tiene que responderla es el señor Zapatero, no yo.
The consultancy: no contract, only running
In his hearing, Zapatero told Judge José Luis Calama that his professional relationship with Martínez grew out of a shared hobby of running in El Pardo. They had no written contract. Calama repeatedly pressed on the “empty contracts” often used as tax screens, but Zapatero insisted he merely provided global advisory services by phone and never produced an Excel sheet. His daughters’ company also received payments, records show.
Sánchez treats an indicted predecessor as family
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has spoken with Zapatero “every day” and framed all revelations as matters of trust and presumption of innocence. At a Brussels press conference, he deflected questions on returning the jewels and argued that 2007 norms differed from today’s, even though the 2005 code already required declaring institutional gifts. The Socialist party has closed ranks, treating the scandal not as a corruption case but as an attack to be weathered until a likely snap election after the 2027 budget defeat.
Siempre me conduje con decencia y honradez.
- Police raid Plus Ultra airline, detain Julio Martínez.
- EL MUNDO reveals Zapatero received payments from Martínez.
- Reports show €450,000 in consultancy fees from Análisis Relevante.
- Zapatero testifies before Judge Calama, denies wrongdoing.
- Sánchez holds Brussels press conference, deflects on jewels.
Ethical rot or tactical cynicism?
Critics argue the defence normalises wrongdoing. The same politicians who once decried constitutional violations have now embraced Zapatero’s cause, shifting from principles to pragmatism. The real democratic damage, commentators warn, is not the jewels or the payments but the corrosion of accountability: when all truth becomes negotiable, the line between right and wrong blurs.
