Julio Martínez Martínez entered the National Court at around 8:45 on Tuesday morning and left more than four hours later without straying far from the line set the previous day in the written statement sent to Judge José Luis Calama implicating former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the Plus Ultra bailout. The businessman's turnaround — having spent years cultivating a professional and personal relationship with the former Socialist leader — now opens a new chapter in the case file and puts the spotlight on the airline's president, Julio Martínez Sola, and its chief financial officer, Roberto Roselli, who joined the strategy of "cooperating" with the investigation. Like the owner of Análisis Relevante, both men sent written statements to the judge attributing to Zapatero efforts to secure public aid. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office considers it necessary for both to testify following that step, according to sources within the public prosecutor's office.
After being detained by the National Police in December of last year, Martínez Sola and Roselli exercised their right to remain silent. And months later, during an appearance before a Senate investigative committee, the president of Plus Ultra was emphatic in rejecting any irregularity when discussing the bailout: "There was no preferential treatment or interference [...] There was a regulated process with oversight, with reports and with very strict conditions that have been met. Nobody gave us anything," he said. However, on Monday, he changed tack with the written statement sent to the National Court: "In order to influence or facilitate the granting of the bailout to Plus Ultra by SEPI, [...] it was understood that Martínez Martínez should be engaged for that purpose, in the knowledge that he had a relationship with Zapatero, and also accepting the payment of large sums of money (1%) for such work, which they euphemistically referred to as 'accompaniment' services."
Summons of daughters
According to legal sources, examining judge José Luis Calama does not currently plan to schedule new hearings until after the August summer recess. That is when the situation will unfold further. In fact, the judge has yet to set dates for the questioning of the president's daughters and his secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, who are also under indictment. Meanwhile, the ultra-Catholic association Hazte Oír, which has joined the proceedings as a popular prosecution, has announced it will seek testimony from Pedro Saura, former Secretary of State for Transport; José Luis Escrivá, former Minister of Inclusion and Social Security; María Jesús Montero, Minister of Finance at the time of the bailout; and the senior leadership of SEPI in 2021, which oversaw the aid to Plus Ultra.
The Prosecutor's Office does not currently consider it necessary to summon Zapatero to testify again, as long as no new charges are brought against him, according to sources from the public ministry. Furthermore, his explanations regarding the origin of the jewels seized from his office by the National Police's Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) — valued at 1.3 million euros — are still pending. That seizure triggered the opening of a separate line of investigation and led to charges of smuggling and offences against the public treasury being brought against him. During his appearance before the judge on June 17, the former Prime Minister invoked his right not to testify about the jewels, but referred to a brief filed by his defence team requesting more time before answering questions about their origin. He has yet to make any move in that regard.
A month after appearing before Judge Calama, Zapatero issued a statement defending his innocence: "I am accused of very serious crimes that I did not commit. I always conducted myself with decency and honesty, and I now face the task of proving it. I will do so with absolute transparency and full confidence." At that point, Julio Martínez Martínez and the top leadership of Plus Ultra had not yet reversed their defence strategy to point the finger at the Socialist leader. After doing so this week, the former Prime Minister has remained silent and has made no public statement on the matter.