Psychologists know all sorts of details about their patients' lives and personalities, but professional secrecy obliges them to be discreet and not share that information with anyone. But what happens when a patient ends up in the dock or expresses an intention to commit a crime during therapy? In these cases, the law and professional ethics regulate the limits of professional secrecy and when it can become meaningless.

A judge in Badalona is investigating the mayor of the municipality, the popular Xavier García Albiol, for having revealed during a plenary session medical data of a homeless man who had been treated at the Municipal Hospital and who, days later, had ended up dying. In a court order advanced by Eldiario.es and to which the ARA has had access, the judge considers that there are "clear indications" of a crime of discovery and disclosure of secrets by Albiol, after admitting to processing a complaint filed against him by the former mayor and councilor of Badalona Dolors Sabater (Guanyem).