The arrogance shown this Tuesday by the Spanish minister of defence, Margarita Robles Fernández, towards her pro-independence parliamentary allies, who - it must not be forgotten - enabled her to assume the position she now holds by voting to facilitate the formation of Pedro Sánchez's government, demonstrates two things. The first, the nervousness of the head of defence after the absolute failure of the first carefully-prepared damage control exercise over CatalanGate, put into action to try to stop the undermining of the Spanish government's credibility; secondly, that the Spanish executive continues to have no alibi with even the slightest credibility to explain how it was possible to carry out industrial-scale spying via Pegasus software against pro-independence politicians, lawyers and a range of different personalities in what is the biggest illegal surveillance scandal that has ever come to light in Europe.
This defiant attitude from Robles has only served to make eight political parties - including all of those in the Catalan and Basque sovereignty spaces, and also Unidas Podemos - demand that the Spanish government clarify politically and judicially the mass espionage, and that the Congress of Deputies show its accountability to the Spanish public and allow the creation of a parliamentary commission of inquiry. With this new assertion by Pedro Sánchez's partners while the PM himself remains silent, one could easily think that the Moncloa government palace either has no answer to give or is not aware of the implications that the issue may end up having for the stability of the executive. Evidence of the PSOE's parliamentary fragility is spreading through Madrid like the trail of a vehicle leaking ever-increasing amounts of fuel. The right-wing media and the PP are standing by with a box of matches; what happens, time will tell.
It seems clear that the minister Robles's arrogance to her pro-independence partners, who she has literally told to "go to court; false complaints have consequences", has dropped a heavy load of new problems on the head of Pedro Sánchez. The interested leak to El País from CNI intelligence agency sources saying that the espionage carried out against Catalan independentists with the Pegasus program had been on an individual basis, never massive, and always with the permission of the Supreme Court, was immediately seen to be far from an effective firebreak, very easy for the flames of the crisis to jump. It was counter-programmed by El Español through the always well-informed journalist of events in the Supreme Court, María Peral. The Supreme Court, with cases open in Europe that have called into question its rigour and prestige, such as judge Llarena's preliminary questions affecting exiled politicians such as Carles Puigdemont, was unwilling to carry the can. Result: the Supreme Court made it clear that the CNI had never asked for permission to spy on Pegasus.
Very probably, the judiciary, which also has its differences with the Spanish government and they are not minor matters, has little desire to help Pedro Sánchez. It seems as if, all of a sudden, the Moncloa is not radiating the power that it has always posited, but rather, appears as a fragile and vulnerable political space. The test will be the behaviour of Madrid's extreme-right press and of the PP. And we will see if Pedro Sánchez can still pull some rabbit out of a hat with his pro-independence allies or can offer a head on a platter of sufficient importance to lower the tension. If at the beginning, on Easter Monday, when everything exploded, even the sacrifice of the CNI director, Paz Esteban López, would have served, this is no longer the case today. Basically, because in these eight days of CatalanGate she has had such a minor role and almost non-existent standing that her resignation would hardly alleviate the irritation.
Something similar is happening with the interior minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who has turned the other way to the extent that he has deftly allowed all the darts to target his cabinet colleague, Margarita Robles. Marlaska, for the first time, has been skillful and has allowed all the calls for resignation to impact on the defence minister, a real hunting trophy in the big game of the Spanish deep state, solidly anchored in the structures of power, who has been, successively, among other things, the top-graduating judge from the Spanish judicial school in her year, presiding judge of the Barcelona Audience, secretary of state for interior in the then-ministry of justice and interior in the 1990s, a judge on the National Audience and Supreme Court and a member of the General Council of the Judiciary. A true pata negra of the establishment. Were the moment to arrive, it is clear that removing her from the position would not be as easy for the prime minister as when he dispensed with his first deputy PM Carmen Calvo. Sometimes, rank is not the key aspect either.