PP Demands CNI Chief Testify in Congress as Robles Backs Official Secrets Committee Appearance

The Partido Popular's Martínez-Maíllo has called for the director of Spain's National Intelligence Centre (CNI) to appear before Congress, according to the party. In the same statement, he pressed Defence Minister Margarita Robles to choose between Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and Spain, telling her that serving both at once is impossible.

The demand follows reporting on a mass entry into Ceuta. According to LaSexta, the Defence Ministry said not everything concerning the incident has been declassified and that the CNI director will testify. Robles has backed the director appearing before the official secrets committee to explain the alerts related to Ceuta, according to abc.es and elperiodico.com.

Robles responded to the PP's pressure, telling the party she does not understand why it does not tire of giving her advice when it knows she ignores it, El HuffPost reported.

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The exchanges point to a dispute over how much information about the Ceuta episode should be made public and in which forum. The PP is pushing for a congressional appearance, while the Defence Ministry has pointed to the official secrets committee as the setting for the CNI director's testimony.

What to watch next is whether the CNI director's appearance is formally scheduled and whether it takes place before Congress or the official secrets committee.