The trial in Madrid continues regarding the Kitchen case—a high-profile story involving the alleged use of secret Interior Ministry funds to spy on former Partido Popular treasurer Luis Bárcenas. At the latest session of the National Court, a key witness was Colonel Diego Pérez de los Cobos of the Civil Guard, who was in charge of overseeing the allocation and expenditure of secret funds at the Ministry of the Interior during the period of the alleged violations.
Pérez de los Cobos’s testimony drew particular interest, since he was the person responsible for authorizing spending decisions that, according to investigators, may have been used to finance an unofficial operation to gather information on Bárcenas. The court is investigating whether these funds were directed toward organizing surveillance and who within the Interior Ministry leadership was aware of these activities.
The priest and the messages
On the same day, the court also heard from another witness—priest Silverio Nieto, who served as spiritual advisor to former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz. During the hearing it emerged that Fernández Díaz had forwarded Nieto a message from his former deputy Francisco Martínez. In the message, Martínez warned that he was prepared to submit correspondence on the Kitchen case to the court, which could contain compromising details. According to the priest, the former minister replied that he had no information on the matter.
Testimonies of former officials
The trial is unfolding against the backdrop of last week’s testimony from former Deputy Prime Minister Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría and former Partido Popular Secretary General Javier Arenas. As expected, both witnesses denied having any information about unofficial operations during their time in government. Sáenz de Santamaría specifically emphasized that she was not aware of any actions against Bárcenas, and her position aligned with that previously stated by Mariano Rajoy and María Dolores de Cospedal.
Context and case development
The Kitchen case remains one of the most discussed legal proceedings in recent years, as it raises issues about the transparency of law enforcement activities and the use of state resources. As noted by russpain.com, public interest in the hearings is fueled not only by high-profile names but also by the fact that trust in state institutions is at stake. Previous sessions have already featured testimony from Bárcenas’s son and Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, which was examined in detail in the article about the key hearings in the Kitchen case.
The court hearings are ongoing, and new testimony is expected in the coming days that may shed light on the details of financing and the organization of the alleged operation. Attention to the process remains high, as its outcome could affect perceptions of the work of the Interior Ministry and Spain’s political institutions.
