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(2696)

Wednesday, Aug 30, 2017

Wednesday, Aug 30, 2017

As a poor, white teenager in Fort Smith, Ark., Abraham Davis never fit in. As a hidden minority there, the town’s Muslims were trying to make a home. Then their lives collided. Plus: the latest from Houston, where the rain keeps falling. Guests: Sabrina Tavernise, a national correspondent for The New York Times; Jacqueline Herrera, a Houston resident who we check back in with. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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.

30 Aug 201731min

Tuesday, Aug 29, 2017

Tuesday, Aug 29, 2017

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29 Aug 201720min

Monday, Aug 28, 2017

Monday, Aug 28, 2017

President Trump’s first pardon went to a wildly divisive sheriff from Arizona. So who is Joe Arpaio? And how do presidential pardons work? Guests: Fernanda Santos, the former Phoenix bureau chief of The New York Times; Adam Liptak, our Supreme Court reporter. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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.

28 Aug 201732min

Friday, Aug. 25,  2017

Friday, Aug. 25, 2017

The feud between President Trump and Jeff Flake, a Republican senator from Arizona, reveals a great deal about tensions in Washington. Guests: Jonathan Martin, a national political correspondent for The Times; Mr. Flake, who you can hear more from in tomorrow’s episode of “The New Washington.” For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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.

25 Aug 201720min

Thursday, Aug. 24,  2017

Thursday, Aug. 24, 2017

The United States recently noticed something unusual in North Korea’s weapons program: Its missiles started to work. Why? We discuss a surprising discovery. Guest: William J. Broad, who has reported on missile defense for decades. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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 Aug 201717min

Wednesday, Aug. 23,  2017

Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2017

The president says “things are going to be different” in Afghanistan: no more “nation-building,” just killing terrorists. But a closer examination suggests this new strategy looks a lot like the strategy of the last 16 years. Guest: Matt Rosenberg, who covered Afghanistan from 2008 to 2014. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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 Aug 201720min

Tuesday, Aug. 22,  2017

Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2017

Derek Black left the white nationalist movement that he had been poised to help lead, betraying his father, a former grand master of the Ku Klux Klan. Today, we talk with him about the events of the past year. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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 Aug 201734min

Monday, Aug. 21,  2017

Monday, Aug. 21, 2017

Will Stephen K. Bannon use his return to Breitbart News, a right-wing megaphone, to help the president who dismissed him — or to hurt him? And where can he exert more political power: at Breitbart or in the White House? Guest: Jeremy W. Peters, a reporter in the Washington bureau who has covered the so-called alt-right. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily. 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 Aug 201719min

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