Spain to call US ambassador to explain spying allegations

Spanish Prime Minster Mariano Rajoy on Friday instructed the country's Foreign Minister Jose Garcia Margallo to summon the U.S. Ambassador to Madrid James Costos to explain reports of American spying on Spain. According to Spanish state TV network RTVE, Garcia Margallo would meet with Costos at the Foreign Ministry office at 10.30am on Monday morning, even though Rajoy admitted that Madrid currently had "no knowledge" of U.S. spying on Spanish politicians. Spanish media reports said the U.S. National Security Agency had spied on several Spanish politicians, including former prime minister Rodriguez Zapatero. The development came after France and Germany both demanded U.S. explanations of U.S. spying allegations. Germany called in the U.S. ambassador to Berlin earlier this week after local media reported that Chancellor Angela Merkel's mobile phone had been tapped. French President Francois Hollande also demaded his U.S. counterpart Barack Obama to explain allegations that the U.S. had collected tens of thousands of French phone records between December 2012 and January 2013. The 28 European Union leaders earlier approved a statement which said they valued the relationship with the U.S., but it had to be based on trust and confidence, especially in intelligence matters. Spanish Foreign Minister Garcia Margallo, meanwhile, said he did not "have clear confirmation" that Rajoy or other Spanish politicians had been spied on, but added "if it is finally confirmed, it is an unacceptable and inadmissible practice. " "There are red lines such as the right to privacy and intimacy which cannot be crossed," he said.