Ester Muñoz recovers the hoax about Pegasus to fuel the theory of Sánchez's "submission" to Morocco

The PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, has once again brought the Pegasus case to the table to try to find an explanation for the relationship between Pedro Sánchez's Government and Morocco. The popular leader maintains that "there is something" that would have caused the alleged "submission" of the president to Rabat and demands that all documentation related to the espionage of several members of the Executive's phones be declassified.

"It is evident that there is something that has made President Sánchez and his Government submissive to Morocco," said Muñoz, who linked this suspicion to the information that could be obtained through Pegasus from government devices. The PP thus revives an episode that has been part of its discourse against Sánchez for years, although one of the statements used then to fuel this theory does not correspond to what Justice actually determined.

The judge did not close the case because Sánchez did not cooperate

The investigation into the espionage of the phones of Pedro Sánchez, Margarita Robles, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and Luis Planas was provisionally closed in July 2023 by the Audiencia Nacional. Upon reviewing the resolution of the Spanish judge José Luis Calama, the stated reason is clear: the investigation could not advance due to the lack of cooperation from Israel.

The magistrate explained that the Israeli authorities had not responded to the rogatory commission sent by Spanish Justice, a circumstance that prevented obtaining fundamental information to determine who had carried out the phone infections. The judicial resolution at no time attributed the closure to a lack of collaboration from Pedro Sánchez.

The data is especially relevant because the then leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, assured in July 2023 that the case had been closed because Sánchez had not cooperated. When asked about the origin of that information, Feijóo replied that he had read it in a news wire, although he could not identify the originating agency. That statement was later contrasted and deemed false: the reason stated in the judicial decision was the absence of cooperation from Israel.

Silvia Intxaurrondo also revives that episode

Precisely this Friday, Silvia Intxaurrondo has also revisited that episode when addressing Ester Muñoz's new statements on La Hora de La 1. The journalist recalled a July 2023 interview in which she directly asked Feijóo how he knew that the case had been archived due to an alleged lack of cooperation from Sánchez.

"How do you know that?" Intxaurrondo asked him then. "I read it in a news wire," the popular leader replied, as the journalist has now recalled, also pointing out that Feijóo could not specify which agency that information came from.

Intxaurrondo used the episode to warn about the risk of turning an unverified statement into a political argument. "Be careful about introducing a hoax into the public debate," she said, before recalling that the Spanish judge archived the investigation because Israel was not cooperating with Spanish justice.

Pegasus does not prove an alleged blackmail by Morocco

The existence of espionage using Pegasus is indeed accredited. The phones of Sánchez and several ministers were infected, and the judicial investigation tried to determine who was behind the intrusions. What has not been accredited is that Morocco was responsible for the espionage, that it obtained certain information with which it could pressure the Government, or that this information subsequently explains Spanish policy towards Rabat.

In fact, the case was reopened in 2024 after new elements emerged from France and was subsequently archived again as the investigation into the authorship of the espionage could not advance. The lack of cooperation from Israel continued to be one of the main obstacles to clarifying the facts.

Therefore, Ester Muñoz's request to declassify the reports may be part of the political debate, but it does not make true the hypothesis that seeks to link Pegasus with an alleged "submission" of Sánchez to Morocco. So far, no evidence has been provided to establish that connection.

The PP again demands transparency while the Government defends its relationship with Rabat and denies having evidence that allows attributing the organization of the massive entry into Ceuta to the Moroccan authorities. In the midst of this political battle, the Pegasus episode once again occupies the center of the debate, but the verified facts force us to separate what is proven from the hypotheses launched by political parties.