Zapatero is suspected of corruption after keeping expensive jewelry from Saudi Arabia

When the trinkets were found during a house search in May, Zapatero, who was head of government from 2004 to 2011, said they were family treasures of mostly sentimental value.

Judge José Luis Calama, who is leading an investigation into Zapatero's affairs, sent the jewelry to an expert who valued it at close to 15 million Swedish kronor. Zapatero then promised to declare his possession within ten days, which did not happen. On Monday, he was given three days by the judge to explain the matter.

According to Zapatero, the most expensive pieces in the collection - emeralds from Zambia, sapphires from Thailand and a star of rubies - are a personal gift he received from King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia during his visit to Spain in 2007. Zapatero's lawyers say they have asked the Saudi royal family to confirm this, but have not received a response.

Even if the gift can be traced to the Saudis, Zapatero risks prosecution, partly for not having handed it over to the state, partly for not having reported it in his declaration. One of the first laws Zapatero enacted after his election victory in 2004 was a ban on official representatives keeping gifts they received in office.

The house search when the gems were seized took place within the framework of the so-called Plus Ultra deal.

During the pandemic, the Spanish government granted an emergency loan to a small and unknown airline, Plus Ultra, owned by people with close ties to Venezuela's regime at the time. Both Zapatero's Spanish associates and the airline's manager have testified that it was Zapatero who "fixed" the loan from the Spanish socialist government, and that he received a percentage of the sum, half a million euros, for the trouble.

Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has long vouched for Zapatero's innocence, but more and more people in the Socialist Party have lost confidence in the ex-leader and want to distance themselves from him to prevent the right-wing parties from making the matter an election issue. The election is expected this winter or at the latest this spring.

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