Overview
- Audiencia Nacional magistrate José Luis Calama has formally cited former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as an investigado in a corruption inquiry linked to the 2021 Plus Ultra rescue and has summoned him to testify on June 2.
- Police UDEF searches recovered material from Zapatero’s office and circle, including documents taken from a safe, agendas, notebooks and electronic devices that are now being forensically analysed.
- Investigators flag bank transfers from an entity tied to the case to accounts linked to Zapatero’s daughters as a key line of inquiry and officials are preparing requests for international cooperation, including information from the United States.
- The probe has increased political strain in Madrid as Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez maintains public normality while parties that back his government and some former PSOE figures press for answers or earlier elections.
- In Argentina, routine stadium ID checks in Rosario led to the arrest of a 19‑year‑old wanted in a multimillion‑peso fraud case and a separate DDI operation dismantled an international burglary ring after a robbery at the home of Juan Martín del Potro’s mother, with several arrests including suspects subject to Interpol red notices.