Mohammed VI’s Gifts to Spain’s Zapatero Revalued in Judicial Probe
Five Hands of Fatima, 19 emeralds and gold threads. Three Moroccan necklaces among the jewelry seized from the former Spanish prime minister have undergone a new appraisal. One is now valued 50% higher than in the initial estimate.
On May 19, Spanish police discovered dozens of pieces of jewelry in the safe of a José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero office in Madrid. Among them were three green-and-gold necklaces which, according to revelations by the Spanish newspaper The Objective, had been given to him by Mohammed VI in July 2008, during a meeting at the royal palace in Oujda.
Eighteen years later, these gifts have resurfaced in a judicial investigation. An initial appraisal by the Ansorena auction house valued the three necklaces at 8,200 euros. But a new valuation by Yanes, details of which were reported on Friday, October 30, puts their total value at 8,900 euros.
The surprise concerns the second necklace. Adorned with five pendants depicting Hands of Fatima and 19 African emeralds, it is now valued at 4,500 euros, up from an initial estimate of 3,000 euros.
Moroccan gifts among a million-euro treasure trove
The other two pieces of jewelry went in the opposite direction. The first, made up of twelve strands of green aventurine beads and gold elements, fell in value from 4,000 to 3,600 euros. The third, consisting of three strands of green stones and gold pieces, was revalued from 1,200 to 800 euros.
These new appraisals, detailed by The Objective, concern a small portion of the jewelry seized from the former socialist leader.
According to Spanish news agency EFE, the second appraisal put the value of the more than 60 pieces of jewelry examined at 1,023,320 euros. The most expensive sets were reportedly given to Zapatero by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, according to the former prime minister’s account.
Judge José Luis Calama is investigating possible tax and customs offenses in a separate strand of the Plus Ultra case. The jewelry’s provenance and value are central to his investigation.
The three gifts attributed to the king of Morocco date back to the Oujda meeting on July 11, 2008, held a few months after the diplomatic crisis triggered by the visit of King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía to Ceuta and Melilla. This crisis between Rabat and Madrid had led Morocco to recall its ambassador to Spain.
Relations between the Moroccan sovereign and the former Spanish leader continued after Zapatero left office. In 2016, Mohammed VI notably awarded José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero the Wissam Al Alaoui, exceptional class, eight years after their meeting in Oujda.
