Moroccan Diplomat in Barcelona Targeted in Spanish Espionage Operation

The case dates back to mid-2014, when the Ministry of the Interior, then led by Jorge Fernández Díaz, suspecting a possible alliance between Morocco and the Generalitat government, had ordered the opening of an investigation. The investigations, conducted under the direction of a national police expert in the fight against jihadism, lasted two years, reports El nacional.cat.

Two reports to which RAC1 had access reveal how this investigation had been conducted. Spies had been recruited to monitor the movements of the Moroccan officials on whom suspicions weighed. Thus, it was discovered that the Moroccan consul in Barcelona had held several meetings with members of the Moroccan community, the only objective of which was to propagate the separatist discourse, according to the investigators.

Initially, the investigations focused on a Convergència i Unió foundation, Nous Catalans, dedicated to strengthening ties with immigrants living in Catalonia. In a 2014 report, the investigators indicated that they were convinced that the Generalitat, then led by Artur Mas, intended to forge an alliance with the local Moroccan community to advance the independence process.

But in another 2015 report, they changed their version, revealing that it was Morocco that had tried to infiltrate the separatist movement to take control of it. The meetings at the Moroccan consul’s office in Madrid were aimed at this objective, according to the investigators. Ultimately, these investigations did not lead to any results. Before this investigation, Spain had expelled in 2013 Nouredine Ziani, one of the suspected Moroccan spies supporting the separatist movement.