The rescue of Plus Ultra was approved by the Council of Ministers in March 2021. The operation, with a cost of 53 million euros, originated from the Fund for Support to the Solvency of Strategic Companies (FASEE), which the Government launched to assist companies with difficulties due to the economic crisis unleashed by the Covid-19 pandemic.
This fund, dependent on the State Society of Industrial Participations (SEPI), had the mission of injecting liquidity into companies that were viable but that, due to the impact of the crisis, found themselves in a compromised situation.
The fund was approved in July 2020 with an allocation of 10,000 million euros to support the solvency of companies through different mechanisms: purchase of shares, debt or any instrument convertible to capital, at the request of the companies.
The rescue of Plus Ultra was structured into two loans: one ordinary of 19 million for five years and another participatory of 34 million for seven years sealed five months later.
In addition to Plus Ultra, the Executive approved rescues for other companies such as Air Europa, Ávoris Corporación Empresarial, Celsa, Duro Felguera or Tubos Reunidos.
Under suspicion
The rescue of the airline was by no means the largest amount, but it raised suspicions from the first days. PP and Vox launched themselves in Congress to question the operation, accusing the Government of prioritizing aid to this company for unexplained reasons.
The airline was not one of the large companies and already registered losses before the pandemic. The opposition questioned whether this company could be considered strategic, taking into account that the rescue fund was intended for this type of company.
However, the Government justified the operation by considering that air transport is in itself a strategic sector due to its role in tourism and that Plus Ultra was a niche airline, which operates in long-distance flights to Latin American countries. Particularly, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela.
Complaint after two months
Its connection with this last country was the trigger for the accusations by PP and Vox, who from the first day linked the operation with the payment of favors to businessmen close to the Venezuelan Government of the then president Nicolás Maduro. The airline even issued a statement to clarify that it was a Spanish and not a Venezuelan company.
The political battle ended up reaching the courts, denounced by the pseudo-union Manos Limpias, PP and Vox. The case was dismissed in January 2023, without the directors of SEPI who were sued or the airline's executives testifying.
The airline's indictment had been made outside the legal deadline, but the court clarified in its ruling that it did not see the rescue as arbitrary or contrary to regulations.
Vox also denounced President Pedro Sánchez and ministers María Jesús Montero and Reyes Maroto for the granting of funds. The lawsuit was dismissed by the Supreme Court, which found no sufficient evidence.
Investigations from France and Switzerland
Doubts about the rescue emerged years later. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office received two cooperation requests in 2024 from France and Switzerland. Both countries were investigating a criminal organization for the alleged misuse of 53 million euros from the rescue.
They accused the airline of having laundered fictitious loans which it would have subsequently repaid with rescue money.
The investigations ended up being transferred to the National Court, which is investigating the possible misuse of the rescue and whether the company ended up participating in an alleged international money laundering network.