Legal offensive

Former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero filed two writs on Tuesday asking both the investigating judge and the tax agency to suspend a tax inspection opened against him and his family. The inspection, launched on 15 June, covers the tax obligations of Zapatero, his wife Sonsoles Espinosa, and their two daughters between 2021 and 2024. It was triggered after investigators found a set of jewels valued at over 1.3 million euros in a safe in his office. The move comes as judge José Luis Calama at the Audiencia Nacional is already investigating Zapatero for influence peddling and embezzlement linked to the rescue of airline Plus Ultra.

The tax inspection dispute

Zapatero's defence argues that the tax agency acted "unilaterally and capriciously" by starting an inspection that overlaps with the criminal proceedings. The writ states that the simultaneous processes place him in a "constitutionally diabolical alternative": cooperating with the tax agency could be used against him in the criminal case, while refusing could lead to administrative sanctions.

“The AEAT is fully aware that it has initiated an inspection procedure that is entirely improper, since it knows that it must immediately suspend it until the matter is resolved by the criminal jurisdiction.”

The defence insists that the criminal order takes precedence and that the inspection violates his right against self-incrimination and his right to defence. On 25 June, Zapatero had already requested the "general nullity" of the Plus Ultra case, alleging a violation of fundamental rights.

Political backlash

The conservative People's Party (PP) sharply criticised Zapatero's legal strategy. Party sources said that seeking to annul the case and the evidence amounts to "admitting guilt".

“When Zapatero is not capable of convincing with facts of his innocence it is because he is not capable of convincing that he is not a corrupt person.”

The PP contrasted his attitude with that of UK politician Nigel Farage, who resigned as an MP on the same day over a corruption scandal, and likened the Socialist Party's headquarters to a "compro oro" (gold-buying) shop.

A cancelled tradition

For the first time in over a decade, Zapatero will not travel to his luxury villa on Famara beach in Lanzarote this summer. Sources close to the former prime minister told ABC that he has cancelled the holiday, staying instead at his home in Las Rozas, Madrid, as the judicial horizon darkens. In previous years, he was a familiar sight jogging along the beach at eight in the morning, breakfasting at a local bar, and hosting an annual dinner party for a dozen political and cultural figures at his villa, which he bought in 2017. This year, the celebration is off.