The investigating judge at the Audiencia Nacional, José Luis Calama, has rejected the defence's request to disqualify José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero from the case Joyería Yanes . In his ruling of 29 September 2026, Calama states that the public comments by Juan Yanes López on the authenticity and possible total value of the seized jewellery do not demonstrate either a personal interest in the case or any other legal grounds for disqualification as an expert. Joyería Yanes therefore remains appointed by the court.
The background is a search on 19 May 2026, during which several pieces of jewellery were seized from one of Zapatero's offices. An initial valuation by the auction house Ansorena put the total value at around €1.3 million. At the prosecution's request, Calama ordered a more detailed valuation on 21 September 2026 and appointed Joyería Yanes to carry it out. Zapatero's defence argued that Juan Yanes had already given estimates in media appearances on 26 May 2026, raising doubts about his impartiality. The judge rejected this argument.
Zapatero claims the pieces were a personal gift in 2007 from the late Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz. His lawyers have proposed requests for legal assistance in Saudi Arabia to confirm their origin, but according to information from the proceedings, these have produced no tangible result in the past three months. The court had set deadlines for the submission of supporting evidence.
As a matter of law, the ruling refers to the strict conditions for disqualifying court-appointed experts in Spain: media comments alone are not enough; there must be objective grounds for a direct interest or other reasons specified by law. Calama applies these standards strictly in his decision.
The next steps in the valuation remain open. Joyería Yanes is to prepare a new expert report suitable for use in court. The defence has announced that it will appoint its own expert and consider further legal challenges to the appointment. The matter is part of the investigation known as the Plus Ultra case before the Audiencia Nacional, which currently focuses above all on the seizure, origin and valuation of the jewellery. Key procedural issues include documenting provenance and establishing the market and replacement value of each piece.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).