A new leak of audio recordings made by former Spanish police commissioner José Manuel Villarejo further incriminates all the participants in the Spanish state's dirty war against the independence movement, the so-called Operation Catalonia. Published by the newspaper El País, the new audios mostly feature the voice of Francisco Martínez, the number two of Spain's interior ministry when the portfolio was held by Jorge Fernández Díaz during Mariano Rajoy's PP government. The conversations recorded between Martínez and the ex-commissioner Villarejo in 2012 show how the former top policeman pushed to move forward faster with Operation Catalonia, while Martínez considered that there was no rush. In this context, Villarejo issued his threat: either the Catalonia operation continues or an affidavit on the existence of the dirty war would be issued. In other words, the undersecretary was told in no uncertain term to let the police commissioner do it his way or he would betray everyone involved.
"I tell you what I've done. I'm meeting with a notary friend of mine tonight, and this morning I've deposited with him evidence for an affidavit, in case for some reason I am stopped or something happens to me, it is deposited," he explained - said Villarejo to Martínez, who asked him what kind of evidence. "I have proof that you are all in on this business," the commissioner stated bluntly.
Villarejo was becoming frustrated with Martínez, who wanted to leave "in the fridge" the new moves that the commissioner was mulling over in the framework of Operation Catalonia, which interior minister Jorge Fernández Díaz had earlier set in motion against Catalonia's pro-independence leaders. The new plan was to lay a complaint against the family of former Catalan president Jordi Pujol through a new Villarejo informant: the businessperson Javier de la Rosa.
The "business" that the ex-commissioner referred to was the police report that brought together faked evidence against pro-independence politicians. Villarejo had leaked this report to the Madrid daily El Mundo two weeks earlier. This is how he bragged about it to Martínez: "Why did [editor] Pedro J. publish it? Because I'm the only one who, at eight o'clock in the evening, can say to a fool like Inda: 'Oh, that, why don't you publish that, pa-pa-pa-pa...'. And at nine o'clock it's being printed."
"Those Catalan sons of bitches"
Villarejo warned Martínez of the danger of the independence movement and considered that the Spanish government had to act quickly and forcefully. The ex-commissioner insisted on imposing his line of action, which he claimed would be successful: "Difficult times are ahead and you need to have a team of honest, serious and tough people for those Catalan sons of bitches and those Basque sons of bitches. The Basques have been spooked, I know. Because of that they're shit-scared." Villarejo stated proudly: "This work, one day someone will write about it because we have changed this country's history, believe me".
Also in Villarejo's conversations with Martínez: a disagreement between the policeman and the politician over the funding for the ex-commissioner's actions. Villarejo used his close relationship with María Dolores de Cospedal, then-secretary general of the PP, as a weapon to obtain more money. "By the way, María Dolores said to me: 'What, they told you that they have no money? What a cheek.' I'll speak to Jorgito [Fernández Díaz]" warned Villarejo, to which Martínez replied that Cospedal did not know what he was talking about. "What do you mean she doesn't know? Excuse me, but an operation of this importance and the minister doesn't have the dough ready?" Villarejo exclaimed.