The jewels found by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police in the safe of the office of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero during the searches are estimated to be “between 30,000 and 50,000 euros,” according to statements made in recent hours by the president of the Ateneo de Madrid, Luis Arroyo, who acts as the authorized spokesperson for the former president.
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In statements to various media, Arroyo explained that the safe analyzed by the Police was moved to Zapatero’s office on Ferraz Street after selling the home he shared with his wife, Sonsoles Espinosa. According to him, the former head of government made this move to avoid having the jewels in his rental home where there was no safe, while waiting for his new house to be built.
The spokesperson, who has known Zapatero for many years and worked at Moncloa when he was head of government, shared the explanation given by the secretary of the former socialist leader, Gertrudis Alcázar, who indicated that the material found in the safe would mainly correspond to Espinosa’s inheritance and “travel gifts.” Arroyo also denied that they were gifts from Saudi Arabia “worth half a million euros.”
Specifically, Arroyo explained that the jewels come from the inheritances of the former president’s mother, his wife’s mother, and also from two aunts of the family. According to him, these are mainly old pieces and family keepsakes with an estimated value between 30,000 and 50,000 euros. The spokesperson especially regretted that these objects appear detailed within the police and judicial proceedings. “For the family, it is very hard to see family keepsakes exposed inside a plastic envelope,” he stated.
Arroyo pointed out that Zapatero considers the proceedings of Judge José Luis Calama, which place him at the top of an influence trafficking network, to be a “giant mistake” full of “conjectures,” and attributed the cancellation of the former president’s mortgage appearing in the magistrate’s order to the sale of another property. Thus, he rejected that the cancellation of the 500,000-euro mortgage loan could be interpreted as evidence of irregular income. According to him, Zapatero was able to pay off the mortgage thanks to the sale of another property he owned, and not due to alleged compensations linked to the investigated case.
The spokesperson insisted that the former president maintains his “absolute calm” and believes that the investigation will end up proving that there is no basis to support the suspicions of influence trafficking or illicit enrichment appearing in the police reports incorporated into the case file. Arroyo insists that Zapatero categorically denies having intermediated in the loan granted to the company Plus Ultra.
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Also, in conversation with EFE, the spokesperson points out that beyond the advisory assignments he accepted from the company Análisis Relevante of his friend Julio Martínez, he does not feel responsible for other activities that this businessman arrested in the framework of this investigation may have carried out. “If he says Zapatero’s name, whether he uses it or not and what he does and how many companies he has, and if one of them is somewhere, it means that he (Zapatero) cannot be responsible for that,” he reaffirms.
He also tells EFE that the former president is convinced that this whole matter stems from a kind of “persecution” against him dating back to 2023, when he began to gain greater prominence in the PSOE and to support Pedro Sánchez.
Until he testifies before the National Court judge José Luis Calama on June 2, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero is dedicating himself to preparing his defense, and wants the investigating magistrate to be the first to hear his explanations.
In any case, the spokesperson has hinted that the summons could be postponed at the request of Zapatero’s defense due to the enormous amount of information that must be analyzed.
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