The new outburst by the Spanish defence minister, Margarita Robles, in the Congress of Deputies, losing her composure, justifying, for the first time, the mass espionage against Catalan pro-independence activists with Pegasus software and even stating, in reply to the CUP deputy Mireia Vehí, that the Spanish state was almost forced to take this action when independence had been declared in Catalonia, has taken the media limelight away from the contention between Pere Aragonès and Pedro Sánchez. The Catalan president's demand for the Spanish prime minister to dismiss Robles has strained relations between these political allies in the Spanish Cortes and has introduced an element that was not on the table just ten days ago: might ERC withdraw its support from the PSOE and Unidas Podemos government or is this a tactical exercise of the type that is so common in politics?
For the first time since the Catalangate scandal emerged, prime minister Sánchez has spoken publicly about the case. Not because he wanted to, but because he was forced to do so at the government question session in the Congress of Deputies. The PM, as was to be expected, did not enter the fray, did not assume any responsibility and defended the work of the CNI, the Spanish intelligence agency and the body accused, at present, over the mass espionage against pro-independence activists and people linked to them. Gabriel Rufián did not obtain any deviation from the script prepared by the Moncloa government palace - saying that everything had been done within the law. The MPs' questions continued with a group of five more aimed at the defence minister, who held out well until almost the end with the CUP deputy, when she went off script - since when has it been acceptable for a minister to defend political espionage against adversaries, and in what democracy other than Spain is such an outrage even uttered? - and at that point, lost it.
Today, Sánchez has an added problem with the Pegasus case, which is the urgent democratic need to dismiss his defence minister, as demanded by president Aragonès. That her removal from office is an obligation is a very different thing from saying that it will happen, and this is for three reasons: Margarita Robles has a solid position in the government based on being the highest-rated minister in polls, and her role as a key cog in the machinery of the state - we must not forget that she has been a Supreme Court judge - and awareness of all the secrets of the CNI. In addition, if the CNI is to blame for the mass espionage in Spain using Pegasus, for what has come to light till now as well as those parts that have not yet seen the light of day, she is the one responsible. But there is an added factor in this: sacrificing the head of Robles would be a show of Sánchez's weakness and it does not seem that the president wants the Republican Left of Catalonia to decide his government. However, politics has many twists and turns, the journey still ahead for Catalangate will be long and votes in Congress take place every week.
It seems clear that the Spanish government has got caught in a cul-de-sac due to its slowness and clumsiness. Obviously, too - and this is the real numb of the issue - because it has acted outside the law. With the first measures offered to the pro-independence parties by the Spanish government having failed miserably - they were at an amateurish level - does anyone think that calling together the official secrets committee of Congress is a serious response to the conflict that has arisen? - there are two proposals left on the table that are inexorably linked: the resignation of those responsible, and an independent commission of inquiry in Congress. To accept the first is to admit that you have acted outside the law and penalize those responsible, but the second, equally important or even more so, means that you don't want to hide from the truth but rather to know what happened, how it came to occur and to bring to light all the illegalities practiced.
Politically, the second is more important, because with the first we will never know the truth. And a question for those who might oppose this: was the Operation Kitchen case - the corruption of the PP - more important than CatalanGate? For that, a commission of inquiry was set up.