Zapatero's daughters: Venezuela business or front company?

Why is a marketing agency expanding into Venezuela?

WhatTheFav, the agency founded by Laura and Alba Rodríguez —daughters of former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero—, has announced its entry into the Venezuelan e-sports market. The news, reported by several outlets in July 2025, has reignited suspicions about the true source of its growth: the company now bills close to half a million euros a year, up 24.35% from the previous year, according to data from the Companies Register.

The move is, to say the least, striking. Venezuela is hardly a business paradise: capital controls, expropriations and consumer spending at rock bottom. Yet the agency —whose clients include Huawei and Neox Games— is now seeking gaming content creators in the Caribbean country. Some see it as a risky but legitimate bet; others, as a classic mechanism for channeling payments tied to the former leader's interests in the region.

The accounts and the shadows

Founded in 2019 by Laura along with a partner, WhatTheFav only took off after her sister Alba joined as joint administrator in 2023. Since then, revenue has kept growing. But what fuels the controversy most is not the numbers, it's the context. In December 2025, the UDEF (Spain's economic crime police unit) arrested Julio Martínez Martínez, a businessman with interests in Venezuela and a client of Zapatero's daughters, as part of the investigation into the Plus Ultra bailout. The coincidence does not go unnoticed by those who see the agency as another piece in the former prime minister's network of influence.

The dilemma of the Venezuelan market

There is no shortage of arguments to justify the move: Venezuela has an active gaming community and little local competition. But skepticism prevails. As a recurring analysis points out, any sensible businessperson would avoid a country where the risk of expropriation is high and purchasing power is minimal. For many, the only explanation that adds up is that this is not a conventional business, but a vehicle for moving money —what Maduro's regime might owe Zapatero— under the guise of advertising contracts.

The opacity certainly doesn't help. The job offer for content creators in Venezuela, which required applicants to be Venezuelan nationals, was flagged as potentially discriminatory. It all adds to a story in which the former prime minister's daughters push ahead without qualms while their father remains under investigation for his ties to Chavismo. Draw your own conclusions.