Catalan chief accuses Spain’s intelligence agency of hacking

By ARITZ PARRA
Associated Press

MADRID (AP) — Catalonia’s president is accusing Spain’s intelligence agency of conducting what he calls “massive political espionage” on the northeastern region’s independence movement. He says relations with Spain’s national authorities are “on hold” as a consequence. Pere Aragonès shared examples of techniques used to infiltrate the phones of dozens of Catalans that he says lead unequivocally to Spain’s National Intelligence Center. He said the agency has purchased a controversial Israeli spyware that silently infiltrates phones to harvest their data and potentially turns them into spying devices on their owners. The Spanish government has not denied nor confirmed whether it uses the programs. Defense Minister Margarita Robles says she cannot comment on the country’s intelligence services.