A Barcelona investigating judge has summoned former National Intelligence Centre director Paz Esteban to testify on 29 September as an indicted party in the probe into the hacking of mobile phones belonging to Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) lawmakers Josep Maria Jové and Diana Riba with Pegasus spyware. The order follows a ruling by the Audiencia de Barcelona, which found sufficient indications that the CNI may have deployed the Israeli-made software and could be its only client in Spain. Investigators say the devices were compromised through the same servers and domains previously linked to operations authorised by the Supreme Court. It will be Esteban’s second appearance as a suspect in the Pegasus scandal. She is already under investigation in two other Barcelona cases concerning alleged surveillance of former Catalan president Pere Aragonès and former MEP Jordi Solé. Esteban was dismissed as CNI chief in 2022 after the espionage revelations became public.