"We have taken a step forward by obeying the popular mandate. I appreciate the effort of the seven organizations that have made it possible for us to present the best candidacy: For Andalusia". Antonio Maíllo, the candidate for the left-wing coalition led by Esquerra Unida and Sumar, recalled that Podemos is one of these seven formations that next May 17 will try to spring a surprise in the Andalusian Parliament elections. But at Sunday's rally in Seville, there was no trace of Podemos. The purples, who have reluctantly accepted the Andalusian coalition after two resounding electoral defeats (in Castilla y León and Aragón), do not want to get involved in anything that is not strictly essential. And, despite the evident electoral climate in Andalusia, Sunday saw the presentation of the state pact, which also brings together Comuns and Más Madrid.

"We have taken a step forward obeying the popular mandate. I appreciate the effort of the seven organizations that have made it possible for us to present the best candidacy: Por Andalucía". Antonio Maíllo, the candidate of the left-wing coalition led by Izquierda Unida and Sumar, recalled that Podemos is one of these seven formations that next May 17 will try to surprise in the Andalusian Parliament elections. But at Sunday's event in Seville, there was no trace of Podemos. The purple ones, who have grudgingly accepted the Andalusian coalition after two resounding electoral defeats (in Castilla y León and Aragón), do not want to get involved in anything that is not strictly essential. And, despite the evident electoral climate in Andalucía, this Sunday the state pact was presented, which also brings together Comunes and Más Madrid.

Donald Trump is a millionaire, a real estate magnate, has direct interests in technology companies and... is Donald Trump. The President of the United States embodies in himself all the characteristics of the "enemy" that this weekend has been pointed out by the left gathered in Barcelona, with Pedro Sánchez as host, who has established himself as the reference of the international progressive movement. "When we socialists govern, states do not bow to elites, we put them in their place," he exclaimed to close the weekend summits before the 6,500 people who filled pavilion 8 of Fira de Barcelona. The commitment of the Spanish leader, but also of the heads of state and government who have met, is to "resist" the push of the far-right, but also to "build" together a new multilateral world. "We will twist the arm of those who believe themselves untouchable. Of the millionaires who exploit people and play with greed; of the speculators who play with people's savings and homes, and of the technologists who line their pockets at the expense of the health of democracies and the mental health of our youth," Sánchez ratified, intoning from the stage the "No to war" that the entire auditorium followed.

A crowd of people moves in unison through the long corridors of Hall 8 of the Barcelona Fair as if following a rock star. No one this Friday has generated the expectation of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the great protagonist of the first day of the Global Progressive Mobilisation (GPM). "Progressivism must be united, it must be brave. We will never win by complaining about what the right does, but by convincing with our values and convictions," stressed the former Spanish president just before starting to attend to his followers. Some of them, young enough not to remember him in Moncloa, asked him to make the eyebrow gesture that he exploited so much during his campaign, and he gladly granted it.

Vox left all the regional coalition governments with the PP in the summer of 2024 in protest because the Popular Party accepted the arrival of 400 minors from Ceuta and the Canary Islands. It is not strange that, two years later, the immigration folder has been key to resuming the alliance with the PP, for now, in the Extremadura executive. Four months after the elections, the PP has agreed with the far-right to limit the rights of immigrants, starting by committing to reject the arrival of irregulars by all means, "legal, juridical and political", whether they are minors or adults. The government of María Guardiola will not offer new places of reception and will try to empty the current ones "working actively to return unaccompanied minors to their countries of origin". A clear declaration of intent, despite the fact that Extremadura does not have the powers to expel people from its territory.

Pedro Sánchez has inaugurated with Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, the weekend with which the Spanish government seeks to establish Barcelona as one of the reference cities against trumpism. The two leaders met this morning at the Palau de Pedralbes, where they held a meeting, and thus inaugurate two days in which up to three summits of international progressivism coincide in the Catalan capital, with the Spanish president acting as host.

"The position is very clear," the Finance ministers keep repeating, even though the hottest part of IRPF collection is up in the air. First, it was María Jesús Montero who closed the door on the transfers agreed between ERC and PSC, and now her successor has taken on this role. Arcadi España assures that the Spanish government will not deviate from the agreement signed between Moncloa and the Generalitat in the meeting of the Bilateral Commission last July: "For all the autonomous communities and also for Catalonia, we have the will to increase management capacity, always within the framework of the State Tax Administration Agency (AEAT)." What does this mean? Basically, that the transfer to Catalonia of the collection of 100% of the IRPF is not a commitment that the state executive makes its own, and that, in any case, it will be the AEAT that will have the powers in management and collection. The Catalan Tax Agency (ATC) should settle for collaborating in "a networked tax management model," as specified in the Bilateral document.

After the clash over budgets that were not even negotiated, the PSC and ERC reset the clock. It was in mid-March when the two parties decided to give themselves a new opportunity and resume talks once Salvador Illa withdrew the bill and Esquerra stopped making IRPF collection a red line. Since before Easter, therefore, socialists and republicans have been negotiating away from the spotlight that captured them before the debate on the entirety of the accounts. Talks are weekly and are conducted with secrecy. The deadline is July, but the Government is in a hurry and the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, has stated that the executive's wish is to have them validated by Sant Joan. Is this feasible?

New mass resignation at ERC. After the cases of Girona and Barcelona, where the resignation of more than half of the executives forced the appointment of a caretaker committee, now comes that of Igualada. In this case, all members of the leadership have decided to step down in response to the recent internal vote, which rejected the Rufián path (coalition with Comuns and CUP) that the resigning members had advocated for the upcoming municipal elections. And, as in the Girona and Barcelona cases, they leave with direct criticism of the party's national executive, chaired by Oriol Junqueras.

New mass resignation in ERC. After the cases in Girona and Barcelona, where the resignation of more than half of the executives forced a caretaker committee to be put in charge, now comes that of Igualada. In this case, all members of the leadership have decided to resign in response to the recent internal vote, which rejected the Rufián path (coalition with Comuns and CUP) which the resigning members had bet on for the upcoming municipal elections. And, as in the cases of Girona and Barcelona, they leave with direct criticism of the party's national executive, chaired by Oriol Junqueras.

"In this new phase, we do not think a Catalan unity government is convenient. We must consolidate the institutions and accustom the country to the presidency of the Generalitat, but the time has come to govern". He probably did not imagine he would do so for 23 consecutive years, but the day after the 1980 elections, a triumphant Jordi Pujol was already beginning to envision that his main mission should be the creation of autonomous Catalonia. This year marks 46 years since Pujol was invested president, and it so happens that he has now been out of government for as many years as he spent at the head of the Generalitat.

On July 20, 2010, Iniciativa per Catalunya Verds (ICV) said goodbye to the historic headquarters it had on Ciutat de Barcelona street, next to City Hall, to move to a much larger and more modern one –inside, not outside– a few minutes' walk away. In Rellotge passage, with access from a gate on Escudellers street, the eco-socialists were there until 2019, when, drowning in debt, they had to resort to bankruptcy proceedings to liquidate the party that was the heir to the PSUC. In the midst of the real estate bubble, that new headquarters had cost 7.5 million euros –including a significant renovation–, financed mainly by CaixaBank. Seven years later, that building that ended up condemning the party is for sale on the real estate portal Building Center –CaixaBank's real estate subsidiary– for 1.75 million euros. It is no longer owned by ICV, but by the same financial institution, which has taken possession of it due to the impossibility of selling it during the bankruptcy proceedings.

The seal on the agreement was put by Salvador Illa and Oriol Junqueras in a meeting of just over two hours at the Palau de la Generalitat on Tuesday afternoon. But the pact had been being forged since the previous weekend after days of deadlock. At the Palau and at the PSC headquarters, the strategy of buying time to avoid a parliamentary defeat that would have left the executive shaken eventually prevailed. The party's number 2, Lluïsa Moret, had a lot to do with it, explain various sources to ARA. But to limit the damage, the socialists demanded, in return, a commitment from the republicans to stop positioning the IRPF as a red line. All this, to reset the clock. To get here, however, the conversations went through ups and downs, from tense meetings to lunches and homemade doughnuts to save the negotiation.

Oriol López (Mollet del Vallès, 1978) is the deputy general secretary of ERC and one of the party's negotiators in the talks with the Government that, for the moment, have led to the withdrawal of a budget that was already being processed, for the first time.

The ministers from the Sumar coalition refused to begin the meeting until their demands were met: essentially, the inclusion of rental contract extensions in the measures to address the war in Iran. Their two-hour walkout before Friday's cabinet meeting was resolved with the enactment of two decrees, not just one as the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) had intended, to include tax cuts for the most affected sectors. Sumar touted this resolution on Saturday, taking a swipe at their socialist partners. "Without Sumar, there is no government," the movement's coordinator, Lara Hernández, reiterated in a statement without taking questions. A threat to the socialists? The party, still led by Yolanda Díaz, has no intention of leaving the government or jeopardizing the coalition in the face of a potential PP (People's Party)-Vox majority. In fact, Hernández herself emphasized that it is precisely the influence Sumar can wield that makes "being in government worthwhile."

John von Neumann was not particularly fond of lanterns –Deception—in poker games—but the father of Game Theory recognized its usefulness in keeping any zero-sum negotiation on edge. Of course, he also warned that one had to know how to play them. To begin with, the success of any lantern It depends on whether the other party—Von Neumann's study focused primarily on two-way negotiations—can consider it plausible. And this is precisely where the negotiating strategy between ERC and PSC regarding the 2026 budget has failed. Salvador Illa set a deadline, March 20, for the Republicans to stop dragging their feet and engaging in a game of chicken—another concept from Game Theory, which explains that both sides move toward the precipice without wanting to be the first to concede—that has ended in a stalemate. The PSC and ERC have given each other more time because it was the only way to ensure that no one loses.

ERC invested Salvador Illa and Pedro Sánchez, and it is true that the only way for the Republicans to have any influence at the moment is for both of them to remain at the head of their governments. Esquerra has often been criticized for easily caving in to the demands of the PSC and PSOE, and these criticisms have often been justified. This baggage likely played a role in Illa's decision to force the legislature's hand by putting the Generalitat's budget to a vote – next Friday – without having finalized the agreement with his most important partner.

"Manresa cannot have an open door to the ocean and welcome everyone indiscriminately and without control". "We have to be able to say enough". "Manresa is saturated". "We have imported a model of delinquency from the Third World". "It cannot be that Catalonia has been the country that in the last 25 years has received the most immigration". "Manresa must be a more prosperous, safer, more ours, more Catalan city". The first three sentences were said by Ramon Bacardit (Junts). The last three by Sergi Perramon ("Avanç Nacionalista).

A All Battles (Column), lawyer Magda Oranich (Barcelona, 1945) records her tireless fight for human rights and, more particularly, for women's rights, after six decades of activism.

The emeritus king is "well" and "calm," despite the attacks on Iran by the United States and Israel. It hadn't occurred to me to worry about him, but this news published this Monday on RTVE It reminded me that, indeed, Juan Carlos I still lives in the Persian Gulf. His mansion in Abu Dhabi is under construction, and for the past few months, he has been staying in a luxury hotel in the United Arab Emirates. No one should worry, because the escalating conflict doesn't seem likely to prevent him from returning to Sanxenxo this month to participate in the regattas.