I know the GAL affair and, quite aptly, you answer it yourself:

I dare say that no tears were shed for Lasa and Zabala, and that the only thing that most Spaniards regret about GAL is how incompetently their operations were carried out, and all the collateral damage they caused (most notably, the kidnapping of Segundo Marey by mistate).

I happen to be in this majority. Yes, in this case, the problem was competence and control. Those guys were incompetent and out of control and that's the problem of all clandestine operations. A democracy can use dirty methods that cannot be exposed to the public and still remain in control. But you need very strong oversight.

Interestingly enough, France's DGSE itself is currently pushing for increased parliamentary control on intelligence and clandestine operation. Literally lobbying to put more control on itself!

It's not masochism. They simply know that their future is likely to include more and more hardcore methods, including using homo units again (homo as in homicide, not as in gay), something that has been pretty much dormant since the end of the Cold War. And they want the full, well-informed backing of the legislative branch, not just getting orders from the executive, so they won't be left hanging in the wind if things go wrong ** cough Rainbow Warrior cough ** by an executive branch who pretends to know nuffin.