The order from the Central Investigating Court number 4 of the National High Court, which has summoned former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as an investigated person on June 2nd, not only points to a supposed business and political intermediation structure around the Plus Ultra rescue.
It also places the president of the airline, Julio Martínez Sola, at the center of attention. He was arrested by the Central Unit for Economic and Fiscal Crime (UDEF) of the National Police in December 2025 as one of the alleged key figures in the internal dealings to obtain public funding.
According to the judicial resolution, his role appears linked to conversations, messages, and strategic decisions within the company in a context of intense pressure to obtain aid following the crisis caused by the pandemic.
The message that uncovers the internal investigation
One of the most striking elements of the order issued by Judge José Luis Calama is a message attributed to the president of Plus Ultra addressed to the former executive of the airline Rodolfo Reyes, in which he states: "We are going to fuck even if we have to pay a little".
The phrase was allegedly sent after conversations in which the need to seek high-level external support to facilitate the airline's rescue was raised.
In the same context, the leader reportedly conveyed to his circle his intention to try to reach top political figures, including José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, with the aim of promoting the obtaining of public funds.
The search for "influences" after the pandemic
The order describes an exchange of messages that began in March 2020 between the then-director Rodolfo Reyes and Julio Martínez Sola about possible ways to obtain institutional support.
From there, according to the investigation, Reyes contacted intermediaries with international political connections, channels were explored to access figures in the Spanish political sphere, and the possibility of resorting to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as a means of influence was expressly mentioned.
In one of those messages included in the order, Reyes speaks to Ramón Gordils, Vice Minister of Economy of Venezuela and ambassador to Norway, about "asking Zapatero for help" in relation to "public aid and/or financing," as part of a broader lobbying strategy to achieve the rescue.
The role of the business environment and intermediaries
The investigation maintains that in parallel to these conversations, a network of contacts and consultants was activated that would have acted as a bridge between the airline and different political and financial interlocutors.
In that network, the president of Plus Ultra himself appears cited as one of the figures driving internal negotiations, while other players from the business environment seek access to political leaders or former public officials.
The CEO of the company, Roberto Roselli, according to the ruling, refers in several messages to the existence of a "financial boutique" responsible for facilitating contacts and possible financing routes, in a context where the search for credit, public aid, and external advice is mixed.