This is the impressive jewellery collection found inside a safe belonging to Spain’s beleaguered ex-premier Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero.
The diamond-encrusted necklaces, large stones, luxury watches and more were all seized by the Policia Nacional during an anti-corruption raid at Zapatero’s Madrid offices on May 19.
The raid was carried out by the anti-economic crime unit (UDEF), who searched the office opposite PSOE headquarters on Calle Ferraz, following orders from the investigating judge Jose Luis Calama.
The operation forms part of the ongoing ‘Plus Ultra’ probe into alleged influence peddling and other offences – which was sparked by the bailout of a minor airline during the height of the Covid pandemic.
Police officers attended the premises alongside members of the GOIT technical intervention unit, specialists trained in opening safes and accessing concealed compartments.
However, the intervention team was ultimately not required after Zapatero’s lawyer, Víctor Moreno Catena, is said to have arranged for a key to be brought to the office.
Inside the safe, officers found necklaces, earrings, bracelets, rings and multiple watches, some of them engraved with inscriptions.
One gold watch reportedly carried the words ‘your colleagues’, while a bag containing jewellery items including watches, chains and pins allegedly featured the inscription ‘Presidency of the Government’.
According to the report, Zapatero’s personal secretary, Gertrudis Alcázar, told officers the safe belonged jointly to Zapatero and his wife, Sonsoles Espinosa.
She reportedly claimed some of the jewellery came from Espinosa’s inheritance and from ‘travel gifts’.
Police also seized two hard drives removed from a desktop computer, alongside numerous folders and documents discovered throughout the office.
Among the labels reportedly found on folders were ‘Análisis Relevante’ – a company allegedly central to the investigation – as well as ‘contracts, invoices JLRZ’, ‘conference invoices’, ‘Thinking Heads’ and references to publishing houses.
Investigators also recovered several diaries dating from 2019 to 2025 bearing the title ‘President Zapatero’.
The documents further state that both Alcázar and another employee, Judith Wells Sutton, voluntarily provided passwords for phones, computers and other electronic devices during the operation.
Police reportedly seized additional folders linked to companies including Chinalink Asia – which investigators claim transferred €159,034 to Zapatero across 27 payments – and Focus Social Research SAC, a Peru-based consultancy firm allegedly connected to €200,000 in transfers.
The searches form part of a widening investigation that has placed the former Socialist prime minister under growing scrutiny in recent weeks.
At the time of writing, Zapatero has publicly and fiercely denied all wrongdoing and criticised aspects of the police investigation.
