Court drops inquiry into spying case involving PP leader in Catalonia

A Barcelona court on Monday dropped an investigation into the spying activities carried out by private detective firm Método 3 on the leader of the Popular Party in Catalonia (PPC).

The court shelved the inquiry without determining who ordered the tape-recording of a lunch meeting between PPC secretary general Alicia Sánchez-Camacho and the then-girlfriend of Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, the son of the former regional premier, Jordi Pujol.

Sánchez-Camacho had filed a civil complaint against Método 3 and its owners but later dropped the case after she reportedly received a settlement. The criminal inquiry, however, continued.

According to a number of different sources, José Zaragoza, the former secretary of the Catalan Socialists (PSC), hired the firm to record the conversation. The sources said that Zaragoza was in fact acting on behalf of Sánchez-Camacho, who wanted to record the conversation between her and Pujol Ferrusola's girlfriend, Victoria Álvarez.

The two met in 2010 at La Camarga restaurant. Álvarez reportedly told Sánchez-Camacho about her ex-boyfriend's money-laundering activities in Andorra.

PP officials have denied that Sánchez-Camacho asked Zaragoza for help with the recording.

The case broke in February when Sánchez-Camacho told reporters that she "would get to the bottom" of the allegations. But some months later she negotiated a settlement with Método 3 owner Francisco Marco, in which the detective agency assumed responsibility for planting the microphone at the restaurant but at the same time would not confirm whether its eavesdropping activities were illegal.