Zapatero's daughters' agency counts El Plural and Público among clients in Plus Ultra case
Zapatero's daughters run Whatefav S.L., an agency that billed El Plural, Público and the Plus Ultra scheme. Spain's UDEF police unit is investigating the public money circle.
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Zapatero's daughters, El Plural and Público: the circle the UDEF is investigating
When former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero talks about "restoring decency" to the media, he might want to clarify that his daughters, Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, have been running an advertising agency since 2019 whose clients include two of the outlets most aligned with Sánchez's government: El Plural and Público. The company, given the enigmatic name Whatefav S.L., is now in the crosshairs of the UDEF (Spain's economic crime police unit) over its relationship with Análisis Relevante S.L., the key firm in the Plus Ultra scheme. The story, which neither El Plural nor Público covered, has been aired by outlets that do not live off subsidies. Neighbors at the agency's registered address say they have never seen anyone working there, a minor detail for a business that billed government-friendly media.
The client list that never makes the front pages
Whatefav S.L. was incorporated in 2019 and its only known directors are the daughters of former Prime Minister Zapatero. According to the information that has come to light, the agency not only worked for El Plural and Público, two outlets that receive direct and indirect public funding, but also provided services to Análisis Relevante S.L., the company identified as an intermediary in the Plus Ultra case, the Venezuelan insurer that rescued aircraft and is now under investigation for alleged money laundering. The coincidence is striking: the same agency that advises outlets defending the government also bills a company under judicial scrutiny.
The neutrality that requires no appearances
El Plural announced its collaboration with Whatefav S.L. in September 2019 with great fanfare, highlighting the agency's "quality and professionalism." What it did not say is that its owners are direct family of the former Prime Minister who appointed the current First Deputy Prime Minister and has been an tireless defender of Sánchez's record. Público, for its part, stays silent. The forum has noted that Público's editor, Angélica Rubio, was Zapatero's press chief and is now a member of the RTVE board appointed by the government. The circle closes: the same outlets that rail against PP corruption bill the family of a former Prime Minister now under investigation in an international scheme.
The UDEF raid and the silence of the lambs
The UDEF raided Zapatero's daughters' agency in search of documentation on the Plus Ultra contracts. Neighbors on the street where the registered office is located said they never saw anyone enter. A small detail that raises the question of whether the agency was more of an invoice mailbox than an operating business. Meanwhile, in the friendly media, the story boils down to an "I can't believe it" that lasts no longer than a meme. The point the forum keeps repeating is that Zapatero and his circle may have a bigger problem than a lack of transparency.
The question hanging in the air is whether the Plus Ultra case will take down more than one big fish. For now, the former Prime Minister's daughters stay silent, El Plural and Público look the other way, and the UDEF keeps collecting papers that, according to the most skeptical, will end up in the judicial archive of inconvenient cases. The only certainty is that the circle of public money and trench journalism once again draws a map where the borders between public, private and family have become blurred.
Related discussions in the forum
When former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero talks about "restoring decency" to the media, he might want to clarify that his daughters, Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, have been running an advertising agency since 2019 whose clients include two of the outlets most aligned with Sánchez's government: El Plural and Público. The company, given the enigmatic name Whatefav S.L., is now in the crosshairs of the UDEF (Spain's economic crime police unit) over its relationship with Análisis Relevante S.L., the key firm in the Plus Ultra scheme. The story, which neither El Plural nor Público covered, has been aired by outlets that do not live off subsidies. Neighbors at the agency's registered address say they have never seen anyone working there, a minor detail for a business that billed government-friendly media.
The client list that never makes the front pages
Whatefav S.L. was incorporated in 2019 and its only known directors are the daughters of former Prime Minister Zapatero. According to the information that has come to light, the agency not only worked for El Plural and Público, two outlets that receive direct and indirect public funding, but also provided services to Análisis Relevante S.L., the company identified as an intermediary in the Plus Ultra case, the Venezuelan insurer that rescued aircraft and is now under investigation for alleged money laundering. The coincidence is striking: the same agency that advises outlets defending the government also bills a company under judicial scrutiny.
The neutrality that requires no appearances
El Plural announced its collaboration with Whatefav S.L. in September 2019 with great fanfare, highlighting the agency's "quality and professionalism." What it did not say is that its owners are direct family of the former Prime Minister who appointed the current First Deputy Prime Minister and has been an tireless defender of Sánchez's record. Público, for its part, stays silent. The forum has noted that Público's editor, Angélica Rubio, was Zapatero's press chief and is now a member of the RTVE board appointed by the government. The circle closes: the same outlets that rail against PP corruption bill the family of a former Prime Minister now under investigation in an international scheme.
The UDEF raid and the silence of the lambs
The UDEF raided Zapatero's daughters' agency in search of documentation on the Plus Ultra contracts. Neighbors on the street where the registered office is located said they never saw anyone enter. A small detail that raises the question of whether the agency was more of an invoice mailbox than an operating business. Meanwhile, in the friendly media, the story boils down to an "I can't believe it" that lasts no longer than a meme. The point the forum keeps repeating is that Zapatero and his circle may have a bigger problem than a lack of transparency.
The question hanging in the air is whether the Plus Ultra case will take down more than one big fish. For now, the former Prime Minister's daughters stay silent, El Plural and Público look the other way, and the UDEF keeps collecting papers that, according to the most skeptical, will end up in the judicial archive of inconvenient cases. The only certainty is that the circle of public money and trench journalism once again draws a map where the borders between public, private and family have become blurred.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (51 replies).
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