Former Plus Ultra chief tells judge he paid Zapatero 1% of Spain's airline bailout

The former chairman of Plus Ultra, **Julio Martínez Sola**, has told a judge that he agreed to pay 1% of the airline's bailout, i.e. **530,000 euros**, to former Spanish Prime Minister **José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero** to ensure the "success" of the deal.

## The 1% deal

The airline **Plus Ultra** received a **53 million euro** injection in **2021** from the government of **Pedro Sánchez**. According to the account given by **Julio Martínez Sola**, the company's former chairman, a **1%** commission on that amount was agreed with **Zapatero**. This amounted to **530,000 euros**, a sum agreed as a "success fee", that is, payable only if the public aid actually materialised. The executive told the judge that he does not know what specific steps the former Socialist leader took after this agreement.

## The intermediary and the reports

The negotiations and the subsequent transaction would have gone through **Julio Martínez Martínez**, known as "Julito", whom the National Police identify as **Zapatero**'s "front man". This individual is said to have contacted the airline to settle the details of the agreement. The court file in this case, known as the "Zapatero case" or "Plus Ultra case", documents transfers made by the airline to the company **Análisis Relevante SL**, owned by "Julito". **Zapatero** was paid by the latter for producing geopolitical reports.

## First contacts and the ICO credit line

The airline's first approach to **Zapatero** was not directly about the bailout, but about securing a loan from Spain's state-backed ICO credit line. In **May 2020**, the then CEO of **Plus Ultra**, **Roberto Roselli**, sent a letter to the vice-president of the financial institution asking for "help" in obtaining the loan. In the letter, **Roselli** stated that he was acting on "instructions from **Zapatero**". In the end, the requested credit was not granted, even though **Banco Santander** processed a file on the matter.