The Sunday Read: ‘The Spy Who Called Me’
The Daily9 Jul 2023

The Sunday Read: ‘The Spy Who Called Me’

The wave of scandals that would engulf Spain began with a police raid on a wooded property outside Madrid. It was Nov. 3, 2017, and the target was José Manuel Villarejo Pérez, a former government spy. Villarejo’s name had been circulating in the Spanish press for years. He was rumored to have had powerful friends and to have kept dirt on them all. The impressive variety of allegations against him — forgery, bribery, extortion, influence peddling — had earned him the nickname “king of the sewers.”

For many decades, Villarejo’s face had been known to almost no one. He was, after all, a spy — and not just any spy, but one who had started his career in the secret police of the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco. In those years, he would dress in overalls from Telefónica, the national telephone company, as he conducted surveillance operations in the mountains, and on several occasions he even wore a priest’s collar in order to infiltrate the Basque separatist group ETA. More recently, Villarejo had taken to simply introducing himself as a lawyer who ran a private-investigation firm, offering those he met to dig up compromising material on their enemies. His formal connection to the government was increasingly ambiguous. Of all of the identities he assumed over the years, this was perhaps the most powerful one. It made him rich through the hefty fees he charged, and it opened a door into the worlds of business tycoons, government ministers, aristocrats, judges, newspaper editors and arms traffickers — all of whose trust he gained, all of whose private words he taped.

Villarejo was handcuffed and taken to Madrid. But as he sat in jail awaiting trial, the question left hanging over Spain was this: What happens to a country’s secrets when they have all been recorded by one man? And what happens when that man finds himself suddenly backed into a corner?

This story was recorded by Audm. To hear more audio stories from publications like The New York Times, download Audm for iPhone or Android.

Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

Episoder(2691)

Monday, Feb. 27, 2017

Monday, Feb. 27, 2017

What happened when Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents showed up in a small town that voted overwhelmingly for President Trump, transforming his campaign rhetoric into reality. Guests: Monica Davey, the Chicago bureau chief for The New York Times; Tim Grigsby, a print shop owner in West Frankfort, Ill.; Nicholas Kulish, an investigative reporter for The Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2lr2eI6. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

27 Feb 201722min

Friday, Feb. 24, 2017

Friday, Feb. 24, 2017

President Trump’s top deputies delivered a blunt message to the party faithful on Thursday: the Republicans are winning the fight — and it is a fight. Plus a conversation with the director of “Moonlight.” Guests: Jonathan Martin, who has covered the inside story of both political parties for years; Nikole Hannah-Jones, a staff writer for the New York Times Magazine. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2lLN9U9. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

24 Feb 201720min

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017

Thursday, Feb. 23, 2017

Rukmini Callimachi takes us into Iraq to see if a major victory over the Islamic State is really at hand in the streets of Mosul. Guests: Ms. Callimachi, a New York Times correspondent covering terrorism; Nathaniel Popper, a Times reporter covering finance and technology. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2lvdohI. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

23 Feb 201720min

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017

Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2017

Are 11 million people suddenly facing deportation? What we know and don’t know about the Trump administration’s new plan for undocumented immigrants. Guests: Michael D. Shear, a White House reporter at The New York Times, and Caitlin Dickerson, a national reporter who writes about immigration; Sheriff Mark Napier of Pima County, Ariz. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2lc3H5e. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

22 Feb 201720min

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017

Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2017

Who are the 500 private citizens with unprecedented access to President Trump on the weekends? And what is the “deep state”? Guests: Scott Shane, who has covered national security and the U.S. intelligence community for The Times for decades, and Nicholas Confessore and Maggie Haberman, who unmasked the secret list of Mar-a-Lago members. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2lEWRbt. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

21 Feb 201720min

Friday, Feb. 17, 2017

Friday, Feb. 17, 2017

President Trump’s sprawling surprise news conference and the view from Russia. Guests: Jim Rutenberg, the media columnist for The New York Times; Neil MacFarquhar, The Times’s Moscow bureau chief. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2m6gM0O. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

17 Feb 201718min

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017

Thursday, Feb. 16, 2017

President Trump says peace in the Middle East does not require a two-state deal. What we know and what we don’t about the Trump campaign’s communication with Russia. And why did Republicans turn on Andrew Puzder? Guests: Mark Mazzetti; Alan Rappeport. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2m1BDRS. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

16 Feb 201717min

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017

Wednesday, Feb. 15, 2017

From fateful call to resignation, the 47-day fall of President Trump’s national security adviser, Michael T. Flynn. We tell the whole story. Guest: Matthew Rosenberg, a national security reporter for The New York Times who has known Mr. Flynn for years. For more information on today’s episode, visit http://nyti.ms/2l7w8ls. Subscribe today at nytimes.com/podcasts or on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.

15 Feb 201717min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden
forklart
aftenpodden-usa
popradet
stopp-verden
fotballpodden-2
dine-penger-pengeradet
det-store-bildet
nokon-ma-ga
bt-dokumentar-2
rss-ness
rss-gukild-johaug
frokostshowet-pa-p5
e24-podden
aftenbla-bla
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
lydartikler-fra-aftenposten
ukrainapodden