From the heights of politics to the trials of prison. The ten-year prison sentence for the so-called Erial affair Eduardo Zaplana Hernández-Soro(Cartagena, 1956) It constitutes the epilogue of a career which, in the absence of the last decision of the Supreme Court in the face of a judgment which is not final and which the former president of the Generalitat Valenciana will appeal, ends up buried after almost half a century. .
Zaplana, in fact, made his debut on the political scene in 1977, when he joined the ranks of the defunct party. UCD. However, thirteen years later, he crossed over to the PP and quickly came to power. On November 22, 1991, he became mayor of Benidorm thanks to a controversial motion of censure supported by the socialist defector. Maruja Sornosa.
At that time, the name Zaplana seemed linked to what is called Naseiro affair. Finally, the invalidity of the wiretapping of a compromising conversation in which he recounted his political objectives and the filing of up to twelve complaints allowed him to save the first match point.
In the city of skyscrapers, Zaplana, far from reaching the ceiling, began the path that led him to Presidency of the Generalitat something he subscribed to in 1995 thanks to a pact (known as “chicken”) with the defunct Valencian Union. Seven years later, he was recruited by Jose Maria Aznar. First as Minister of Labor, then as government spokesperson. This happened to him at the Palau Jose Luis Olivasalso tried, although acquitted, in the Erial affair.
Arrested and 259 days in preventive detention
After the electoral defeat following the attacks of March 11, 2004 in Madrid, Zaplana continued to hold high-level responsibilities within the Popular Party. His last position was that of spokesperson for the Congress of Deputieswhich he abandoned on April 29, 2008. He then moved into private practice until ten years later he was arrested in Valence in the context of the Erial affair, for which he was found guilty of the crimes of prevarication, corruption, lying and money laundering.
In 2015, Zaplana underwent a bone marrow transplant at La Fe Hospital in the capital of Turia due to a strange variety of illnesses. leukemia. Despite this illness, he has already remained in prison temporarily for a total of 259 days, between May 2018 and February 2019. A destiny, that of prison, which awaits him again, unless a final legal appeal is made. prevented, after the ruling of justice. Provincial Court of Valencia.
