Javier Chicote speaks in Benidorm about investigative journalism and secret services

The prestigious journalist Javier Chicote gave a conference yesterday in which, under the title ‘Investigative journalism and secret services’, he spoke about political corruption in Spain throughout its constitutional history and the current situation of the emeritus king Juan Carlos I following the recent publication of audios and images with the ‘vedette’ Bárbara Rey, many of which are narrated in his latest book ‘The Chief of Spies’. Chicote arrived with the help of the Opinion Club at an event attended by several members of the municipal corporation.

Chicote praised the honesty and cleanliness of politicians who “do not become corrupt when they have the opportunity to do so” and stated that there has been corruption “in all previous governments and this one”. The head of Investigations of the ABC newspaper also focused on the ‘Malaya Case’ “which was the first to be broadcast almost live”. Regarding this case he recalled that “the builders told me that to build in Marbella you had to pay. A parallel town hall had been created by Juan Antonio Roca and if you paid you could build it.” After that came Julián Muñoz and Isabel Pantoja, “who arrived ruined in Marbella and bought multiple properties. The accounts did not add up and that is where Operation Malaya came from.”

Chicote recalled that during the pandemic he warned in some television appearances that “we were facing the corruption crimes of the future, something that is now being seen.” Regarding current politics, he said, “I think we are not going to finish the legislature because Sánchez cannot approve the budgets.”

He also referred to his latest book, for the preparation of which he has relied on the documentation and personal notes “of the one who was the best-informed man in Spain: Emilio Alonso Manglano” and, of course, to the career of the emeritus king “and the fortune he has outside of Spain” or the role played by the former head of the Royal House, Sabino Fernández Campo, and the private administrator of Juan Carlos I, Manuel Prado and Colón de Carvajal.

Javier Chicote also answered questions from the public who gathered in a packed municipal assembly hall, most of them referring to Bárbara Rey and the emeritus king. “I don’t care who the king sleeps with, but I do care that the silence is paid for with public funds,” he said. In his opinion, the ‘vedette’ “set a trap for him, which are the images that are being seen these days”, but he revealed that “inside the house, there were also hidden cameras and those are the audios that we are learning about”. According to Manglano’s notes, Chicote recounted how Bárbara Rey “spent the money very quickly in the casino and began to ask for money for the material she had. Thus, in exchange for 600 million pesetas, it was agreed that those audio and images would never come to light. An agreement that Manglano makes clear in his notes, including how the deferred payments and the money deliveries would be”.

At the end of the conference, the journalist signed copies of his book ‘El Jefe de los espias’ for many attendees who requested it.