Spain Summons U.S. Ambassador in Spying Scandal

MADRID — Spain’s government summoned the American ambassador, James Costos, on Monday to address allegations that the National Security Agency collected data on millions of telephone calls in Spain.

Adding to a spying scandal that includes France, Germany and Mexico, the Spanish news media reported Monday that the agency recently collected data on 60 million telephone calls in Spain. El Mundo and El País, two Spanish newspapers, based their reporting on documents viewed by Glenn Greenwald, an American journalist, that were provided by Edward J. Snowden, the former N.S.A. contractor who has been at the center of the spying scandal.

According to the Spanish newspapers, the N.S.A. gathered data on phone numbers and locations but did not monitor the contents of the calls. The data covered information relating to about 60 million Spanish phone calls and was collected between December and early January.

The scandal, which has strained relations between Washington and some of its most important allies, has recently focused on whether the N.S.A. targeted the cellphone of the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. The Spanish government has so far declined to discuss whether it had evidence that Washington had spied on Spanish government officials.

“Spying activities aren’t proper among partner countries and allies,” Mariano Rajoy, Spain’s prime minister, said at a news conference last week in Brussels, where he was attending a meeting of European Union leaders. 

SOURCE : http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/world/europe/spain-calls-in-us-ambassador-in-spying-scandal.html