World
Zapatero Asked the Audiencia Nacional to Seek Confirmation from Saudi Arabia Over Seized Jewelry
The former president told the judge that the main part of the pieces seized from his office was a personal gift from the then Saudi king. According to elDiario.es and EL PAÍS, he requested official cooperation to substantiate that account.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero filed a brief before the Audiencia Nacional in which he stated that the main part of the jewelry seized from his office corresponds to a personal gift given to him by King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud when he was president of the Government.
According to eldiario.es, the former president’s defense placed that handover at the Palacio de la Moncloa, during the Saudi monarch’s official visit to Madrid on June 18 and 19, 2007. In that filing, Zapatero asked the judge to issue a letter rogatory so that the Royal Court of Saudi Arabia can officially certify that gift.
According to eldiario.es, Zapatero sent letters on June 16 and August 12, 2026, to the Protocol Office of the Saudi Royal Court to confirm that version, but received no response. EL PAÍS added that one of those letters is dated one day before the former president’s testimony before the Audiencia Nacional and that it refers to a “strictly personal gift.”
The court filing mentions three sets made up of necklace, bracelet, ring and earrings in white gold, diamonds, rubies, emeralds and sapphires. According to eldiario.es, those pieces account for more than 90% of the total value of what was seized. The defense argued that they had been kept since 2007 together with family jewelry and other gifts, without use or awareness of their material value.
The case is being handled by Judge José Luis Calama, who gave Zapatero’s legal team three days to submit documentation on the jewelry found in the search of his office. He also ordered a new expert report from the Yanes jewelry store, separate from the first one, carried out by Ansorena.
That preliminary report valued the pieces at 1.3 million euros, always according to eldiario.es. The former president’s defense challenged that estimate and argued that it is a replacement value calculated with market prices from June 2026, intended for insurance policies, and not the value the jewelry had when it was handed over in 2007.
Sources
About this note. Written by El Notero with the assistance of artificial intelligence, based on what was published by the cited outlet. El Notero did not conduct its own reporting on this event.
