MADRID, June 20 (Reuters) -

A Spanish High Court judge has proposed to send Spain's second- largest lender BBVA and its former chairman to trial for alleged bribery and disclosure of company secrets as part of a probe into alleged corporate spying, El Pais newspaper said on Thursday.

The High Court, BBVA and legal representatives for the ex-chairman, Francisco Gonzalez, were not immediately available for a comment.

BBVA was placed under investigation in July 2019 for hiring a private investigation agency allegedly run by former Police Commissioner Jose Manuel Villarejo.

The case is part of a wider probe dating back to 2004 into Villarejo, who has denied wrongdoing.

Gonzalez, who was BBVA chairman at the time the bank hired the agency, had temporarily stepped down as honorary chairman in March 2019 to prevent any harm to the bank's reputation. He has also denied wrongdoing.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Aislinn Laing and Andrei Khalip)