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OPERATION KITCHEN

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Barbarians: "The driver had access to my phone all the time; I left it in my car when I went to meetings."

The former PP treasurer has claimed to be harmed in the "Operation Kitchen" trial and has claimed that he stopped working with Sergio Ríos after his wife had doubts about his behavior.

SAN FERNANDO DE HENARES (MADRID), 20/04/2026.- Luis Bárcenas declara ante la Audiencia Nacional este lunes en el juicio del caso Kitchen como perjudicado por esta supuesta trama parpolicial para sustraer al extesorero documentación sensible para el PP y para sus dirigentes en plena investigación del caso Gürtel y de la caja B del partido. EFE/ Fernando Villar
Barbarians have testified at the trial. Photo: EFE

Former PP Treasurer Luis Bárcenas has stated in the National High Court that Sergio Ríos was his driver between 2013 and 2014 and that  "could have been permanently accessed"to his mobile phone bere, which he used to leave in his car when he attended the meetings. The statement has been made during the trial of the so-called "Operation Kitchen".

According to Bárcenas, Ríos, in addition to acting as a driver, was a " boy for everything "  and was also responsible for administrative tasks such as the collection of cheques or the carrying of documentation. According to his testimony, the driver had access to his devices, which behaved like a "Faraday box" (to prevent the phone from being found) in the vehicle in which they remained inside a wallet.

The former treasurer has explained that he hired Ríos on the recommendation of a former PP security chief and that the employment relationship lasted between February 2013 and spring 2014, which ended when Barbara's wife expressed her doubts about the driver's behavior.

Also, on the day he was imprisoned in Soto del Real, in June 2013, Ríos went to the prison to hand over his clothes and took personal items, including his mobile phone.

During the pre-trial sessions, National Police officers claimed that Ríos, together with Commissioner Enrique García Castaño, had delivered two telephones allegedly belonging to Bárcena in a Madrid cafeteria to overturn the contents, which are part of the evidence analysed in the case concerning the alleged para-police network linked to Operation "Kitchen".

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