Authorities in Spain have busted a spy ring that kept tabs on Shakira, her boyfriend Gerard Pique, and a slew of politicians.
According to an Al Jazerra report, police in the Spanish region of Catalonia say they raided the offices of an agency that goes by the name Metodo Tres. Police say that during the raid that was conducted last week they confiscated roughly 20,000 files including private information that was secretly obtained about celebrities, politicians, and businessman.
The head of the agency and three detectives were arrested by police.
Among the names of political figures that were spied upon was Alicia Sanchez-Camacho, the president of the People's Party, the ruling political party in Catalonia.
Shockingly, authorities also say that the Spanish soccer club FC Barcelona hired the agency to spy on its center-back Gerard Pique. The report says club officials were worried that the footballer's Colombian popstar girlfriend may distract him for the soccer field and jeopardize the team.
But FC Barcelona officials denied the allegations and said they have seen no evidence that any of their players were being spied on.
The raid and its findings don't comes as s surprise to some in the Spanish media as political parties compete eagerly to get the upper hand. A lot is at stake as Spain imposes unpopular austerity measures to overcome the recent financial crisis that has plagued the country.
"No political party trusts the other and in general no one trusts anyone because everybody thinks there are skeletons in the closet. That creates a very unpleasant sensation in society and in politics," Spanish journalist Roger Jimenez told Al Jazeera.
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