2 Spanish intelligence agents arrested for allegedly leaking information to US: Report

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Two Spanish intelligence agents were arrested for allegedly leaking secret information to the US, Spanish daily El Pais reported on Monday.

Defense Minister Margarita Robles confirmed that a judge is investigating the case and that Spain’s National Intelligence Center (CNI) filed the legal complaint.

Speaking from a military base in Lithuania, she said she could not elaborate as the legal proceedings are secretive.

Earlier on Monday, Spanish daily El Confidencial broke the story, saying various agents were under investigation and that the leaks opened a diplomatic crisis between Madrid and Washington.

The Spanish government was outraged that an ally like the US had infiltrated Spain’s intelligence agency, sources told El Confidencial.

Even so, Madrid has tried to keep it quiet, the daily reports.

The last major information scandal in the agency took place in 2007 when Roberto Florez, a spy, was arrested for selling information to Russia about the CNI, as well as revealing the secret identities of dozens of operatives from Spain and other nations.

Florez was condemned to 12 years in prison in 2010.