Catalan and Spanish governments to meet in Barcelona to talk Catalangate espionage case

The Catalan presidency minister, Laura Vilagrà, will meet with her Spanish counterpart Félix Bolaños on Sunday at the Catalan government HQ in Barcelona. The meeting, focused on the Catalangate espionage case, will be the first one between both executives since the publication on Monday by The New Yorker magazine and Citizen Lab research group.

The gathering will be used by the Catalan cabinet to ask for an explanation and responsibilities regarding the alleged espionage of over 60 pro-independence figures.

On Saturday, the Catalan president and one of Catalangate’s victims, Pere Aragonès, criticized Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez for not addressing the matter. The situation will not be solved "with a meeting picture," he added before urging for transparency and more information to be released.  

Aragonès, as well as all the Catalan presidents since 2010, have all been directly or indirectly affected by the software. Quim Torra’s phone was infected while he was serving as president, while former president Artur Mas was attacked after leaving office. 

Now based in Belgium, former president Carles Puigdemont was not directly affected but the phones of up to 11 of his close associates, including his spouse, were infected with the spyware. 

His wife was infected "at least twice," the Citizen Lab reports read, once on or around October 7, 2019 and the second time on July 4, 2020. 

What is Catalangate?

Catalangate is the name that Citizen Lab, a University of Toronto-based research group that reports on high-tech human rights abuses gave its investigation into the espionage of several Catalan pro-independence politicians, activists, and their close associates. 

It is "the largest forensically documented cluster of such attacks and infections on record," the New Yorker published on Monday. 

Phones were infected using spyware programs Pegasus and Candiru. Pegasus, from Israeli company NSO Group, is known internationally for its previous infections of renowned people, such as murdered Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi, or members of Rwanda’s opposition party.

Candiru, founded by former NSO Group employees, is not as well known but is similar to Pegasus.