Zapatero convenes private meetings to secure witnesses after Plus Ultra admits illegal commission

In response to Plus Ultra’s confirmation that a 1 % fee was an illicit commission, former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has launched a campaign to recruit witnesses from his inner circle. The meetings are held in a private suite named “La Capilla” at the Santo Mauro hotel in Madrid and are protected by an expanded security team, including his personal escort. Zapatero is urging former senior officials to testify that they were consulted on reports prepared for Análisis Relevante SL, which he allegedly authored.

The sessions, some lasting over two hours, started in the first days of September amid heightened media focus on the Ceuta migrant influx. While his wife and daughters are also holding similar meetings to defend his reputation, they are not aimed at securing legal testimony. So far, only a handful of individuals have agreed to cooperate, and the effort faces skepticism after airline executives and a former front man admitted the payment was a bribe linked to a 53-million-euro public rescue.