Spain to declassify 'Operación Catalunya' files, including Andorra/BPA records

The Spanish government said it will push to declassify documents linked to the so‑called "Operación Catalunya," including files that could illuminate alleged interference in Andorra’s sovereignty and the intervention in Banca Privada d’Andorra (BPA). Some of the records requested by a parliamentary commission at the Congress reportedly concern ties between Spanish authorities and the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).

Officials said the declassification would cover communications and reports mainly from 2012 to 2015, as well as some later material, that prosecutors and political actors have argued were used to counter the rise of the Catalan independence movement. The initiative forms part of a political agreement between the PSOE and Junts aimed at shoring up parliamentary stability for the remainder of the legislature.

Government spokesperson Pilar Alegría said the executive intends to continue meeting its obligations during the two years remaining in the term, and that this includes promoting the removal of classification from documents related to Operación Catalunya. She stressed the government would keep taking steps to recognise “the parliamentary reality” and to maintain dialogue with its Catalan partners to preserve governability.

President Pedro Sánchez told RAC1 that he understood declassification of files relating to the so‑called “patriotic police” and Interior Ministry manoeuvres around Catalonia was under way, a statement that government sources later tempered. What officials confirm is that declassification of documentation related to the Barcelona and Cambrils terrorist attacks of 17 August 2017 is proceeding; part of that material was released last week at Junts’ request.

Meanwhile in Andorra, a group of people affected by the 2015 BPA intervention has launched moves to press local authorities to declassify internal documents connected to the bank’s downfall. The campaigners say that if Spain advances with declassification of its reports, Andorra should review and, where legally possible, open the documentation in its possession that could clarify the origins and development of the BPA intervention.

Those behind the Andorran initiative frame the request as restorative rather than confrontational. They argue that transparency is necessary to restore institutional, financial and judicial confidence, to strengthen the credibility of Andorra’s system and to help prevent similar events from recurring. They plan to submit a formal petition to Andorran institutions seeking the release of reports, communications and decisions from the months before and after the BPA intervention.

The decision to pursue declassification in Spain responds both to parliamentary demands and to the fragility of the government’s support in Congress, where PSOE depends on Catalan partners such as Junts. Authorities say they will continue to evaluate and process the commission’s long list of requested documents, many of which touch on the Andorran dimension of the case.