Spain Closes Pegasus Spyware Probe Into Hacking of Senior Ministers’ Phones

Spain’s Audiencia Nacional (High Court) again closed its criminal investigation into the use of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware against the mobile phones of senior Spanish government officials, citing a sustained lack of cooperation from Israeli authorities. Judge José Luis Calama said Israel failed to respond to multiple formal requests for assistance (letters rogatory), preventing attribution of the operation to specific individuals and violating international cooperation obligations and the “principle of good faith” between states.

The probe began after Spain disclosed that the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles had been infected (Pegasus is described as zero-click spyware marketed for use by state agencies). Reporting also indicates the Interior and Agriculture ministers were targeted, and that Sánchez’s device was infected multiple times. The case had previously been shelved and later reopened after French authorities shared information tied to similar Pegasus intrusions affecting French officials and civil society, but the Spanish court ultimately concluded it could not proceed without Israeli cooperation; the earlier revelations also contributed to the dismissal of Spain’s intelligence chief and public acknowledgment of shortcomings at the national intelligence center (CNI).