A Spanish judge has placed the two daughters of former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his personal secretary under investigation in the Plus Ultra case, widening a corruption inquiry that already lists a former head of government as a suspect.
José Luis Calama, the investigating magistrate at Spain’s National Court (Audiencia Nacional), agreed on June 18, 2026 to summon Alba and Laura Rodríguez and the secretary, María Gertrudis Alcázar, to testify as formal suspects. He took the decision at the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, which had asked the previous Tuesday for the three women to be questioned.
The case centres on a €53 million State bailout granted in 2021 to the struggling airline Plus Ultra by the Sociedad Estatal de Participaciones Industriales (SEPI), the State holding company for Spain’s public shareholdings. Investigators suspect the rescue was secured through influence peddling.
Calama declared Zapatero a suspect in May 2026, describing him as the leader of a stable, hierarchical structure set up to trade influence with public bodies for financial gain. The former prime minister faces possible charges of organised crime, influence peddling and document forgery, with a possible extension to money laundering.
The inquiry has focused on Whathefav, a communications firm run by his daughters, which prosecutors allege was used to channel payments tied to the scheme. The judge’s ruling estimated that Zapatero and those close to him received about €1.95 million, of which roughly €423,779 went to the two women through the company.
Alcázar was placed by the same ruling at an operational level within the alleged network’s communications and paperwork. Her telephone was among the devices the judge authorised investigators to examine.
Zapatero testified before Calama on June 17, 2026, for more than three hours and denied all the accusations. He told the court he had never exerted pressure or taken any step to favour the airline, according to legal sources.
He declined to answer questions about jewellery valued at €1.3 million that police found in a safe at his office, a matter the judge has split into a separate strand of the case. A private prosecution has asked for him to be remanded in custody over flight risk, while prosecutors have sought the withdrawal of his passports.
Zapatero, who led Spain’s government between 2004 and 2011, remains an influential figure on the European Left. The widening inquiry has added to the pressure on the Spanish Government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, already weighed down by separate graft investigations.
