The Spanish government said on Monday that the phones of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and Defence Minister Margarita Robles were broken into last year using “Pegasus” software. 

While Sanchez’s phone was broken into in May last year, Robles’ phone tapped in June last year, the minister of the presidency, Felix Bolanos, confirmed at a news conference. 

“The interventions were illicit and external. External means carried out by non-official bodies and without state authorisation,” NDTV quoted him as saying. 

The Pegasus software was developed by NSO Group, an Israeli company. It is primarily used by governments and intelligences agencies in several countries. 

Bolanos’ announcement came following intense pressure on the country’s Leftist coalition government to explain itself after Canadian digital rights group Citizen Lab said over 60 people linked to the Catalan separatist movement had been targets of the software.

The software can track a user’s mobile phone. It has been under global scrutiny with the European Union’s data agency recommending in February that it be banned from use in the region.  It also faces lawsuits from tech giants such as Apple and Microsoft. 

The allegations of spying on members of the Catalan separatist movement has put Sanchez under pressure as the minority government’s key ally in parliament, Catalonia’s leftist pro-independence party ERC said it would not support the government until Madrid takes measures to restore confidence.

Reuters quoted Pere Aragones, the separatist Catalan regional president, as saying, “When the mass surveillance is against the Catalan independence movement, we only hear silence and excuses. Today everything is done in a hurry.”

Pere Aragonès, the Catalan president said in a statement: “Any political espionage is extremely serious. We reported spying a few days ago but were not given an explanation by the Spanish government. When it’s massive spying on Catalan institutions and the independence movement, it was all silence and excuses. With this, it’s all moving very fast. Responsibility needs to be established straight away. A thorough, independent investigation remains urgent and responsibility needs to be taken.”