Catalan president demands answers on espionage controversy in Madrid

Pere Aragonès, the president of Catalonia, has demanded urgency and answers relating to the Catalangate espionage controversy from Madrid. 

On Monday, it was revealed that around 65 pro-independence politicians, lawyers, and activists had their phones and communications devices infected with the Pegasus spyware system. 

Aragonés warned the Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez that he wants the Spanish executive to act with speed in finding who was responsible for the spyware attacks. "We need to take responsibility, and we cannot let time pass," he said, accusing the Spanish government of inaction.

Aragonès said that currently the level of confidence between his party, ERC, and the Spanish government "is zero," and until it is restored, ERC will not be able to maintain support for the Spanish government in the Spanish Congress. The Catalan government has already frozen negotiations with Spain in the wake of the controversy. 

The current Spanish government, led by Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Party with Unidas Podemos as a junior coalition partner, was facilitated to power by ERC. 

The issue, Aragonès underlined, will not be resolved with a personal meeting with Sánchez, as "actions" are needed to clarify the facts, he said. "It's not just about having a meeting, it's about facts and decisions, and the Spanish government has to make decisions and explain whether it ordered espionage."

Aragonés delivered this message outside the doors of the Spanish Congress in Madrid after holding a meeting with representatives other political groups that were also spied on: Catalan pro-independence parties ERC, Junts, PDeCAT, CUP, Basque parties Bildu and PNB, and the junior partner in the Spanish government, Podemos.

Together, the group registered a request for the creation of an inquiry commission in the Congress on Wednesday to clarify the details of what the Catalan president described as the "most serious espionage case in Spanish democracy."

The president stressed that the acts "cannot go unpunished" and that "transparency and accountability" are needed. 

Parliament demands investigation

The Catalan Parliament has signed off on a text that calls on the Spanish government to investigate "as quickly and transparently as possible" the alleged spying of members of pro-independence groups. 

The text also wants Spanish officials to "assume responsibilities at all necessary levels." 

It also pledges to protect and preserve the rights of those affected and to "intervene in the cases that arise as a result of the victims' complaints." 

ERC, JxCat, CUP and ECP put forward the text, which was not backed by the Socialists. Sources from the Socialist Party told the Catalan News Agency that they were ready to put their names on the text, but that their proposed amendments had been overturned.