Judge Rejects Embezzlement Probe Against Former Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero Over Jewelry

National Court Judge José Luis Calama has rejected a request from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office to investigate former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for an alleged crime of public asset embezzlement. The prosecution had sought the probe after discovering that Zapatero kept several pieces of jewelry rather than transferring them to the State Heritage, maintaining that the items were received during an official visit in 2007.

The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office based its petition on the legal doctrine regarding gifts given to public authorities, arguing that items intended for public ownership constitute embezzlement if appropriated with a profit motive. The prosecution contended that if Zapatero's account of receiving the items in 2007 were true, retaining them would legally qualify as misappropriating public funds.

Judge Calama dismissed this interpretation as an "ex-post" construct, pointing out that no legislative provision at the time of the events automatically incorporated gifts received by high-ranking officials into the public administration's assets. He noted that this obligation was not formally established until the passage of the Transparency Act in 2013.

The magistrate further addressed a government-approved Good Governance Code from 2005, which prosecutors argued supported their position. Calama determined that the code possessed an ethical and institutional self-regulatory nature but lacked sufficient normative value to determine public property ownership or broaden the objective elements of an embezzlement charge. Accepting the prosecution's view, he stated, would unlawfully turn behavioral guidelines into criminal incrimination sources.

Examining Supreme Court precedents, the judge explained that previously prosecuted embezzlement cases involved assets that already held public status due to prior legal frameworks requiring their assignment to the administration. Because no such legal mandate existed in 2007 for gifts given to officials, penalizing the conduct now would require an unpredictable and expansive interpretation of criminal law.

While noting that taking the jewelry might raise ethical or political concerns, the judge concluded that the lack of a legal rule at the time preventing personal retention meant a key objective element of embezzlement was missing. In a separate ruling, magistrate Calama also ordered the suspension of tax inspection procedures by the State Tax Agency concerning Zapatero, his wife, his daughters, associate Julio Martínez, and several related companies.