Spain’s Conservative Party Embroiled in “Operation Kitchen” Spying Case

Investigating magistrates have the cooperation of former secretary of state for security Francisco Martinez Vazquez who has been indicted as part of the investigation into "Operation Kitchen".

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During an interview published Sunday in top-selling daily newspaper El Pais, he said he wants to "tell the judge everything" he knows about "Operation Kitchen".

Prosecutors say Vazquez has already provided investigators with messages he exchanged with his former boss Fernandez Diaz which show that the former Interior Minister was aware of the operation.

"My biggest mistake at the ministry was to be loyal to miserable people like Jorge (Fernandez Diaz), Rajoy or Cospedal," he said in a message he sent which was included in the prosector's report.

Taking distance

The scandal comes at a bad time for the PP, which was defeated by the left in the last two general elections and is facing stiff competition from the rise of far-right party Vox.

Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist Party and its smaller coalition partners have requested a parliamentary investigation into "Operation Kitchen".

The affair "distracts attention at a time when the PP wanted to unite the right and focus its criticism on the government's handling of the pandemic and the economy," said Antonio Barroso, an analyst at political consultancy Teneo.

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PP leader Pablo Casado, 39, who took over from Rajoy, has sought to distance himself from the scandal.

"I am not here to protect fellow party members," he said Monday during an interview with conservative radio Cope.

"Whoever has to fall will fall," he added.

Casado stressed last week when the scandal broke that when the alleged spying on Barcenas took place he held no position of responsibility within the PP. 

(Writer: Mathieu Gorse)

Source: http://u.afp.com/3acs