Julio Martínez Martínez acknowledges the role of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra for 53 million euros in 2021, contrary to what the socialist claimed, according to a document accessed by La Vanguardia.
Martínez sent this document to the National Court judge José Luis Calama 24 hours before giving his statement. According to this newspaper, legal sources pointed to the ‘Aldama effect’ that could lead Martínez to admit that Zapatero was paid to influence the Government to facilitate the airline’s rescue.
Until now, the former prime minister has denied everything. However, there was a possibility that his friend would decide to admit the facts to achieve a reduction in criminal liability. In the document, the businessman explains that on July 30, 2020, a contract was signed between Plus Ultra and his company, Análisis Relevante, in which fees were agreed upon, set at 5,000 euros per month plus the corresponding VAT.
Zapatero “led” and “controlled” Análisis Relevante
In fact, Martínez assures that Rodríguez Zapatero was the one who “led” and “controlled” all the movements of Análisis Relevante. “Rodríguez Zapatero was left out of the shareholding and formal bodies of the company, but he was the one who led it and decided all those matters of strategy and client acquisition.”
Precisely because of his status as former prime minister and his personal and professional relationships, “Rodríguez Zapatero attracted the four companies that contracted with AR until 2025.” The contracts signed with these clients were generally models that they had pre-designed in the company.
Regarding the contract with Plus Ultra, the businessman explains that it was Zapatero who found the business. In fact, it was the former prime minister who told Martínez that he would receive a call from the top executives of the airline in May 2020.”
And indeed, on May 16, 2020, Julio Martínez Sola and Roberto Roselli contacted him and told him about the company’s economic problems, which he had already informed former prime minister Rodríguez Zapatero about, and the need to seek financing,” he explains.
It was Zapatero who managed the aid to Plus Ultra
The former prime minister’s friend maintains that he was the one who managed everything because he “had no possibility of obtaining anything by himself, much less public or private financing.”
His mission —he says— “consisted of mediating between client and consultant.” “In his role as consultant, it was Rodríguez Zapatero who set the steps to follow,” he indicates. For example, he suggested they send a letter, on his behalf, to the vice president of Banco de Santander, Juan Manuel Cendoya, for the granting of an ICO loan. Also, according to what Roberto Roselli told him, they requested financing from the entity La Caixa. “None of these avenues yielded results,” he emphasizes.
It was then, in July 2020, that the Strategic Companies Solvency Support Fund —hereinafter FASEE— was created and they decided to apply for it. It was then that a contract was signed between Plus Ultra and Análisis Relevante. “Regardless of the wording of the contract, the reality was that the fees to be charged were for the advice that Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero had been giving since May,” he explains.
Additionally, in consideration of the services rendered and the success of the operation, on January 19, 2021, a contract was signed between the airline and the company Idella Consulenza Strategica, whereby the former committed to pay 1% of the financing obtained to Idella, in the event that the aid requested from the Strategic Companies Solvency Support Fund managed by SEPI was finally approved.
They decided to “defer” the airline’s payments
Furthermore, Martínez acknowledges that, due to the “media pressure” following allegations of possible rigging in the rescue, it was decided with Plus Ultra to defer the payment over time, until 2026, and that part of those amounts were invoiced through other companies related to Martínez Martínez. “In total, the amount paid as fees for mediating in obtaining the public aid amounted to approximately 1% of the amount obtained as agreed,” he pointed out.
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“Julio Martínez Martínez’s work during the months following the signing of the contract mainly consisted of accompanying the client to obtain the requested financing. Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero was kept promptly informed of all the steps being taken, and finally, on February 26, 2021, he informed our client that SEPI was going to grant the loan requested by Plus Ultra,” he acknowledges.
Besides Zapatero’s role for Plus Ultra, the owner of Análisis Relevante assures that the former prime minister made efforts to attract clients. Among them were several companies of Venezuelan citizens, such as Softgestor or Inteligencia Prospectiva.
“In the same way as with the other clients, the relationship with the Amaro Chacón family came through Rodríguez Zapatero. The Amaro brothers decided to hire the consulting services of Mr. Rodríguez Zapatero, and Martínez traveled numerous times to Venezuela to carry out matters related to their affairs in that country,” it states.
Martínez also explains to the judge the origin of the friendship and business relationship with Rodríguez Zapatero. He explains that the person who acted as a link was Javier de Paz – current president of Movistar Plus -, first to buy a house owned by the then president.
Payments to Zapatero’s daughters, among the agreement
Later, after leaving the presidency, they were united by their passion for running. Then, among Martínez himself, De Paz, and Sergio Sánchez – linked to the National Intelligence Center – they decided to create Análisis Relevante, counting on Rodríguez Zapatero as the main consultant.
“It was at the end of 2019 when, in one of those meetings, Javier de Paz along with Sergio Sánchez proposed the idea of establishing a strategic consultancy that would have the appeal of having a former prime minister as a consultant and main reference. The four agreed with the proposal, leading to the establishment of the company Análisis Relevante,” he explains in his document.
In the end, it was agreed that the partners of the company would be Martínez with a 75% stake, and Sergio Sánchez with the remaining 25%. “The initial plan was that Sergio, as a journalist, would finalize the reports prepared by the consultant, reports that would then be laid out by the company Whathefav — owned by Zapatero’s daughters — with whom a retainer of 3,000 euros per month was established, paid until 2025.”
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