Juan Pujol García
Spanish double agent for the British in World War II
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Key Takeaways
- Juan Pujol García ( Spanish: [ˈxwan puˈʝol ɣaɾˈθi.
- ə] ), was a Spanish spy who worked as a double agent loyal to the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany during World War II, when he relocated to Britain to carry out fictitious spying activities for the Germans.
- After developing a loathing of political extremism of all sorts during the Spanish Civil War, Pujol decided to become a spy for Britain as a way to do something "for the good of humanity.
- Undeterred, he created a false identity as a fanatically pro-Nazi Spanish government official and successfully became a German agent.
Juan Pujol García (Spanish: [ˈxwan puˈʝol ɣaɾˈθi.a]; 14 February 1914 – 10 October 1988), also known as Joan Pujol i García (Catalan: [ʒuˈan puˈʒɔl i ɣəɾˈsi.ə]), was a Spanish spy who worked as a double agent loyal to the United Kingdom against Nazi Germany during World War II, when he relocated to Britain to carry out fictitious spying activities for the Germans. He was given the codename Garbo by the British; their German counterparts codenamed him Alaric and referred to his non-existent spy network as "Arabal".
After developing a loathing of political extremism of all sorts during the Spanish Civil War, Pujol decided to become a spy for Britain as a way to do something "for the good of humanity." Pujol and his wife contacted the British Embassy in Madrid, which rejected his offer.
Undeterred, he created a false identity as a fanatically pro-Nazi Spanish government official and successfully became a German agent. He was instructed to travel to Britain and recruit additional agents; instead he moved to Lisbon and created bogus reports about Britain from a variety of public sources including a tourist guide to Britain, train timetables, cinema newsreels, and magazine advertisements.
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