During hearings in Madrid regarding the alleged illegal surveillance of former Partido Popular treasurer Bárcenas, new details emerged about attempts to destroy compromising materials. According to El Pais, the ex-treasurer testified before the National Court, which is investigating the activities of the so-called ‘patriotic police’ — a group of Interior Ministry officials who, according to the investigation, acted on leadership orders to gather information against members of their own party.
Bárcenas explained that during his time in pretrial detention, he turned to another inmate with experience handling digital archives. He said he instructed this person to delete three files from cloud storage. According to Bárcenas, these records contained conversations about the Partido Popular’s ‘off-the-books’ accounting, as well as episodes involving Rajoy and deputy Javier Arenas. In one recording, the witness claimed, Rajoy was in his Génova office receiving an envelope, after which he destroyed a certain document.
The inmate received a payment of €4,000–4,500 from Bárcenas for completing the task. The passwords and instructions, according to the former treasurer, were handed over in writing. After leaving detention, Bárcenas found that access to the cloud had been erased, but he is unaware of what happened to the records after that. The judge showed him a photograph of the alleged perpetrator, and Bárcenas confirmed his identity.
Case details and participants’ reactions
During the hearings, Bárcenas also reported pressure and a change in attitude from prison staff after the surveillance began. He mentioned incidents when he was taken to the hospital in handcuffs, subjected to searches, and even attempts to install a camera in the shower. According to him, the atmosphere became “unbearable” after the information-gathering operation was launched.
Before the session began, attention was drawn to a meeting between Bárcenas and former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz, who is also implicated in the case. According to El País, Díaz discussed a football match but did not have contact with the former treasurer. Only one key figure was absent from the courtroom – former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo.
Context and significance for Spain
The case of the surveillance of Bárcenas has become one of the most high-profile trials in recent years, as it involves not only the internal mechanisms of the Partido Popular but also questions about the use of state resources to resolve intra-party conflicts. The focus has been on police methods and the degree of involvement of top officials in operations against their own colleagues.
The court proceedings continue amid other high-profile events in Spanish politics. For example, the media recently focused on the Prime Minister’s wife’s visit to China, where diplomatic protocol became a topic of discussion — read more about this in the article on the details of Begoña Gómez’s trip to Beijing.
