Algeria Gate: In a resounding media revelation, the Spanish press exploded a spying scandal that shook the capital Madrid, after publishing reports based on documents from the Spanish National Intelligence Center (CNI) that expose the scale of the Moroccan spy network operating on its territory.
Moroccan intelligence activity in Spain is no longer merely an “open secret” aimed at tracking sensitive files such as politics, security, regional tensions, and economic relations with the European Union; today, thanks to what Spanish media have revealed, it has become a documented reality with figures and names.
Press and security reports confirmed that Rabat has deployed around 600 agents in Spain in recent years, a figure that jumps to 900 agents during periods of maximum tension between the two countries. These resounding leaks of Moroccan intelligence operations data come after Moroccan agents in civilian clothes were observed coordinating the recent assault operations on the city of Ceuta.
Details of the biggest leak: Hacking Hamouchi’s agencies
According to what Spanish newspapers published, Madrid’s intelligence services prepared a detailed document containing the full names of 600 Moroccan agents with precise monitoring of their movements inside Spain. The roots of this information go back to a massive cyber breach targeting the two Moroccan intelligence agencies last August.
A hacker calling himself “Jabaroot” published four leaked “Excel” files containing 70,381 names believed to belong to members of the General Directorate for Territorial Surveillance (internal intelligence) and the General Directorate for Studies and Documents (external intelligence), both agencies run by Abdelatif Hamouchi.
Spanish agents analyzed the data published via the Telegram platform and confirmed its complete credibility. Although the identities of 600 agents were identified, sources indicate that they are not all currently present in Spain; some later became sources of information for Spanish intelligence itself.
Map of deployment and diplomatic cover
The Moroccan intelligence network uses diplomatic cover as a primary façade for its movements; between 15 and 20 names are directly linked to Rabat’s embassy in Madrid, and their identities appear on the list of the consular corps accredited to the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
Intelligence presence is not limited to the capital but extends to areas with high concentrations of Moroccan immigrants such as Algeciras, Catalonia, and Valencia, as well as strategic and sensitive points such as Bilbao and Las Palmas. Although the use of embassies and minor attaché posts as cover for movement with diplomatic passports is a common global practice, deploying hundreds of agents in a neighboring country raises sharp questions, especially in light of Spanish diplomatic statements describing Morocco as a “friendly country.”
The Ceuta crisis and the counter-intelligence war
These leaks, extensively covered by the Spanish press, came at the height of the clash between the two countries, specifically after the illegal entry of around 80,000 people into Ceuta via the Tarajal beach border.
The estimates of 600 to 900 Moroccan agents deployed in Spain take on double seriousness after a Spanish National Police report indicated the involvement of gendarmerie elements and Moroccan agents in civilian clothes in coordinating this invasion.
For its part, Spain also maintains elements of the Intelligence Center (CNI) inside Morocco, whose work focuses mainly on combating illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and terrorism. In the context of the Ceuta crisis, Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles revealed in late August the presence of 25 Spanish agents in the city, defending their role by saying they had sent prior warnings of a “human invasion” in late July, which contradicted the Spanish government’s official narrative at the time.
The leak of the 70,000 names was accompanied by a message that these data were a “gift” to Spain. While fingers initially pointed toward Algeria, this hypothesis later faded in favor of independent investigations that located “Jabaroot” in Germany.
Intelligence estimates, given the scale and precision of the breach, point to the involvement of former Moroccan agents in the operation. The name of Mehdi El Hajjaoui stands out here; the former number-two man in Moroccan intelligence, who fled his country years ago and settled in Spain.
The story takes on a Hollywood dimension: El Hajjaoui, who also holds German nationality (which explains his link to the August leaks from Germany), is wanted under an Interpol arrest warrant. Although Spanish intelligence located him and began extradition procedures to Morocco, he suddenly disappeared the second time the authorities tried to arrest him.
Today, Morocco is searching for him across half the globe without requesting official Spanish assistance, while his former colleagues, according to what Spanish media have published, believe he is living undercover in one of the towns south of Madrid under the protection of Spanish intelligence.
