Political crisis brews in Spain amid allegations of espionage against Catalan separatists

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) – Allegations that the Spanish government hacked dozens of Catalan separatists’ phones with Pegasus spyware continued to drive a wedge between Spain’s ruling party and the regional parties that back the coalition government.

On Wednesday, Catalonia’s President Pere Aragones called on Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles to resign as several other parties attacked the government on the issue in the Spanish parliament.

“The question is if you ordered the espionage,” said Catalan politician Gabriel Rufian to the ruling politicians. “If you did, it’s terribly serious, but if you didn’t, it’s even worse because that means you haven’t gotten rid of people operating in the shadows.”

The debate comes just a day before Spain’s parliament is set to vote on a massive economic recovery package related to the war in Ukraine.

Spain’s minority coalition government has relied on the backing of separatist groups to pass legislation, but some, including Rufian, insinuated they would not support the bill unless a serious investigation into spying takes place.

Last week, it emerged that 63 Catalan politicians, activists and other figures in the separatist movement were targeted by Pegasus spyware – the largest documented cluster of such attacks on record.

Pegasus spyware allows hackers to read text messages, track calls, collect passwords, extract contacts, and gather information from apps such as WhatsApp and Gmail.

“This is a serious issue which demands serious answers,” said Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Wednesday, after the government announced Sunday that it would launch an inquiry into the issue.

Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has denied using Pegasus software or being a client of NSO Group, the Israeli company that makes the spyware.

However, Robles justified surveillance against Catalan separatists, many of whom were convicted of sedition for a failed independence push in 2017.

“What should a government do when someone violates the constitution, when someone declares independence … when someone provokes public disorder and when someone has relations with the political leaders of a country that is invading Ukraine?” she asked, making reference to the alleged connections between Catalan separatists and the Russian government.