"I don't know if I am the most suitable person to be talking about signings by Real Madrid but these amounts seem excessive to me," Zapatero, a fan of Real's arch-rivals Barcelona, said in an interview with television broadcaster Cuatro.
"In principle, I don't like it."
"We cannot always complain in an economy with a free market when there is something we don't like, and there are a lot of things that I don't like," he told Cuatro.
"It would be bad for the government to step in and say to a bank, this credit yes and this credit no," he added. "It has to be the private sector that takes the risk."
Perez was quoted as saying on Wednesday that people who have called the club's spending immoral are ignorant and misguided.
Asked in an interview with newspaper Publico if he was annoyed when his bid for Ronaldo was labelled immoral, Perez told the paper: "No. I simply believe that it is a result of ignorance.
"This is a corporate project and some investments (in players) and those who see it differently are misguided. But time will prove us right and that's why I am relaxed," he added.
