Businessman Julio Martínez Martínez told a National Court judge that former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero directed negotiations for a 53-million-euro public bailout of airline Plus Ultra in 2021, admitting he received a 1% commission for intermediating the rescue.
In a written submission filed on 19 July, a day before his testimony, Martínez said Zapatero informed him in February 2021 that the state-owned holding SEPI would approve the credit. Zapatero had introduced Plus Ultra executives to Martínez's consultancy Análisis Relevante in 2020, with contracts stipulating 5,000 euros monthly plus a 1% success fee on the bailout amount. Police seized 286,000 euros at Martínez's Madrid home.
Plus Ultra's president, Julio Martínez Sola, acknowledged paying Zapatero through Martínez's firms as a "desperate measure" to save the airline. A company owned by Zapatero's daughters received 3,000 euros monthly until 2025 for report layout work.