Spanish Court Denies Citizenship to Suspected Moroccan Intelligence Agent

In its decision dated October 9, the judge indicates that the alleged spy "does not deny" the facts and acknowledges working with the Moroccan secret services for nearly a quarter of a century. The judge then decided to refuse him Spanish nationality for reasons of "national security", confirming a previous decision of November 2020.

This is not the first Moroccan presumed spy to whom the Spanish justice system has refused nationality. In May 2021, the National Court had refused nationality to another Moroccan for "his collaboration with the Moroccan intelligence services" since 2010. The applicant was tasked with producing "reports on the activities of the Polisario Front and the Moroccan community residing in Spain," recalls Ideal.

In September 2022, another decision of this Spanish court revealed the existence of a spy network based in the Moroccan consulates in Seville and Madrid since 2016. Another decision of January 2020 also mentions the existence of a network of spies based at the Moroccan consulate in Las Palmas and which operated between 2008 and 2016.

The Supreme Court has established since 2013 a doctrine requiring the CNI to justify its reports aimed at requesting the refusal of nationality, asylum or the expulsion of a foreigner for reasons of "national security". It is also on the basis of a CNI report that Spain suspected Morocco in 2021 of having hacked, using Pegasus, the phones of Pedro Sánchez, Fernando Grande-Marlaska and Margarita Robles.