Madrid (AFP) - Spain’s former Socialist prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has been placed under investigation for influence peddling and crimes allegedly committed in connection with the bailout of a small airline, a court said Tuesday.

The move adds to pressure on current Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, already weakened by corruption investigations involving family members and senior political allies.

Zapatero, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, was not originally closely aligned with Sanchez but has in recent years become one of his top defenders.

He has been summoned to testify on June 2, and police have searched his offices and three unnamed companies, Spain’s top criminal court said in a statement.

Zapatero will be questioned as the “alleged head of a stable and hierarchical influence-peddling structure” which notably “used opaque financial channels” to “conceal the origin and destination of funds” and obtain bribes, the National Audience said, citing the judge’s ruling.

The investigation centres on a 53-million-euro ($62 million) emergency loan granted in March 2021 to Plus Ultra, a minor Spanish airline that operated flights to Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela with a small fleet of Airbus A340 aircraft.

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

The airline’s eligibility for the rescue package drew criticism from opposition parties, which pointed to its limited operations and ties to Venezuelan business interests.

Spanish media reported that investigators are examining whether a consulting firm linked to an associate of Zapatero acted as an intermediary in financial transactions under scrutiny, including alleged payments related to the bailout.

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

Plus Ultra, headquartered in Madrid, has several shareholders with links to Venezuela, a factor that has long fuelled political controversy surrounding the rescue.

Zapatero has consistently denied ever having received any payments from Plus Ultra or having committed any wrongdoing.

“I want to reaffirm in the strongest possible terms that I have never carried out any dealings with any public administration or the public sector in relation to the bailout of Plus Ultra,” he said in a video sent to the media on Tuesday.

- ‘Degraded institutions’ -

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.

The main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) said Zapatero and Sanchez have both “degraded the institutions they represented” and “used their families to enrich themselves”.

Sanchez’s brother David is scheduled to stand trial for influence peddling, while his wife, Begona Gomez, is under investigation in a separate corruption case.

The prime minister has dismissed these cases against his family as politically motivated.

Sanchez’s former right-hand man, former transport minister Jose Luis Abalos, is awaiting a verdict in his own corruption trial which wrapped up earlier this month.

Abalos, who helped propel Sanchez to power in 2018, is accused of earning kickbacks for the irregular awarding of contracts for face masks, which were in high demand and short supply as the Covid-19 pandemic started.

- Regional poll defeats -

The corruption cases have dented support for Sanchez’s Socialist party ahead of a national election expected next year.

The party has suffered a string of heavy losses in regional elections including its former stronghold Andalusia where it achieved its worst-ever result on Sunday.

Zapatero had campaigned in favour of the party’s candidate there, Sanchez’s former finance minister Maria Jesus Montero.

The Socialist party defended Zapatero – who made several social reforms including the legalisation of same-sex marriage while in office – and suggested the probe was politically motivated.

Zapatero’s time in office was “marked by an ambitious programme to extend rights, equality, and social protection. The right and far right have never forgiven him for these advances,” the party said in a statement.