Discovery of €1.3M in jewellery adds to legal woes for Spain's ex-PM

Zapatero, a Socialist who governed from 2004 to 2011, was placed under official investigation last month for influence peddling and other crimes allegedly committed during the bailout of small airline Plus Ultra in 2021.

He has been summoned to testify in court later this month.

As part of the investigation, the authorities last month said they found luxury watches and jewellery of in a safe belonging to Zapatero.

Associates of the former Socialist premier said at the time that the items were linked to family inheritances.

But the National Court, which is leading the probe, said Zapatero is now suspected of being unable to show the payment of customs duties or other levies linked to the importation of jewellery valued at €1.3 million ($1.5 million).

The former prime minister was under investigation for tax fraud and smuggling as well, the court added in a statement.

The affair is on a growing list of graft cases that have raised questions about the viability of Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's minority government.

The case centres on whether Zapatero used his political influence to help airline Plus Ultra secure a €53-million bailout in 2021 and whether he and his family financially benefited from it.

The bailout was approved under a government fund established to support strategic companies hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The investigating judge suspects Zapatero may have been part of a network involving shell companies and behind-the-scenes lobbying designed to push favourable decisions through the Socialist government's channels.

Authorities are also looking into possible commissions and financial flows connected to the case.

Zapatero, a totem of the Spanish left and ally of Sánchez, has consistently denied wrongdoing or having ever received payments from Plus Ultra.

While other Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time in Spain's modern history that a former premier has been placed under formal investigation.