Soledad Fernández is preparing to depart Spain’s Tax Agency amid escalating tensions regarding leadership changes at the institution and the ongoing controversy linked to 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 influences other top officials across the agency, as internal strain and differing versions persist regarding the real magnitude of the crisis. The Finance Ministry maintains that Fernández’s exit did not stem from an abrupt resignation but from a replacement request submitted months earlier and delayed until the close of the income tax campaign to prevent disrupting the agency during one of its peak periods.
However, the change comes at an especially delicate moment for the Tax Agency. In recent days, the judge overseeing the Plus Ultra case offered the Finance Ministry the opportunity to appear in the proceedings as a potential injured party over jewellery seized by the National Police from the office of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, valued at €1.3 million. The AEAT’s decision on whether or not to join the case has become one of the main political flashpoints surrounding the matter.
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 cornered the former prime minister and the government. With no credible explanation or defence, they have slowed the process to keep the matter concealed, even if that involves applying pressure on our institutions. The judge authorised the AEAT to enter the proceedings as a ‘potential injured party’. Since then, a single question has echoed throughout the institution: Will the Finance Ministry take action against Zapatero or not?” the People’s Party said last Tuesday.
Source: ABC and The Objective.