Spain’s National Court has stepped up scrutiny of the so-called Villarejo case. Judge Antonio Piña, the investigating judge at the court’s Basic Investigative Court No. 6, has directed the National Police’s Internal Affairs Unit to examine materials seized from retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. Police will look for communications involving María Dolores de Cospedal, former secretary general of the Partido Popular (PP), and her former partner, businessman Ignacio López del Hierro, as well as bank-transfer records that could indicate criminal activity.
The latest move follows repeated requests from the PSOE, which participates as a popular-prosecution party in several strands of the Villarejo investigation. The party has long sought to have Cospedal re-imputed over her alleged connections to Villarejo, but the National Court rejected earlier attempts. Cospedal was investigated in the Kitchen case, which centers on alleged illegal surveillance of former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas. The inquiry examined claims that police resources and reserved funds were used to obtain or neutralize documents Bárcenas held that could have implicated senior PP figures. Judge Manuel García-Castellón, Piña’s predecessor in the Kitchen proceedings, ultimately closed the case against her.
In a new resolution signed on Thursday and reported by EL PAÍS, Judge Piña grants the PSOE’s request to include an audio recording aired by Catalan radio station RAC1. Villarejo and Cospedal discuss sensitive documents allegedly linked to Bárcenas in the recording. The conversation refers to the discovery and alleged removal of compromising material, with Cospedal reportedly saying that “everything Bárcenas had” was “cleaned.” The judge has authorized the audio’s inclusion in the case file and tasked Internal Affairs with checking whether similar evidence exists among Villarejo’s confiscated materials.
The Anticorruption Prosecutor’s Office opposed the PSOE’s request, but the court’s decision opens a new avenue for potential legal action. The order concerns the examination of evidence; it does not reinstate Cospedal as a defendant. Judge Piña has not reversed his earlier refusal to summon Cospedal and López del Hierro in that capacity. Any further step will depend on what the police examination establishes and on subsequent judicial decisions.
The development comes as the Kitchen case moves toward judgment. By July 2026, the trial had formally concluded for judgment, and Villarejo made a final statement to the court, reportedly saying that the truth would come to light. The case has drawn impressive attention over allegations that senior PP figures orchestrated a covert operation to seize sensitive documents from Bárcenas to protect the party leadership. Central to the proceedings’ wider public and legal significance is the alleged use of police structures and reserved funds for partisan purposes.
Legal disputes over evidence and the handling of high-profile police cases have become increasingly common in Spain’s courts. A recent case involving a former police official seeking dismissal of sexual assault charges also highlighted the complexities of evidence review and judicial decision-making, as detailed in this related report.
The Villarejo investigation has had a profound impact on Spanish politics and law enforcement. Villarejo, a retired police commissioner, became a basic figure in inquiries into alleged links between political and business actors, as well as police officials, and the use of recordings and documents gathered during his career. The Kitchen case, one of the investigation’s most prominent strands, raises the question of whether state security resources intended to protect the public were used to serve party interests. The court’s latest order does not guarantee new charges, but directs police to examine whether additional evidence exists that could affect the proceedings concerning Cospedal and the broader questions of accountability.
