UK Edition
Catalonia accuses Spain of spying on its UK mission as order revealed to 'get closer to Nicola Sturgeon'
Catalonia’s pro-independence government has accused Spain of spying on its internal communications with its UK diplomatic mission, after foreign ministry documents revealed Catalan plans to "get closer to Nicola Sturgeon".
Alfred Bosch, the foreign affairs chief for the Catalan government, said documents filed by Madrid in a court bid included summaries of confidential exchanges between Catalan leaders and diplomats.
He challenged Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell to state publicly what state resources were being used to spy on Catalan politicians “here and in Europe”. As well as the British mission, those in Germany and Switzerland had also been subject to surveillance, Mr Bosch claimed.
“Borrell must show his face and take responsibility for what we know. And if necessary, he must resign,” Mr Bosch said in Catalonia’s parliament on Wednesday.
Mr Borrell, who has been nominated by the Council of the European Union to become the EU’s next foreign policy chief, is a stern opponent of independence for Catalonia.
Mr Bosch’s department points to Spanish Foreign Ministry documents submitted by the Spanish Solicitor General’s Office in its legal bid to have Catalonia’s missions in London, Berlin and Geneva closed down.
In one document published by the online newspaper eldiario.es, Sergi Marcén, the Catalan delegate in the UK, is told by Mr Bosch’s department to “get closer to Nicola Sturgeon” to promote the idea of a “memorandum of understanding between Catalan and Scottish governments”, as well as contacting the leaders of Amnesty International in Britain and the PEN International human rights organisation.
Mr Bosch said that none of this information, contained in a memo following his meeting with the presiding officer of the Welsh Assembly, Elin Jones, was made public.
Spain’s foreign ministry has said in a statement that “it is part of our mission to closely monitor any activity that seeks to undermine the image of Spain abroad and, in particular, all those whose purpose is to complete the independence project of the government of Catalonia”.
Mr Borrell’s ministry says the Catalan overseas missions are “an instrument used to promote secessionist theories and denigrate Spain’s international standing”.
Another note from the foreign ministry in the case file reports on an alleged request by jailed Catalan politician Oriol Junqueras for foreign representatives of Catalonia to “develop contacts with representatives of ecclesiastical congregations in their respective countries, in order to obtain the support of the Church to improve the situation of the politicians imprisoned in Catalonia”.
Allegations of spying between Spain and Catalonia are not new.
Catalonia’s parliament has investigated the activities of a secret Spanish police unit that worked to smear Catalan pro-independence politicians with corruption allegations that were either aired in judicial investigations or in conservative newspapers. Meanwhile, Belgium’s parliament is investigating whether Spanish intelligence services have operated in secret in the country to track the movements of self-exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont.
Spanish police have reportedly found documents dumped by Catalonia’s security forces that show how the pro-independence government in Barcelona spies on opponents to the separatist cause.