Bárcenas ordered an inmate to "destroy" an audio about Rajoy: "When I regained my freedom, I had nothing"

San Fernando de HenaresThe trial of the Kitchen case in the National Court reaches its third week this Monday with one of the highlights: Luis Bárcenas and his wife, Rosalía Iglesias, declare as victims of the alleged parapolice plot by Mariano Rajoy's government to steal data and documentation from the former PP treasurer that could implicate the party amid the investigation into the Gürtel case and the popular party's slush fund. The couple is acting as private prosecution in this case and is requesting 41 years in prison for the two main defendants, former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz and his second-in-command, Francisco Martínez.

One of the big unknowns is whether the former PP treasurer had a recording that implicated Mariano Rajoy in the Kitchen case. Bárcenas explained that he instructed Isidro Sánchez, a prisoner he met in Soto del Real prison, to destroy an audio: "I give him the instruction to have a specific recording located, I give him access codes and I tell him that I will give him the instruction on when it needs to be destroyed," he recalled. "He did something because when I regained my freedom and had nothing, what he did or didn't do I don't know," he recounted. They were "audios related" to the then president of the Spanish government. To give him the task, Bárcenas sent a note: "All MR audios must be destroyed when I give you the order. Nothing should remain, it is my commitment".

The first news Luis Bárcenas had that the Ministry of the Interior had concocted an operation to spy on him and steal information from him was in 2015 when he met with Esteban Urreiztieta, a journalist for the newspaper El Mundo, who showed him some documents: "When he shows it to me, I doubt it, I'm very surprised," he admitted at first. "It seemed like a fabrication, a movie," he added later. "I could never have thought that people I assumed were serious could organize an operation of these characteristics," he concluded.

"A man for all seasons"

In response to questions from prosecutor César de Rivas, he spoke about his relationship with his driver, Sergio Ríos, who is on trial. He betrayed him and, in exchange for 50,000 euros, provided the "patriotic police" with information about the former PP treasurer. The Bárcenas family hired him in February 2013 after a PP security chief gave them his name: "We were looking for a person of absolute trust, he came highly recommended," he explained. His main function was to be a driver, but in practice he was a "jack of all trades" and also handled "auxiliary tasks," such as cashing checks at the bank or moving documents. Finally, in 2014, his wife, Rosalía Iglesias, raised "some doubts" about his "behavior" and they decided to dispense with his services.

One of the key locations in the case is the workshop that Rosalía Iglesias had on General Díaz Porlier street to restore furniture. In January 2013, after leaving the PP, Luis Bárcenas needed to retrieve a "set of important documentation" that he had there: "Since I did not have access to the office, my lawyer negotiated with the PP's legal advisor, and it was authorized for a person to go and collect the documentation." And the person in charge was Sergio Ríos, who took about 20 or 25 boxes to the premises, given that the volume of documentation was "copious" and Bárcenas "had no other place to put it." The former PP treasurer also stated that his driver had access to his mobile phones "permanently," as he would leave them in the car when he had a meeting. In fact, he would leave them in a box "equivalent to a Faraday cage" to prevent them from being tracked to locate him at all times.

At some point did his wife tell him she suspected she was being followed? "She conveyed the impression to me that she was being followed," recalled Luis Bárcenas. However, "he always thought it was journalists" and not a "police operation."

Given that Bárcenas and Iglesias are witnesses, neither of them has been able to attend the six sessions that have already been held so far, in order to prevent them from hearing what other witnesses have related and that their testimony is not considered conditioned. They will be able to be present, however, in the rest of the important declarations planned for this week, such as that of the former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy and that of the former general secretary of the PP and former minister María Dolores de Cospedal. Both are called to testify on Thursday 23.

The trial, which began in early April and is expected to last until the end of June, has placed Rajoy at the center of the target in recent sessions after the head of the police investigation of the case, Gonzalo Fraga, ratified before the court that the alleged plot

referred to the former president as "the Asturian" or "the Bearded one".