The CNI decided to spy on Pere Aragonès because in his free time he was the alleged leader of the CDR. "Undercover", with his escort, a troop of advisers, the official car and the "always mobile number". The three authorizations by the Supreme Court for the monitoring of the then vice president put even more into question the purpose of the espionage. The result of the intrusions on Aragonès' phone for nine months must have been disappointing, beyond gathering first-hand political information. Otherwise, Judge García Castellón would investigate him with fruition for terrorism alongside Carles Puigdemont.
The Spanish Government has not declassified all the documentation requested by the judge in the Pegasus case, but the spy software was running on his mobile phone while he was receiving messages and talking to ministers who talked too much and made imprudent assessments. Perhaps today they suffer more than Aragonès. Also on December 1, 2019, during a meeting in Moncloa (with mobile) where he negotiated the investiture in exchange for the dialogue table, between governments and not between parties. A coffee in Moncloa and a beer in an Irish pub watching Atlético de Madrid-Barça, which Sánchez followed from the box office of the Wanda Metropolitano. Messi scored in the 86th minute. Barça won 0-1.
The CNI spied during Sánchez's failed investiture, the reactions to the 1-O ruling, the following electoral campaign and the negotiation to make president, this time yes, the leader of the PSOE. The last intervention authorized by the judge – on January 14, 2020 – is to a political leader who has already agreed with the PSOE and without news of CDR activity.
If a bit of epicness was missing in the profile of the Aragonés candidate, the CNI has given him a gift to the Palau de la Generalitat. The day Judge Lamela sent Oriol Junqueras to prison, the ERC leader not only turned the helm away from unilateralism, but left it in the hands of Aragonès, captain of management and moderation in the forms And he hasn't moved. His reaction to the content of the interlocutors authorizing the espionage was to consider it typical of a "Mortadel·lo and Filemó adventure". He cannot help but smile if he imagines himself as head of the CDR. Even more so yesterday having lunch with the prisoners of Puig de les Basses while the former director of the CNI testified in front of the judge.Even so, she is aware of the political advantage granted to her by the interest of the Unit for the Defense of Constitutional Principles of the CNI.
The objective, as explained by Paz Esteban at the time, was "to prevent and avoid any threat to the territorial integrity of Spain". And the Intelligence Directive included independence as an information objective. It wasn't a secret. Nor the attempts to link it with terrorist actions. In order to negotiate with the PSOE, Puigdemont demanded that the Government urge Europol to withdraw this reference from its annual report.
The Sánchez Government insists that neither the CNI nor the Supreme Court "logically" report on their activities and turn the focus to the PP. Meanwhile, the degree of indignation is being managed in the Palace. The relationship with Moncloa is fluid - "we talk a lot" - so there will be no scenes like the meeting between Laura Vilagrà and Félix Bolaños after learning about the espionage in the spring of 2022. Then, the central government offered reforms legal to ERC that remain in the drawer, such as updating the Franco law on Official Secrets or extending control over the CNI.
The screen of rummaging in the "distrust" between partners has already passed. ERC will insist on the "operation" against him and that the PSOE does not control all the State's resources, but he will not abandon the path of negotiation. Two tables await them – one of governments and another of parties – at the end of March and the Republicans cannot waste it. The management maintains that after investing Sánchez and with the amnesty wearing down the socialists, the polls show the possibility of contesting the victory for the PSC. Once the Government has made the adjustment to gain in capacity for political shock, Aragonès and his history of spies will gain prominence in party events.
