As the Canadian research centre Citizen Lab revealed in mid-April 2022, the Spanish authorities carried out illegal surveillance actions since 2015, spying on at least 65 leaders and activists of the Catalan independence movement, as well as their relatives, lawyers and journalists. This blatant attack on fundamental rights and democratic principles has been denounced by international organisations such as the European Lawyers’ Association for Democracy (ELDH) and Amnesty International.

On May, the European Commission demanded a written explanation to all the countries who had used Pegasus malware to spy on their citizens, and Spain is the only country who has failed to provide it. The political espionage affair, known as the CatalanGate, remains unanswered for. The Spanish authorities have still taken no accountability or offered reparation to the victims of this abuse of fundamental rights.