Plus Ultra case: Julito Martínez admits Zapatero mediated for a 1% commission

Plus Ultra: Julito Martínez tells the judge Zapatero mediated in exchange for 1%

What did the main suspect in the Plus Ultra bailout actually say in court? That there was a commission, that a former prime minister mediated, and that the contract was in writing.

According to reports published on 20 July 2026, Plus Ultra and Julio Martínez Martínez have both sent letters to the Audiencia Nacional (Spain's high incivil court) admitting that José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero intervened in the airline's bailout. The confession did not come freely: police reportedly found a contract detailing a 1% commission on the public aid, equivalent to €550,000, which would have been paid to the former prime minister.

The 1% commission and the paper trail

The amount is no coincidence. The figure matches exactly 1% of the bailout, and the contract found by police mentions that sum. Martínez, who appears as a front man in the scheme, is said to have talked to reduce his sentence: "He is going to be convicted either way," judicial sources say. The bigger fish would be Zapatero and Sánchez, the latter mentioned in connection with a lunch before the bailout and Leire Díaz's diaries.

The prosecutor points to more schemes

This is not the only shady affair implicating the former prime minister. Other investigations point to his involvement in Venezuelan oil deals for China, gold trafficking and money laundering. The Plus Ultra case would be just the tip of the iceberg of a network that, it is argued, operated with total impunity.

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With the confession on the table, Zapatero is starting to tremble. Sánchez is also in the crosshairs. Some talk, others stay silent. In Spain, justice moves slowly, but when it arrives, it usually sings.