Former Plus Ultra president acknowledges 1% commission agreement with the “Zapatero group”

Former Plus Ultra president Julio Martínez Sola has confirmed that he agreed to pay a 1% success commission to the “Zapatero group” in connection with the Spanish government’s €53 million rescue of the airline.

Sources present during his questioning identified the group as former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and his friend and business partner Julio Martínez Martínez. Martínez Sola, who resigned in July after acknowledging the payments in a written statement, said they knew “without a doubt” that the money proposed by Martínez was intended for the former prime minister.

He told investigators that Plus Ultra had been seeking support to persuade the government to approve the bailout, which was ultimately granted in 2021 after the pandemic. Rodolfo Reyes, then the company’s largest shareholder, proposed approaching Zapatero. Martínez Sola said Zapatero later called him from a hidden number, offered help and told him that Julio Martínez Martínez would contact him from then on.

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without a doubt

The agreed 1% was to be paid in installments until it reached €500,000. The payments were justified as consulting services, or what Martínez Sola described as “accompaniment” work. He acknowledged that reports submitted by Martínez’s company, Análisis Relevante, were worthless and served as a cover for the bailout payment.

Martínez Sola said he did not know what specific steps Zapatero might have taken. He paid anyway, he said, because of the uncertainty. The testimony forms part of an investigation into the payments and the circumstances surrounding Plus Ultra’s rescue.

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accompaniment