The head of Spain’s intelligence agency (CNI), Esperanza Casteleiro, has firmly denied allegations against the agency regarding surveillance of MEP Jordi Solé from the ERC party and lawyer Andreu Van den Eynde, who represented Oriol Junqueras. Her statement was made during a videoconference organized as part of an investigation by the Barcelona court. The case involves two separate incidents related to the use of Pegasus spyware.
Casteleiro was joined in giving testimony by her predecessor as CNI chief, Paz Esteban. Both relied on the state’s secrets law, which limited the disclosure of details. The legal proceedings were initiated by Jordi Solé and Andreu Van den Eynde, who claim their mobile devices were infected with Pegasus malware. As evidence, the case includes expert reports from Citizen Lab confirming the hacking.
The Spanish government previously officially acknowledged 18 cases of surveillance targeting members of the Catalan independence movement. However, in the cases of Solé and Van den Eynde, the CNI categorically denies any involvement. During the hearing, Van den Eynde’s lawyer questioned Paz Esteban about the forensic results that confirmed his phone was infected with Pegasus. Esteban acknowledged the existence of such findings but declined to provide details.
Investigation details
Jordi Solé filed a complaint about alleged espionage in the summer of 2022, while Andreu Van den Eynde did so several months earlier. Both believe that their phones were targeted specifically due to their professional activities and political stance. Case materials note that Van den Eynde was under surveillance when he participated in a videoconference with colleagues who were defending leaders of the Catalan movement during the trial related to the 2017 referendum.
The prosecution insists that actions against Solé are particularly serious, as they affect the confidentiality of correspondence, privacy, and parliamentary immunity. Solé himself has demanded that investigators contact the Israeli company NSO Group, which developed Pegasus, directly, and also send requests to Israel and Luxembourg for additional information.
The Role of CNI and Legal Aspects
During the hearings, Esperanza Casteleiro acknowledged that between 2019 and 2020, CNI indeed conducted surveillance on leaders of the Assemblea Nacional Catalana. However, she stated that these actions were authorized by Spain’s Supreme Court and were not necessarily tied to the use of Pegasus — it might have only involved wiretapping phone conversations.
At the same time, neither Casteleiro nor Esteban clarified whether this particular software was used against Solé and Van den Eynde. They cited legal restrictions on secrecy and refused to disclose operational details.
Human rights advocates respond
The human rights organization Irídia, representing Van den Eynde, accused the authorities and the CNI of withholding information. According to Irídia, this is one of the largest cases of illegal surveillance using Pegasus in Europe. To support their claims, they refer to a Citizen Lab report stating that around sixty people were victims of surveillance.
As part of the investigation, the Barcelona court rejected a proposal by the Catalan police (Mossos d’Esquadra) to conduct their own expert review of the case. This decision has raised concerns among the victims’ lawyers, who insist on the need for an independent analysis.
International dimension
The case involves international requests sent to Israel and Luxembourg, where key entities linked to the development and distribution of Pegasus are based. Investigators are trying to determine how the spyware ended up on the devices of Spanish politicians and lawyers, and who was behind these attacks.
So far, neither side has provided conclusive evidence to definitively establish the source of the surveillance. Spanish authorities continue to deny any involvement in the episodes related to Solé and Van den Eynde, despite acknowledging other cases of surveillance targeting Catalan activists.
