Judge unlocks remaining €34mn of Spain’s aid to Plus Ultra

Madrid’s Criminal Court Number 15 (Juzgado de Instrucción Nº 15) investigating the EUR53 million euro (USD62.5 million) Spanish government rescue of Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas (PU, Madrid Barajas) has unlocked the second and final part of the loan, amounting to EUR34 million (USD40 million), the Spanish news agency EFE reported.

In an August 9 ruling the news agency had access to, judge Jaime Serret considered an appeal the airline had presented which argued that withholding the funds “may pose a risk of insolvency for Plus Ultra, forcing it to stop operating, and creating damage to passengers who have paid in advance.”

Previously, the court had suspended the delivery of the sum, scheduled for July 28, as a precautionary measure pending an investigation into the alleged embezzlement of public funds.

Now, however, it recognised that “it is true” that, for the moment, “there is not the slightest indication” of the accusations emanating from a number of Spanish opposition politicians who demanded such an investigation. Both the conservative People’s Party and the far-right party Vox had limited themselves “to transcribing articles of the Penal Code and its jurisprudence without linking them to the facts denounced.”

Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas had already been aided in its case by the report of an independent auditor verifying the company’s accounts and the need for public financial support as well as appeals from Madrid’s Public Prosecutor’s Office (Fiscalia de la Comunidad de Madrid) and a ruling at the Court of Auditors (Tribunal de Cuentas).

In Serret’s words, for now “there is no crime of bribery due to the absolute lack of reference to a gift or consideration for the alleged fraudulent granting of financial aid to Plus Ultra,” and “there is no reference either” to the airline benefitting from any kind of friendship, kinship, or hierarchy.

The argument that Plus Ultra may not be able to pay back the loan is “a hypothetical risk” that “only supports the allegations of the popular accusations,” the judge said. Keeping the funds blocked “would in practice mean the definitive bankruptcy of Plus Ultra, with the consequent damage to passengers who have bought tickets in advance and the rest of the creditors.”

In a statement on August 9, Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas confirmed it had received an official notification of the court’s resolution freeing up the loan. Fernando García Manso, the airline’s president, said that the ruling “is a fundamental step on the path we are following to demonstrate all the manipulation, falsehoods, and attacks suffered not only by the company but also our employees, partners, and shareholders. […] Once again, we ask that we stop being used in a political battle which we have nothing to do with and which is causing very serious and unfair damage to the reputation of the company.”