In Madrid, the defense of Eugenio Pino, former Deputy Operational Director (DAO) of Spain’s National Police, accused Ignacio Cosidó, the force’s former director general, of avoiding responsibility during the final phase of the Kitchen case trial. Pino’s lawyer argued that Cosidó could have helped clarify the covert operation targeting former People’s Party (PP) treasurer Luis Bárcenas by disclosing what he knew. The accusation sharpened a dispute between former police leaders and political officials over who knew about the operation and who bore responsibility for it.
Pino maintained during the trial that Cosidó knew about the 2013 operation, which allegedly sought to monitor Bárcenas and locate assets held abroad. Information from Pino, Cosidó also suggested involving Commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. Cosidó, testifying as a witness, denied knowing about the operation and denied contact with Bárcenas’s driver. Pino’s defense argued that officials were now distancing themselves from the operation to avoid legal consequences. Prosecutors, meanwhile, have argued that its purpose was to obtain sensitive documents that could implicate senior PP figures in the Gürtel corruption investigation.
The defense also challenged the testimony of Manuel Morocho, the chief inspector who led the Gürtel probe. Morocho testified that he had faced pressure from superiors and had not been told about the parallel surveillance of Bárcenas. Pino’s lawyer rejected Morocho’s account and accused him of presenting himself as if he controlled the investigation. The defense maintained that, even if some officers had overstepped, Pino was unaware of unlawful conduct. Commissioner Enrique García Castaño previously acknowledged entering the office of Bárcenas’s wife without a court order and taking electronic devices to be cloned.
Pino is on trial alongside other senior officials, including former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz and former Secretary of State for Security Francisco Martínez. Prosecutors are seeking a 15-year prison sentence for Pino. In 2025, Spain’s Supreme Court convicted him of unlawfully obtaining data on Jordi Pujol Ferrusola and attempting to use it against the Pujol family in court. The Kitchen proceedings have put competing accounts of police and political responsibility at the center of the trial, as defendants and witnesses dispute what senior officials knew and when.
The proceedings began in April and had reached their 35th session at the time described in court. They were expected to conclude before the end of July, with four more defense teams scheduled to present closing arguments before the accused were given an chance to make a final statement. Judge Teresa Palacios is presiding. For further context on another defendant’s position, see the related coverage of Jorge Fernández Díaz’s position in the Kitchen case.
The case centers on whether the operation was legitimate police work or was used to prevent information from reaching investigators examining Gürtel. The proceedings have exposed deep divisions within Spain’s police and political leadership. Competing testimony has kept attention on accountability and the handling of sensitive information. Separately, El Nacional reported that the president of the Audiencia Nacional exchanged messages with Francisco Martínez during the investigation, a controversy connected to the case but distinct from the allegations being tried.
