Spain's former PM under investigation for influence peddling

The move adds to pressure on current Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, already weakened by corruption investigations involving family members and senior political allies.

Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, was not originally closely aligned with Sánchez but has in recent years become one of his top defenders.

He has been summoned to testify on June 2nd, and police have searched his offices and three unnamed companies, Spain's top criminal court said in a statement.

The investigation centres on a €53-million($62 million) emergency loan granted in March 2021 to Plus Ultra, a minor Spanish airline that operated flights to Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela with a small fleet of Airbus A340 aircraft.

The bailout was approved under a government fund established to support strategic companies hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The airline's eligibility for the rescue package drew criticism from opposition parties, which pointed to its limited operations and ties to Venezuelan business interests.

Spanish media reported that investigators are examining whether a consulting firm linked to an associate of Zapatero acted as an intermediary in financial transactions under scrutiny, including alleged payments related to the bailout.

Authorities are also looking into possible commissions and financial flows connected to the case.

Plus Ultra, headquartered in Madrid, has several shareholders with links to Venezuela, a factor that has long fuelled political controversy surrounding the rescue.

Zapatero has consistently denied ever having received any payments from Plus Ultra or having committed any wrongdoing.

"I want to reaffirm in the strongest possible terms that I have never carried out any dealings with any public administration or the public sector in relation to the bailout of Plus Ultra," Zapatero said in a video sent to the press on Tuesday, in which he also expressed his willingness "to cooperate with the justice system".

'Degraded institutions'

While other Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time in Spain's modern history that a former premier has been placed under formal investigation.

The main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) said Zapatero was Sánchez's "muse", adding the two were linked by corruption.

"Both used their families to enrich themselves and both degraded the institutions they represented," the party added in a statement.

Sánchez's brother David is scheduled to stand trial for influence peddling, while his wife, Begoña Gómez, is under investigation in a separate corruption case.

The prime minister has dismissed these cases against his family as politically motivated.

Sánchez's former right-hand man, former transport minister José Luis Ábalos, is awaiting a verdict in his own corruption trail which wrapped up earlier this month.

Ábalos, who helped propel Sánchez to power in 2018, is accused of earning kickbacks for the irregular awarding of contracts for face masks, which were in high demand and short supply as the Covid-19 pandemic started.

Regional poll defeats

The corruption cases have dented support for Sánchez's Socialist party, which has suffered a string of heavy losses in regional elections including its former stronghold Andalusia.

The Socialists won just 28 seats in the 109-seat regional parliament of the southern region on Sunday, its worst-ever result in a regional election in Andalusia.

Zapatero had campaigned in favour of the party's candidate there, Sánchez's former deputy and ex-finance minister María Jesús Montero.

Sánchez has refused to bring forward the next national election, scheduled in 2027, as demanded by the opposition in the wake of these regional poll losses.

The Socialist party defended Zapatero - who made several social reforms including the legalisation of same-sex marriage while in office - and suggested the probe was politically motivated.

Zapatero's time in office was "marked by an ambitious programme to extend rights, equality, and social protection. The right and far right have never forgiven him for these advances," the party said in a statement.