Since 2015, Spanish authorities have carried out illegal surveillance operations against members of the Catalan independence movement. In April 2022, the Canadian research centre Citizen Lab revealed that at least 65 individuals had been targeted, including members of the European Parliament, Catalan Presidents, legislators, jurists and members of civil society organisations. 

After this revelation, the European Commission demanded a written explanation from all countries that had used Pegasus malware to spy on their citizens, and Spain was the only country that failed to provide it. The CatalanGate political espionage affair remains unanswered. Spanish authorities have still taken no accountability or offered reparation to the victims of this abuse of fundamental rights, as requested by UN Special Rapporteurs.

Several cases of Spanish police officers infiltrating Catalan pro-independence and other social movements have also been exposed. These practices are exploitative and constitute a serious abuse of the right to privacy, especially as it was reported that some police officers engaged in personal relations with activists to gain their confidence and obtain information.