Judge Rejects Former Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero's Request to Annul Plus Ultra Case

Judge José Luis Calama of the Audiencia Nacional has rejected a request by former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to declare the general nullity of the Plus Ultra case. The judge ruled that Zapatero's fundamental rights were not violated during the investigation into the public rescue of the airline. The ruling follows the criteria of the Prosecution, which also favored dismissing the complaint.

Zapatero's defense argued that the investigation was flawed from its inception and that evidence was obtained through illicit analysis. The defense specifically questioned the jurisdictional movement of the case between courts and claimed that private conversations were analyzed without authorization. They sought the annulment of several judicial resolutions, including orders for searches of Zapatero's office and his daughters' company, as well as the partial blocking of his accounts.

Judge Calama maintained that the proceedings followed legal rules of competence and distribution. He stated that there was no evidence of a diverted intention to seek a specific judge to favor a particular outcome. The investigation focuses on whether Zapatero used influence to secure a 53 million euro public loan for Plus Ultra during the pandemic. Additionally, the court is investigating the discovery of jewelry in Zapatero's office, which one source reports was valued preliminarily at 1.3 million euros.

Framing of the event differed slightly between sources. A center left source focused on the legal technicalities of the judge's reasoning regarding the Tribunal Constitucional and the specific judicial resolutions being challenged. A center right source emphasized Zapatero's role as the alleged leader of an influence peddling network and highlighted the specific value of the seized jewelry.