Pere Aragonès wants heads to roll after espionage scandal

Pere Aragonès didn’t have to think twice when, at a meeting for the foreign press in Madrid on April 21, he was asked what exactly he wanted from the Spanish government. Three days earlier, it had become clear that the president of Catalonia had been spied on, presumably by Spanish intelligence. Was he after an explanation, an apology or the scalps of those responsible? “All that,” Aragonès replied.

It sounded strange from the mouth of the man who prefers dialogue to confrontation, and with his calm demeanor, half an hour earlier, he had entered the room full of journalists almost unnoticed. That Pere Aragonès i Garcia (39) nevertheless demanded that heads roll, says something about the seriousness of the political crisis between Spain and its rebellious region of Catalonia. A crisis that broke out three weeks ago with the news that the secret service CNI allegedly released the infamous spy software Pegasus on 63 people in and around the independence movement.

Successfully hacked

According to digital watchdog Citizen Lab, which conducted the investigation, at least 51 of them had their cell phones successfully hacked with Pegasus, built to spy on terrorists and serious criminals. One of the hacked was Aragonès, who is boiling with rage since he knows someone was listening in on his bells. In a closed deliberation in parliament, the contents of which were immediately made public, the head of the secret service admitted on Thursday that Aragonès and 17 other leaders had indeed been spied on. But the CNI director did not comment on the possible deployment of Pegasus, according to Spanish media, and insisted that everything was done with the permission of the judge.

It’s not enough for Aragones. He wants an in-depth investigation and a sacrifice in the form of Margarita Robles, the defense secretary politically responsible for the CNI. The relationship between Spain and Catalonia, which was on the mend, is at stake. Possibly even the national government is at risk. The Social Democratic Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez relies in parliament partly on the support of Aragonès’ party, while the far-left coalition partner Podemos is also pushing for Robles’ departure.

The fact that Aragonès is the central figure in that fiery battle does not, at first sight, fit his reputation as a cool technocrat. Behind his usually mild appearance, however, hides a fanatical separatist who, ever since he can think for himself, knows where he wants to one day arrive: an independent Catalonia.

‘Wrong mayor’ as grandpa

Pere Aragonès was born on November 16, 1982 in Pineda de Mar, on the Catalan coast. His surname is closely linked to the town’s history, for a different reason than Aragonès would like. Grandpa Josep was mayor there in the waning days of Francoism and for years afterwards, as a member of a right-wing conservative party. He also laid the foundations for Golden Hotels, a chain of coastal hotels that is still owned by the family and now run by the father and uncles of the regional president.

Pere has little interest in the hotel world and takes a completely different political direction. At 16, he joins the youth wing of Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (Republican Left in Catalonia, ERC). A party with an illustrious past, formed by the likes of Lluís Companys, the last Catalan president before the dictatorship, who was executed by Franco’s troops in 1940.

Little Aragonès quickly rises above his peers. Between 2003 and 2007, he was the national spokesperson for the ERC youth and the face of a fierce campaign exposing the perceived financial disadvantage of his region. †Espanya and roba‘ or ‘Spain steals from us’, read the posters he presents to the press.

President thanks to the judge

He exchanged his sharp profile for a more pragmatic style during his lightning rise in parent party ERC. The intelligent Aragonès, who also analyzes calmly under great pressure, is given a seat in the regional parliament in 2006, which he will hold for almost a decade. It is the period when Catalonia, in the severe aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, is starting to heat up.

In October 2017, a head-on clash with Madrid comes when the Catalan government calls an illegal referendum for independence and briefly declares the republic. Aragonès is deliberately kept outside the organization by his party leaders in order to be able to pick up the shards if things go wrong. That’s how it will be. After party members have been sued or fled across the border, Aragonès is put in charge of ERC, and in June 2018 he becomes the new vice president of Catalonia.

That he becomes the highest-ranking politician two years later, he has again thanks to a legal process. Incumbent President Quim Torra, of another then largest pro-independence party, will be removed from office in September by a judge for hanging separatist symbols on the government building in Barcelona. Aragonès moves on, first as an interim. Six months later, after new elections, he officially becomes the first ERC president in forty years.

With him, the Catalans who are in favor of independence after years of conflict are opting for a softer approach. Only the dialogue with Spain can bring the republic closer, Aragonès is convinced. He resumes talks with Prime Minister Sanchez and gets his government to pardon the convicted separatists. A storm called Pegasus has been raging in that relatively calm waterway for three weeks.