Yesterday, Pedro Sánchez raised to the debate and analysis of the Council of Ministers the journalistic revelations – following the investigation of La Vanguardia and ElDiario.es -, about the use of State resources during the mandates of Mariano Rajoy to pursue independence Catalan. For the president of the central government, this is “a very serious event”, to which he wants to give maximum political relevance. And sources from the Executive recognize that there was “a lot of interest” among the members of the Council of Ministers to address an issue that, according to the minister’s spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, entails “an enormous gravity”.
Sánchez thus puts Rajoy in the pillory, determined to clarify “until their last consequences” the alleged irregular maneuvers of his predecessor, since the Spanish Government has completely opened the door to force the appearance of the former president in the commission of congressional investigation into operation Catalonia. The Executive and the PSOE are directing both the focus and the pressure of political responsibility on the current leader of the PP, AlbertoNúñez Feijóo, whom they reproach for his “clamorous silence” in view of these revelations.
In Moncloa, they connect Rajoy’s behavior as head of the Executive with Feijóo’s attitude, now, as leader of the opposition. “The serious thing here is the way the PP is acting. When they are in Government, they use all the resources of the State of Law to spy on and persecute their political opponents. And when they are in opposition, they plan to outlaw all political parties that don’t think like them,” said Alegría. “These are scandalous and shameful behaviors”, he replied.
The minister spokeswoman encouraged Rajoy to appear in the commission of inquiry into the Catalonia operation in Congress, in line with the demands of Junts and ERC. “It is essential that everything is known and clarified. Therefore, the appearance of any member of the previous PP administration should not be ruled out”, stated Alegría.
The spokeswoman for the Government of the Generalitat, Patrícia Plaja, spoke in the same vein, following the information that Rajoy was aware of the “crimes by the police” commission. “If Rajoy knew about it and did not prevent it, it means that he endorsed it”, pointed out Plaja. The former president, he concluded, “must be summoned” to the commission of inquiry.
“The facts that we are aware of are extremely serious, and we will get to the last consequences, analyzing all the documentation down to the smallest detail”, emphasized the minister spokeswoman, and echoed Sánchez’s decision.
In Moncloa they limit the action, at least for now, to the investigation carried out by the parliamentary commission, stressing that the new journalistic revelations “demonstrate the opportunity” that has been created in this new legislature, at the behest of Together with the GNP.
In addition to aiming at Rajoy, the Spanish Government also aims higher, against Feijóo. “In view of the knowledge of the seriousness of these facts, the absolute silence of Feijóo and the PP is too obvious, a resounding silence”, Alegría stressed. “We hope and wish that the PP, and especially Feijóo, will give explanations”, he warned.
In line with this position, the Council of Ministers yesterday approved the partial declassification of secret documentation from the National Intelligence Center (CNI) on the wiretap suffered by the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, through the program spy pegasus The events date back to 2018 and 2020, already under the mandate of Sánchez – who was also the subject of telephone calls, like other ministers, of unknown origin -, when Aragonès was vice president.
“The main interested party in clarifying this issue is the Spanish Government”, alleged Alegría, to justify the compliance with the petition that was moved in November by judge Santiago García – head of the court of inquiry number 29 of Barcelona -, which investigates the case following the complaint presented by Aragonès himself.
This controversy already cost the position, in May 2022, to the then director of the CNI, PazEsteban, who is waiting to appear as an investigated before the judge on January 26. Alegría warned that the partial declassification of reserved documents, “for this specific case” and at the request of the court, “in no case does it affect national security”.
“What does affect national security – he insisted – is the way the PP acts, which when it is in the Government uses the resources of the State to persecute its political opponents, and when it is in the opposition it wants to outlaw those who do not think like them”.
