The United States Department of Homeland Security collaborated with the Spanish police in the money laundering investigation that led to the case opened by the National Court against the former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, according to a department spokesperson, a fact that already appeared in the order of the National Court judge who charged him with allegedly leading a network of influence peddling and money laundering, which represents a new setback for the left-wing Government, already harassed by other corruption scandals.

The Council of Ministers agreed to the rescue of the airline Plus Ultra in March 2021 for an amount of 53 million euros, considering it a “strategic” company. That rescue may have been carried out outside the law. The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama believes that the airline did not meet the requirements established in the European regulations to be rescued.

The car of instructor José Luis Calama reconstructs through messages from those investigated in the Plus Ultra case how the airline company strove during the pandemic to access public funds (“we need to get the aid”) through political means (“we contacted Ábalos,” “the bridge with ZP has just been made”) in exchange for payments to whoever agreed to it (“We are going to screw even if we have to pay a little”). These conversations have been obtained by the National Court thanks to the international collaboration of the United States agency Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), which extracted them from the phone of the also investigated Rodolfo Reyes, Venezuelan partner of the airline.

“Where does lobbying end and where does influence peddling begin?”. Gabriel Rufián brought to the Congress of Deputies this Wednesday one of those questions that have hovered over Spanish politics for years and that the Zapatero case has brought back to the forefront. The difficulty in delineating the boundary between legitimate influence and opaque practices. An activity that in Spain continues to operate in a wide gray area. The question, addressed to Pedro Sánchez during the control session, was not only seeking a response from the Prime Minister but also aimed to highlight one of the major regulatory gaps in the Spanish political system. Therefore, the Prime Minister chose to respond by referring to the lobbying law that Congress has been processing for months.

For the first time in Spanish democracy, a judge is investigating a former prime minister and is doing so for, among other alleged crimes, influence peddling. The judge of the National Court José Luis Calama has gathered evidence to proceed against José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for having woven a network to use his influence in the current Government of Pedro Sánchez, as well as in other instances, such as the Venezuelan executive, in favor of companies in exchange for money.

The scope of the Plus Ultra case has grown so large with the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for corruption that it has led Alberto Núñez Feijóo to prepare a response that may go beyond calling for Pedro Sánchez’s resignation. “I am going to fulfill my duty and do everything possible to ensure there is a change of government,” says the leader of the PP in private conversations.