The investigating judge at the Audiencia Nacional, José Luis Calama, has Patrimonio Nacional ordered it to provide the official register of gifts said to have been given to the Prime Minister’s Office during the governments of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero (2004–2011). According to judicial sources, the order was issued on 23 October 2026 and aims to compare the origin of jewellery seized during a search with the state register.
The ruling refers to existing documentation: an “acta de aceptación”, by which objects were formally incorporated into the assets of the Spanish state administration in 2012 and said to have been assigned to the Prime Minister’s Office. In this connection, Patrimonio Nacional was asked for a copy of the relevant record to establish which gifts were inventoried at the time and whether the items now seized were among them. Media reports put the value of the seized jewellery at around 1.3 million euros; this figure has not been officially confirmed and is not assessed by the court.
This followed submissions from the accused in the case, who describes the items as gifts from foreign dignitaries. According to consistent reports, the prosecution and the court also considered a request to send a letter rogatory to Saudi Arabia . It concerns the gift allegedly made by the accused by the late King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in June 2007. The records now requested are intended first to establish whether and how this and other gifts were entered in the state inventory. According to earlier reports, a relevant record dated 1 March 2012 lists a larger number of objects said to have been handed over to the state after Zapatero left office.
According to investigative sources, the information requested from Patrimonio Nacional is preparatory. Only after reviewing the documents will the court decide whether to seek international cooperation with Saudi Arabia and what further evidence to gather. Political responses were cautious up to the time of publication. Unverified claims remain part of the case file and should not be equated with findings by the court. Any legal consequences will follow only after the requested documents have been assessed.
Spanish rules provide that gifts to public officials should, in principle, be transferred to the state and entered in an inventory. How these requirements were implemented in this particular case is the subject of the current request for further information and the planned comparisons with the Prime Minister’s Office register.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).