Senior officials testified they did not spy on the Pujol family's Banca Privada d'Andorra accounts or coerce

Senior Spanish police officials linked to the "patriotic police" denied under oath at Spain's National Court on Tuesday that they spied on the Pujol family's Andorra bank accounts or coerced others for compromising details. Testifying in the trial of former Catalan president Jordi Pujol's family, Eugenio Pino, Marcelino Martín-Blas, José Manuel Villarejo, and Bonifacio Díaz traded accusations, displayed frequent memory lapses, and spotlighted Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA) as a key focus amid Catalonia's independence drive.

Eugenio Pino, former deputy operational director of Spain's National Police in 2014, testified first. He acknowledged receiving Pujol-related banking data from Martín-Blas but said he did not know its origin and passed it to the UDEF economic crime unit, not politicians. Pino distanced himself from "Operation Catalonia" and denied meetings with businessman Javier de la Rosa, Victoria Álvarez, or former Catalan Popular Party leader Alicia Sánchez-Camacho. He described a wedding lunch with Martín-Blas and BPA figures like Higini Cierco but insisted no Pujol accounts were discussed— a claim Martín-Blas later contradicted.

Martín-Blas, ex-head of Internal Affairs, detailed two meetings with BPA's former deputy CEO Joan Pau Miquel. In June 2014, Pino instructed him to meet a "collaborator" at Madrid's Hotel Villa Magna; Miquel showed up but provided nothing after a bathroom break. Days after the wedding attended by Cierco and lawyer José María Fuster-Fabra, Miquel handed over an unsigned, unstamped old document referencing Jordi Pujol and €1 million—likely in pesetas—which Martín-Blas destroyed as irrelevant. He stressed it was unrelated to the El Mundo screenshot on Pujol family deposits and admitted directing pressured BPA executives toward the FBI.

Villarejo, testifying in short sleeves, appeared combative, alleging court coercion and refusing to verify attributed notes without his seized files. He confirmed a Martín-Blas assignment for Pujol intelligence but denied El Mundo leaks or close ties to Álvarez, despite prior links in anti-Pujol efforts. He distinguished Spanish from Andorran jurisdiction.

Bonifacio Díaz—retired inspector and former interior attaché at Spain's Andorra embassy, appearing via video link from home—admitted BPA contacts, including a strong rapport with its legal secretary, but denied seeking Pujol data. He confirmed co-authoring a corporate report on Oleguer Pujol for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office. Díaz grew uneasy over questions about easing access for successor Celestino Barroso, who allegedly threatened Miquel in a recording; he invoked diplomatic secrecy but answered most queries. He denied knowing details of the Villa Magna meeting until media reports and claimed no Martín-Blas directive for Pujol data.

Prosecutors maintain Andorra lies outside the case, yet witnesses underscored BPA's centrality. A scheduling error barred Barroso's testimony—lawyers cited the wrong second surname, contacting a non-police retiree instead—and demand he appear, noting his last known post at Barcelona's Via Laietana station. The session exposed evasion and buck-passing amid witnesses' legal woes.