Soledad Fernández is getting ready to leave Spain’s Tax Agency as internal tensions mount over shifts in the institution’s leadership and the continuing turmoil surrounding the Zapatero case.
Spain’s Tax Agency is gearing up for a major leadership shift following the close of the income tax campaign, as its director general, Soledad Fernández Doctor, is expected to step down after four years at the helm of the institution responsible for combating tax fraud.
The move also affects other senior officials within the agency, amid internal tension and conflicting accounts over the true scale of the crisis. The Finance Ministry insists that Fernández’s departure is not the result of a sudden resignation, but rather a replacement request made months ago and postponed until the end of the income tax campaign to avoid disrupting the agency during one of its busiest periods.
However, this shift arrives at a particularly sensitive time for the Tax Agency, as the judge handling the Plus Ultra case recently gave the Finance Ministry the chance to join the proceedings as a possible aggrieved party regarding jewellery worth €1.3 million that the National Police recovered from the office of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The AEAT’s choice to participate or stay out of the case has turned into one of the main political flashpoints linked to the issue.
A few days ago, the judge overseeing the Plus Ultra case invited the Finance Ministry to step in as a “potential injured party” regarding the jewellery that the National Police confiscated from Zapatero’s office. This marks a pivotal turn because, under the case’s structure, the Tax Agency must be recognized as an injured party for Zapatero to be prosecuted for a supposed tax violation. The judge noted that the circumstances under review “show financial damage directly tied to state-managed revenue administered by the Tax Agency.”
In addition, on June 30, the People’s Party registered an expansion of the work plan for the Senate investigation committee into the management of the State Industrial Holding Company, known as SEPI, over the bailout operations. The party specifically called Fernández to testify on July 13 to clarify the tax authority’s position. It would not be her first appearance before such a committee: on February 18, 2025, she testified before the Senate committee investigating the Koldo case.
Opposition parties and various members of the public have linked Fernández’s departure to this matter and to the Senate committee reviewing SEPI’s management, where the outgoing director general had been scheduled to testify on July 13 to explain the tax authorities’ position.
“Zapatero’s jewellery has pushed the former prime minister and the government into a corner. Lacking explanations and any plausible defence, they are simply stalling to hide the entire affair, even if it means exerting pressure on our institutions. The judge allowed the AEAT to join the case as a ‘potential injured party’. Since then, a single question has been resonating throughout the institution: Will the Finance Ministry act against Zapatero, yes or no?” the People’s Party stated last Tuesday.
Origin: ABC together with The Objective.
