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    <title><![CDATA[Ara in English - Antoni Bassas]]></title>
    <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/firmes/antoni-bassas/]]></link>
    <description><![CDATA[Ara in English - Antoni Bassas]]></description>
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    <ttl>10</ttl>
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      <title><![CDATA[A suspension for the Department of Education of the Generalitat]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/suspension-for-the-department-of-education-of-the-generalitat_129_5808230.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/bc3246e5-d5b4-46e4-bb2e-3ab8903feb12_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>No matter how you look at it, the fiasco of the <a href="https://en.ara.cat/society/an-error-will-make-the-results-of-catalonia-in-the-pisa-tests-uncomparable-with-other-territories-or-editions_1_5807623.html">Department of Education with the PISA tests</a> cannot be justified: the OECD discovered and communicated the error in March, but the Generalitat has not reported it until now, four months later, on a Friday in late July. But we should not see any will of "concealment" and "manipulation".Even though four months have already passed, some "preliminary informative proceedings of a reserved nature" are still open to find out what might have happened, but it is not ruled out that it may have coincided with another basic competencies exam and with a "transition process" between the old Superior Council of Evaluation and the new Agency for Evaluation and Prospective of Education, and to prevent it from happening again, the Commission for Coordination of Evaluation Tests and Studies has been created.Instead of applying the maximum exclusion rate of 5% of students, a rate of 23.3% was applied, a circumstance that the Director General of Curriculum and Professional Development, who comes out to face the music (and not the minister), describes as an "technical, isolated and isolated incident". Total: the PISA test results that will be published in September will not be comparable with other territories or with other previous years in Catalonia.It is a national and international ridicule for the Generalitat, because Catalonia participates in the OECD's PISA tests with its own sample and because, seeing that in the last exam in 2022 Catalan students were below the average for the OECD, Europe, and Spain, President Illa signed an agreement with the OECD to lift the results. Well, for now, before knowing how the students have done, it is the Catalan administration that has failed. In education, we are playing with the future, and it has been too long since we have been doing well.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/suspension-for-the-department-of-education-of-the-generalitat_129_5808230.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 24 Jul 2026 18:57:05 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/bc3246e5-d5b4-46e4-bb2e-3ab8903feb12_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[A student looking at their PISA test results]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/bc3246e5-d5b4-46e4-bb2e-3ab8903feb12_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Who watches the builders?]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/who-watches-the-builders_1_5807585.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p>These you will now see are the images of <a href="https://en.ara.cat/society/collapse-in-the-r2-tunnel-between-barcelona-and-montcada-swallows-large-crane_1_5805908.html" >the crane collapse in Vallbona, Barcelona</a>, in the works to bury the Rodalies line of Montcada i Reixac that Adif is carrying out there. It happened on Wednesday. An enormous crane was swallowed by a sinkhole when the wall of a shaft that was to connect with the railway tunnel being built there gave way. This is the moment when the earth swallows the crane and here you have the image of the landslide it caused. We were lucky, because minutes before, there were workers in this hole, meaning we could now be talking about a tragedy. Consider that the hole that ended up being made was 17 meters deep and 19 meters in diameter. The crane was worth half a million euros. I say it was worth it because we will never see it again. They are injecting concrete into the hole to stabilize the ground with the crane inside, because if they had wanted to remove it, it would have taken them weeks to stabilize the area and be able to continue the works. Adif assures that there have been no movements in the houses, the tracks, or any other point of the works.<a href="https://en.ara.cat/society/movement-of-earth-due-to-the-presence-of-water-possible-origin-of-the-r2-sinkhole_1_5806412.html" >The sinkhole has caused the usual closure of Rodalies</a>, on three lines, at least until next week, the day is unknown. Today we explain that, according to the councilor of the Nou Barris district, Xavier Marcé, the Vallbona collapse could have been caused by the groundwater of the Rec Comtal, which passes through there and which would have contributed to a landslip. In fact, some media outlets explain that the passage of the Rec Comtal was obviously reflected in the project of the work, and that the neighbors also knew about it.And here comes the question: if the geologists knew it, and it must have been in the construction documents, if the neighbors saw it, why didn't the construction companies take it sufficiently into account? The hydrology of the terrain is part of the project for any action.  As if the incident in the Adif works were not bad enough, it turns out that it happened on the same day that a gas leak in Plaça de Sants in Barcelona, where the Generalitat's Department of Territory was carrying out metro works, caused a flare-up that firefighters took hours to extinguish. Here too, they are investigating the origin of the leak and what caused the flare-up. And finally, the Department of Territory is also responsible for the L9 metro works that forced the evacuation of a series of houses in the Putxet neighborhood of Barcelona, about three weeks ago.This morning I asked a public works expert what had happened with this concentration of serious incidents in public works and he told me that he wanted to think it was a trick of Divine Providence, but that the guard on the work done by construction companies could not be lowered. And it is better that they do not lower it, because right now Catalonia has a considerable volume of public works underway and the last thing we need is a state of psychosis.Good morning.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/who-watches-the-builders_1_5807585.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 24 Jul 2026 10:10:39 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[Right now Catalonia has a considerable volume of public works underway and the last thing we need is a state of psychosis]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Football players, tattoos and earrings]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/football-players-tattoos-and-earrings_129_5807212.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a8a93b1d-37bf-441c-9bd2-e285fe46f26a_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>Asked during the World Cup by the newspaper <em>ABC </em>about his simple image and the fact that he didn't have tattoos, Pau Cubarsí replied that he didn't have them now and probably wouldn't in the future, that he felt “comfortable with my hair combed forward like the rest of the guys my age, and that's enough,” and added: “You can be a footballer without having tattoos,” a phrase that went straight to the interview's headline and which, four weeks later, could have been improved with “you can be the best young player in the World Cup without having tattoos.”</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/football-players-tattoos-and-earrings_129_5807212.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 23 Jul 2026 18:55:39 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a8a93b1d-37bf-441c-9bd2-e285fe46f26a_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Pau Cubarsí, in action in the match between Spain and Belgium]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/a8a93b1d-37bf-441c-9bd2-e285fe46f26a_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Brussels remembers and Madrid ignores]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/brussels-remembers-and-madrid-ignores_1_5806485.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/fd56f49d-5873-419d-abb2-c92749e464f0_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>Today we have published an article that begins by saying <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/brussels-reminds-spanish-courts-that-they-must-apply-the-cjeu-ruling-amnesty_1_5805719.html" >“Brussels reminds…”</a>.Specifically, “Brussels reminds Spanish courts that they must apply the CJEU ruling on the amnesty”. The news could continue by saying “Brussels reminds and Madrid disobeys”, or “Brussels reminds and Madrid doesn't remember”, because the disregard shown by the Court of Auditors, the National Court, or the Supreme Court towards the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the full conformity with European law of the amnesty law is nothing but disobedience. The meaning of it all is clear: President Puigdemont's return to Catalonia is an humiliation for the entire political, media, police, and judicial state apparatus, especially the judicial one, which turned the prosecution of hundreds of Catalans into a reason to live with the <em>rojigualda</em> flag hanging on the balcony, and a merit for advancement. And, therefore, they will prolong the punishment as much as they can, because exiles and disqualifications prevent a strategic reorganization of the independence movement, which, however much it is here and no longer leaves, has not only failed to find new forms of widely accepted expression or new leaderships, but has also revealed the worst face of disorientation and division.The Spanish obstructionist impulse, which refers, therefore, to its essences, also has a tactical component which is the countdown waiting for the fall (and who knows if prosecution) of Pedro Sánchez, which would place the mechanisms of the executive and part of the legislative in the same hands as the judicial.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/brussels-remembers-and-madrid-ignores_1_5806485.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 23 Jul 2026 10:18:40 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/fd56f49d-5873-419d-abb2-c92749e464f0_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Audio analysis 23 01.00 04 00 03.Still image002]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/fd56f49d-5873-419d-abb2-c92749e464f0_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[This political end of course resembles the days that successive heatwaves of this July are making us go through: sticky, slow, annoying]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA["The good things, today, where are they?"]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-good-things-today-where-are-they_129_5806006.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/d22810d6-8371-40a9-a693-3e8907ae3929_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>The question was posed by Josep Vallverdú in a poem, and it comes to me readily to answer with a list of responses full of gratitude to this Lleida <em>gentleman</em>: the good things in life are in his sustained work, in his prolific generosity with child and youth readers, in the intelligent good nature that followed him like a perfume, in the wisdom of a recent word, when he said that we must strive to have only "affections and hopes left in the closet", and that "the greater the affections, the closer hopes will be to becoming reality".</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-good-things-today-where-are-they_129_5806006.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 22 Jul 2026 17:05:50 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/d22810d6-8371-40a9-a693-3e8907ae3929_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Josep Vallverdú, this Wednesday at the Mimosa hotel in Barcelona's Eixample]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/d22810d6-8371-40a9-a693-3e8907ae3929_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[When 8.6% of investments put the socialists in evidence]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/when-8-6-of-investments-put-the-socialists-in-evidence_1_5805474.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c2d9019f-f83c-4fa6-af14-0818656b1499_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>The first word of the day must be for <a href="https://en.ara.cat/culture/josep-vallverdu-dies-totem-of-children-s-and-youth-literature_1_5805179.html" >Josep Vallverdú, who died yesterday at 103 years old</a>.History will speak of the Lleida writer as a celebrated author of children's and young adult novels, with <em>Rovelló</em> at the peak of popularity. But Vallverdú is much more than that: there are more than 200 books in Catalan written amidst prohibitions, those of a life that took place in large part between two dictatorships, that of Primo de Rivera and that of Franco, a civil war and a post-war period. Vallverdú, from the same group as Joaquim Carbó, Sebastià Sorribas, or Emili Teixidor, is one of those writers who saved our words, and for that he deserves our gratitude. From Vallverdú, I want to share with you today some wise words spoken in an interview, talking about what was to remain in the last years of life. He said: “Only affections and hopes should remain in the closet, and the stronger the affections, the closer the hopes will be to becoming a reality.” May he rest in peace, Josep Vallverdú.Meanwhile, the judicial landscape is darkening for former Spanish president Zapatero and, by extension, for the current president Sánchez, who has always supported him, because although it has not been clarified who Zapatero influenced to rescue an airline with 53 million of public money for the pandemic, what seems proven is that the company paid money, a percentage of which ended up in Zapatero's pocket, and he denied having anything to do with it. For the moment, <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/the-moncloa-links-itself-to-zapatero-despite-the-declaration-of-julito_1_5804749.html" >La Moncloa continues to trust Zapatero</a>, but in view of what is known, that trust hangs by a thread.And today the Parliament held the last control session of the Government before the holidays. President Illa has been heard to say that he has gone from “<em>no amnesty nor anything like that</em>” to applauding the ECJ and asking that Spanish justice comply with the law. In fact, <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/puigdemont-denounces-spain-to-the-european-commission-for-non-compliance-with-the-amnesty_1_5805124.html" >Puigdemont, Comín and Puig have denounced Spain</a> before the European Commission for disregarding the ECJ.But the most interesting thing was when the spokesperson for Junts, Mònica Sales, asked the president what he plans to do about the shameful state investments in Catalonia, which last year were 8.6%. And Illa's response began by acknowledging the problem.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/when-8-6-of-investments-put-the-socialists-in-evidence_1_5805474.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 22 Jul 2026 09:47:33 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c2d9019f-f83c-4fa6-af14-0818656b1499_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[260722 analysis.00 05 53 12.Still image001]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c2d9019f-f83c-4fa6-af14-0818656b1499_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[An investment consortium, is the ultimate proof that even someone as unlikely a supporter of independence as Illa knows that when it comes to investments in Catalonia, there is nothing to be done with Spain. What did they mean when they spoke of reunion and normalization?]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[The riff-raff]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-riff-raff_129_5805081.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c33ab697-7a05-48d4-a2c3-c891d01e0066_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059510.jpg" /></p><p>There are words that everyone knows will make headlines, and for that very reason they are spoken. This is the case of the mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, with the phrase "We don't want <a href="https://en.ara.cat/society/robberies-rise-sharply-in-barcelona-even-though-there-are-fewer-crimes-than-last-year_1_5803895.html">this riffraff</a> in our city", referring to organized gangs using firearms to kill each other. <em>Folk </em>sounds energetic. It is a quintessential example of the end of politically correct language and is the type of expression that the far-right has plundered on the streets to convey a firmness close to the death penalty and to empathize with frightened voters. It is the language that a part of the left has been adopting so as not to be left behind when it began to admit, too late, that public security policies were left-wing, because the rich right could always afford private security.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-riff-raff_129_5805081.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:08:33 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c33ab697-7a05-48d4-a2c3-c891d01e0066_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059510.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[The mayor of Barcelona, Jaume Collboni, Monday, after the celebration of the Local Security Board.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c33ab697-7a05-48d4-a2c3-c891d01e0066_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059510.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[The only thing they have uninhibited is the gall]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-only-thing-they-have-uninhibited-is-the-gall_1_5804546.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f0c8082a-16c4-46e9-bdf8-6b715b34b330_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>Today, to start, we have a government crisis. <a href="https://en.ara.cat/society/raul-moreno-will-replace-martinez-bravo-at-the-head-of-social-rights_1_5803464.html" >The new Minister of Social Rights is called Raúl Moreno</a>, until now general secretary of the department. He replaces Mònica Martínez Bravo, who lived in Madrid and worked in Catalonia, and who requested relief from President Illa. At the handover ceremony, Illa remarked that it was a change of minister but not of policies. As Aleix Moldes explains today, <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/the-first-but-not-the-last-government-crisis-of-salvador-illa_129_5803908.html" >this will not be the last government reshuffle where the Minister of Health</a>, Olga Pané, currently on leave due to a fractured fibula, will not finish the term, nor will super-minister Sílvia Paneque, who will be sent back to her city, Girona, to try to regain the mayorship for the socialists. It is worth noting that Girona is a state-level mayoralty, because the relationship with the Spanish royal family will not be fully normalized in Catalonia until the awards named after the Crown heiress, the Princess of Girona, can be held in the city.It is clear that, due to a government crisis, that of the United Kingdom, which <a href="https://en.ara.cat/international/andy-burnham-promises-already-as-premier-new-political-and-economic-model-for-the-united-kingdom_1_5803799.html" >yesterday premiered a prime minister, the Labourite Andy Burnham</a>, who in a speech without a lectern or teleprompter pledged to "make politics work, and work better", promised a new political model and a new economic model, to reindustrialize the United Kingdom. Burnham went straight to the point: the cost of living must be reduced, homelessness must be ended (he went to prepare breakfasts at a shelter for homeless people in London), in short, to get the United Kingdom out of a crisis that we also know here, but which there has the specificity of Brexit. It has been a bad deal: think that since the United Kingdom left the European Union (now, in June, it was 10 years ago) they have had seven prime ministers, and Burnham, specifically, is the fourth prime minister of Charles III in less than 4 years. Charles III succeeded his mother in September 2022, now four years ago, and began his reign with Liz Truss (who only lasted 45 days), Rishi Sunak, Keir Starmer, and now Andy Burnham. The fourth in less than four years is a clear sign of political instability derived from national disorientation, inflation, stagnant wages, lack of affordable housing, or the deterioration of public services.There are no perfect countries, they all carry a backpack or another; what do I have to tell you about Catalonia that you don't know. Today the day began with train traffic interrupted between Lleida and La Plana-Picamoixons due to a cable theft, as reported by Adif. An incident that happens every two by three, and which speaks, above all, of the abandonment in which Spain has kept its railway network in Catalonia for decades.In the last few hours, the Football World Cup has given the idea of Spain the possibility to look in the mirror and like itself, to make the speech of "When Spain plays, we all play", of the inclusive nation. This is the pleasant part of the Spanish message these days. But the nationalist discourse soon appeared, consisting of saying that it was enough to go around the world with complexes and that young people went out into the street without complexes. Let this comment from the newspaper <a href="https://www.larazon.es/editoriales/calles-espana-complejos_202607216a5ea1800500ab412ca1654e.html" rel="nofollow">this comment from the newspaper </a><a href="https://www.larazon.es/editoriales/calles-espana-complejos_202607216a5ea1800500ab412ca1654e.html" rel="nofollow"><em>La Razón</em></a>.Come on, cover yourselves a little. The idea of a unified and Castilian Spain has never had complexes (with a slight exception, a tactical withdrawal at the beginning of the Transition due to an apparent bad conscience due to the association between Spain and Francoism). For the rest, Spain goes its own way, with its language, investments, and blocking of any legal recognition of its plurinationality. And, on the other hand, let's understand each other: they present it as a success of the idea of Spain that people go out to celebrate the successes of the only team, when it is the only possible team, the "normal" one, which is normal because it is mandatory for athletes under penalty of losing their federative license to play. The only uninhibited thing is the nerve they have.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-only-thing-they-have-uninhibited-is-the-gall_1_5804546.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:42:21 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f0c8082a-16c4-46e9-bdf8-6b715b34b330_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[260721 analysis.00 06 33 05.Still image001]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f0c8082a-16c4-46e9-bdf8-6b715b34b330_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[They come as a success of the idea of Spain that people go out to celebrate the successes of the only selection, when it is the only possible selection, because it is mandatory for athletes under penalty of loss of their federation license to play. The only uninhibited one is the nerve they have]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[The Spanish justice asks for hydration breaks]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-spanish-justice-asks-for-hydration-breaks_129_5804256.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/38155409-88a2-4fd6-84ac-6c70e21d7081_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.png" /></p><p>The Constitutional Court will begin to reconsider the amnesty in two months, <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/the-tc-will-hold-the-first-debate-the-amnesty-for-the-leaders-of-the-proces-september-22nd_1_5803811.html" >on September 22</a>, because really, what are sixty days in the life of a person who has been waiting for justice, exiled or disqualified, for almost nine years? It won't matter anymore.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-spanish-justice-asks-for-hydration-breaks_129_5804256.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 20 Jul 2026 19:41:41 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/38155409-88a2-4fd6-84ac-6c70e21d7081_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.png" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[National High Court of Spain.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/38155409-88a2-4fd6-84ac-6c70e21d7081_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.png"/>
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      <title><![CDATA[Offer new glories to Spain]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-heat-the-fires-and-giving-our-best_1_5803599.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/7c65368a-ef16-40fb-8c9c-7f765800f663_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p><a href="https://en.ara.cat/sports/world-cup-final-guide-spain-argentina-schedule-where-to-watch-it-and-lineups_1_5802746.html" >Spain is once again world champion of football.</a> Here are some fundamental ideas about this second title.I said everywhere that Spain was the favorite against Argentina, because the Spanish team has better players who do what they have to do very well and interpret it with intelligence at every moment. If France in the semifinals and Argentina in the final have seemed like minor teams it is because Spain has subjected them with authority. Argentina, on the other hand, has lived each match with a religious tachycardia, doing its homework at the last minute, all hanging by a thread over the abyss, where God, Maradona, the Falklands and Messi are mixed. Messi alone (and even less so at 39 years old) cannot lift a national team that yesterday only shot at goal once in 120 minutes and could not make three consecutive passes. This is due to Spain's great defensive work, which has only conceded one goal in the entire championship, where Pau Cubarsí has graduated in this World Cup, as has Dani Olmo, with a Lamine who scares opponents but who has not fully exploded yet in this World Cup (although winning one at 19 years old is very similar to exploding). He has already won a European Championship and a World Cup with Spain. Now it's time for the Champions League with Barça. Show Time: Lamentable halftime show, with wasted talents like that of director Gustavo Dudamel, with appearances that caused suffering, like those of Madonna, Ronaldinho and Ronaldo. The World Cup song, performed by Shakira, has not hooked at all. A 27-minute break at halftime is not football. Infantino rules, Donald Trump's pawn.International politics: <a href="https://en.ara.cat/sports/the-world-cup-final-that-you-haven-t-seen-tv_1_5803242.html" >Donald Trump wanted to stay with the players when they were going to lift the championship trophy</a>, because it is known that he always wins. In the box he was surrounded by leaders of countries he has insulted and belittled, such as Canada, Mexico and Spain. Spanish politics: National football teams are the ultimate expression of politics, and that's why the Spanish royal family and Pedro Sánchez and three ministers were there yesterday. With the World Cup victory, Pedro Sánchez ensures he reaches September with some oxygen. Yesterday, a Valencian socialist tweeted provocatively: "The Roja won. We reds won," written on July 19th, 90 years after the start of the Civil War. The World Cup will not ease the judges' pressure on cases affecting Sánchez, but people will be busy with other things until September. And in the autumn is when he can announce the call for elections.Catalonia: <a href="https://en.ara.cat/sports/unbridled-euphoria-in-barcelona-to-celebrate-spain-s-second-world-cup_1_5803348.html" >Thousands of people took to the streets of our country yesterday to celebrate Spain's victory.</a>Horns and firecrackers were heard. The fact that Spain prohibits Catalonia's participation in international competitions is a very strong blow to the normalization of Catalan popular identity, especially for young people, for whom Spain is what is normal. Imagine the opportunity cost of Lamine Yamal not being able to wear the Catalonia jersey. And yet, national team and Spanish sentiment are not direct communicating vessels. Tell me, if not, how many Catalans do you not know who supported Spain because of the Barça players or, simply, because it is the closest national team.We will eat the red [team] for a few days. A red [team] that cannot be explained without Barça (not as much as in 2010, it's true), but where the style taught at La Masia is that of the national team and where eight Catalan players have gone to offer new glories to Spain. And the offering has been pure gold. Good morning.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-heat-the-fires-and-giving-our-best_1_5803599.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 20 Jul 2026 09:22:43 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/7c65368a-ef16-40fb-8c9c-7f765800f663_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[New glories offered to Spain | Antoni Bassas' analysis]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/7c65368a-ef16-40fb-8c9c-7f765800f663_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[We will eat the red a few days. A red that is not explained without Barça (not as much as in 2010, it's true), but where the style taught at La Masia is that of the national team and where eight Catalan players have gone to offer new glories to Spain. And the offering has been pure gold.]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[Spain and its ball]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/spain-and-its-ball_129_5803056.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/17c3f26c-ebee-4fbc-a63e-f32543fb6165_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>The eve of the 2010 World Cup final, hundreds of thousands of Catalans demonstrated on Passeig de Gràcia against the ruling that the Constitutional Court had just issued on the Statute. The front pages of that Sunday were quite graphic: a huge Catalan protest and, next to it, a huge Spanish hope, due in large part to the talent of players made at Barça.Sixteen years later, history has repeated itself with a reheated flavor: the Spanish justice's indifference to the ECJ's ruling on the amnesty, and the news that the Spanish government invested more than double last year in Madrid (20.9%) than in Catalonia (8.6%) have arrived at the same moment that newspapers around the world were explaining on their front pages the story of two players made at La Masia who have become World Cup icons, with the Spanish team a stone's throw from glory.In terms of political and economic power, then, we are where we were, even though we tried to make an impressive solo escape. The same can be said of Spain, which is where it was, going its own way, mistress of the ball, which combines two games: either repression or stick and carrot, both with a similar result: despite rubbing against 20% of Spanish GDP with one hand tied behind its back, which is a remarkable feat, the stagnation of Catalans is a fact.Repression or the stick and carrot are taken for granted. The variable that must change so that when another World Cup arrives we don't have to repeat headlines is knowing how to convert our proven capacity in so many areas into a strategy for political power, and the first step should be a concertation of interests that makes it more difficult for the owners of the ball.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/spain-and-its-ball_129_5803056.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Sun, 19 Jul 2026 16:00:58 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/17c3f26c-ebee-4fbc-a63e-f32543fb6165_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Lamine Yamal, applauding the Spanish fans after eliminating Portugal in the World Cup]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/17c3f26c-ebee-4fbc-a63e-f32543fb6165_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
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      <title><![CDATA[The invisible selection]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-invisible-selection_129_5801727.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/8f465e74-4caa-4004-8a27-11d004f6ddc3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059398.jpg" /></p><p>The fact that Catalan football is so recognizable in the call-ups, lineups, and playing style of the Spanish national team has made our absence from the World Cup with the Catalan team even harder. What a great role we would have played (as also happens in the Olympic Games), and instead, on Sunday we will once again offer new footballing glories to Spain, which, if you ask me for a prediction, I believe will be golden glories.Argentina has Messi, which is the best thing that could have happened to them, because he brings intelligence, technique, and composure to the emotional chaos of an Argentina that has played every match arriving late and desperately, as if they had a date with destiny rather than with their opponent, and those in charge of letting it pass couldn't find their name on the list of qualifiers, until finally they discover that victory was written. And where Scaloni's tactics don't reach, the supernatural reinforcements of God begin, the hand of God and his footballing son on Earth, Diego Armando Maradona, accompanied by Victor Hugo Morales' narration "<em>¿de qué planeta viniste?</em>”<em>.</em> Messi, moreover, brings a purpose to an entire team that loves him, which is to help him expand his legend and make him world champion again and a contender for a ninth Ballon d'Or, at 39 years old.And, after all, if anyone can bring Argentina down from this religious madness with which they have reached the final, it is Spain, with their rational, solid, and knowledgeable football, where everyone knows what they have to do and does it like champions. The World Cup of Cubarsí and Olmo has been impressive. The whole world has once again looked at the photo by Joan Monfort and Oriol Canals for <em>Sport</em>" with Lamine Yamal in the little tub, where Messi seems to be imposing his hands on him. It is the triumph of La Masia, from which the two stars of the championship have emerged. We already have this, and it is a lot.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-invisible-selection_129_5801727.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 17 Jul 2026 17:16:33 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/8f465e74-4caa-4004-8a27-11d004f6ddc3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059398.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Lionel Messi, from Argentina, celebrates it after Enzo Fernández scores the team's first goal.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/8f465e74-4caa-4004-8a27-11d004f6ddc3_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059398.jpg"/>
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      <title><![CDATA[The necessary condition for the future of the country]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-necessary-condition-for-the-future-of-the-country_1_5801111.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c75c01f2-7789-4cdb-bd0e-aa0696dbd5ff_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>After the European justice's approval of the amnesty, a couple of immediate questions remain, the first: <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/who-remains-to-be-amnestied-after-the-ruling-of-the-ecj_1_5800949.html" >who remains to be amnestied?</a>Here we explain it: the CDRs (indicted in the National Court for terrorism) and those pending before the Court of Auditors, accused by the Prosecutor's Office and by Societat Civil Catalana, which is claiming five million from them, but then there is a small trickle of cases distributed in various parts of the country. And the other: <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/when-can-puigdemont-return_129_5800318.html" >when can Puigdemont return?</a> Núria Orriols, our delegate in Madrid, reviews all possible scenarios, which include the fact that the Supreme Court has no deadline to rush its decision and could even ask Europe again if embezzlement is amnestible, even though the Constitutional Court had already said that the amnesty was constitutional. The only certainty is that the Constitutional Court will rule in the autumn precisely on whether embezzlement is amnestible. And this is where the political calendar comes in: in Madrid, it is rumored that it will be in the autumn when Pedro Sánchez can announce the call for elections. If Puigdemont arrives before or during the campaign, the consequences are diverse: it helps Junts, it campaigns for PP and VOX against the PSOE in Spain and it helps the PSC in Catalonia. Yesterday Aznar said that "the seditious aggression" could not go unpunished. And it is that in the amnesty two grievances converge according to PP, the patriotic grievance (Spain is not voted for) and that of power, and here is where the two public enemies number one are found: Puigdemont and Sánchez. They want them both in prison. The PSOE governs having lost, thanks to the amnesty agreed with Junts. Aznar, incidentally, recalled that the unity of Spain is basic for the European Union, as is that of Italy or Germany or any other country. Aznar and a good part of Spanish politics put unity first and then democracy, with the mental reservation that without unity there is no democracy. From this tangle between aggravated flag and the power they do not have, there is the reason for the refusal of the Spanish judicial leadership to apply a law that has been approved for more than two years, which is Constitutional and in accordance with Community legislation. Remember the 2006 Statute. We've been the same for 20 years. And the problem is that in these 20 years the country has changed a lot, the world has changed a lot, needs have multiplied and we don't have all the tools. And the parties in Catalonia are too divided to overcome the enormity of the challenge that the future of the country represents. A certain unity of action is a necessary condition.Good morning.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-necessary-condition-for-the-future-of-the-country_1_5801111.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Fri, 17 Jul 2026 08:02:21 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c75c01f2-7789-4cdb-bd0e-aa0696dbd5ff_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[The necessary condition for the future of the country]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c75c01f2-7789-4cdb-bd0e-aa0696dbd5ff_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[Remember the 2006 Statute. For 20 years we have been the same. And the parties of Catalonia are too divided to overcome the enormity of the challenge that represents the future of the country. A certain unity of action is a necessary condition]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[Amnesty and reconciliation]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/amnesty-and-reconciliation_129_5800598.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f8fe55c9-0f9c-49bf-a273-7512b1335f80_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059408.jpg" /></p><p>The judge of the ECJ who has given voice to the endorsement of European justice for the amnesty has mentioned the purpose of reconciliation that drove it. It sounded promising, hopeful, desirable. But the judiciary has already sent enough signals that, in the case of the Procés, reconciliation rhymes with prison. European justice has pointed out to Spanish justice that there is no other way than amnesty and, on the other hand, we will see when Carles Puigdemont returns or Oriol Junqueras is qualified. The contrast is so shameless that a Spanish socialist minister has even stated that “it would not be too much for democracy, which crossed the Pyrenees a long time ago, to reach all the institutions of the State”. Of course, the Minister of Rodalies speaks from the wound of the accusations against Pedro Sánchez’s family, not from those of the Procés, and he is only an ally of the cause of the most elementary sense of justice out of pure political survival necessity. It is nothing new: they tried the political prisoners for rebellion, they were convicted of sedition, and more than two years have passed without applying amnesty for a delirious crime of embezzlement and terrorism for the CDRs. There will be little reconciliation here.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/amnesty-and-reconciliation_129_5800598.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 16 Jul 2026 16:13:45 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f8fe55c9-0f9c-49bf-a273-7512b1335f80_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059408.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Carles Puigdemont in the appearance in Brussels.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/f8fe55c9-0f9c-49bf-a273-7512b1335f80_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059408.jpg"/>
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      <title><![CDATA[The CJEU to the Spanish justice: enough is enough]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-cjeu-to-the-spanish-justice-enough-is-enough_1_5800216.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/7f0b1b22-8b8e-4293-a7ef-689b996163c4_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>Great news: <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/the-cjeu-endorses-the-amnesty-and-points-the-way-to-the-spanish-justice-system_1_5800142.html" >the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) has largely endorsed the amnesty law</a>.It found it to be in accordance with EU law, because it considered that the amnesty is not contrary to the financial interests of the European Union, nor is it contrary to the directive on terrorism (the crime for which some CDRs had been prosecuted). It goes further, emphatically: the CJEU states that the amnesty does not harm equal treatment, in the sense that it was a law only intended to favor some, but rather it was approved "in a real context of political and social reconciliation" and therefore does not constitute a "self-amnesty". With this ruling, the Court of Auditors should file its cases, and the National Court, too. And the Supreme Court, of course. But at the moment I'm speaking to you, the arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont or the disqualification of Oriol Junqueras is still in place. And it is quite likely that they will wait until autumn to lift them, which is when the Constitutional Court will issue a ruling on the Supreme Court's refusal to apply the amnesty. To put it this way, Carles Puigdemont is one step closer to returning to Catalonia, and now it seems it is only a matter of a few months.The CJEU ruling is great news, but that the amnesty is not fully applied is a disgrace that can only be explained by the "<em>a por ellos</em>!". It is important to remember where we come from: the TS prosecuted the political prisoners for rebellion, a crime that should have required armed violence, it condemned for sedition, which would also have required violence, and now it refuses to apply the amnesty for embezzlement, for which there has also been none. It is a deployment of creative, patriotic justice.The president <a href="https://www.ara.cat/politica/justicia-europea-sentencia-avui-l-amnistia_6_5800026.html" >Illa made a statement in Catalan, Spanish, and English</a> :“I appear before all of you to express my satisfaction and that of the Government of Catalonia for the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union. An explicit ruling, which endorses Organic Law 1/2024 on amnesty for the institutional, political, and social normalization of Catalonia. The highest instance of European justice has spoken clearly: the law complies with European law. Europe says 'yes' to amnesty, Catalonia says 'yes' to the future. The decision of the Court of Justice of the European Union is very good news for Catalonia, for Spain, and for democracy. There is no turning back. The amnesty law is part, with all its consequences, of our legal framework, and therefore, its application is mandatory.”</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/the-cjeu-to-the-spanish-justice-enough-is-enough_1_5800216.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Thu, 16 Jul 2026 10:03:46 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/7f0b1b22-8b8e-4293-a7ef-689b996163c4_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[260716 analysis.00 12 30 11.Still image001]]></media:title>
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      <subtitle><![CDATA[In Europe, Puigdemont considers that he has won everything and has created jurisprudence. But in Waterloo they remembered that now the game will no longer be played in Europe, but at the Bernabéu, with the bought referee and the public against them]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[Spain in freedom?]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/spain-in-freedom_129_5799919.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/cc255bcb-5ddf-4f6b-b722-a34b7373205c_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x940y215.jpg" /></p><p>As important as the 9-year disqualification sentence for Pedro Sánchez's brother has been the Spanish government's response, which has considered it a political sentence. Perhaps it is no longer surprising, because months ago Spanish socialists crossed a line they probably thought they would never have to cross, they, who were a state party, and dared to consider themselves victims of "<em>lawfare</em>" for the first time, but for the executive power to consider that the judicial power is prevaricating (even if it does not say so in so many words) indicates at what height the democratic quality of the State is flying.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/spain-in-freedom_129_5799919.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 15 Jul 2026 18:47:50 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/cc255bcb-5ddf-4f6b-b722-a34b7373205c_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x940y215.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[David Sánchez arriving at the Badajoz Court for the last session of the trial]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/cc255bcb-5ddf-4f6b-b722-a34b7373205c_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x940y215.jpg"/>
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      <title><![CDATA[Philip of Bourbon, "Go for it!"]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/philip-of-bourbon-go-for-it_1_5799315.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/ff84276b-9cb9-4845-9d8d-6a3faad6041d_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p><a href="https://en.ara.cat/sports/france-spain-world-cup-semi-final-match-guide-schedule-where-to-watch-and-lineups_1_5798050.html" >The dish of the day is Spain, finalists of the World Cup</a>, but, before that we cannot lose sight of the fact that <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/sanchez-s-brother-sentenced-to-9-years-of-disqualification-without-prison_1_5798372.html" >Pedro Sánchez's brother has been sentenced to 9 years of disqualification for malfeasance</a>, for having created and awarded him a job at the Badajoz Provincial Council out of hand, which, according to the ruling, was neither urgent nor necessary. But the ruling itself dismisses that there had been influence peddling, that is to say, that no one called to pressure for this job to be created. In other words, it is proven that David Sánchez was nepotized. It is ugly in all cases, but more so in the case of a brother of the president of the government. Another thing is that such a nepotism would reach the courts if we were not talking about the brother of the president of the government and, much less, that the sentence would be 9 years of disqualification. And for this reason, the socialist government, as Minister Puente says,<a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/bridge-the-condemnation-of-sanchez-s-brother-the-only-purpose-is-to-overthrow-the-government_1_5798397.html" > considers that the purpose of the sentence is to overthrow the Spanish government “given the inability to do so at the ballot box”</a>, an assessment with which we can agree, but which means that the executive power considers that the judicial power is malfeasance for political reasons. La Moncloa did not speak of lawfare, but it did speak of a “political cause,” from which, therefore, a political conviction would follow. Sounds like a trial, doesn't it, PSOE? The PSOE continues to live the nightmare of feeling excluded by the system as a state party. At the same time, the system is teaching the PSOE the right way: if you don't make deals with Catalan and Basque independentists, your problems will end. But, as we were saying, the news of the day is that Spain is already in the World Cup final.In all fairness, the championship Spain has played has not been spectacular, but it has been very solid. Consider that they reach the final having conceded one goal in the entire tournament. And yesterday it eliminated the powerful and feared France with solid football, always well positioned on the field, reducing players like Mbappé or Dembélé to impotence. As Martí Molina titles it, yesterday's match was a football lesson from an incredible generation, with special mention to three Catalans: Cubarsí, Olmo, and Lamine Yamal. Tonight, at 9, the other semifinal will be played, England-Argentina (since the Falklands War and Maradona's goals in '86, it's more than just a match), but the strength Spain is showing makes it the favorite, in my opinion, whether the English or Messi's team advance.The World Cup has a major political derivative, because it has become the great machine for feeding identities. At a time when states have shrunk in the face of the disruptive power of billionaire technology companies and can barely ensure the social contract, the World Cup ensures the emotional contract. And the states play it to the fullest. Look at this video, and tell me if you have ever seen the always grumpy Felipe de Borbón so exultant: he and his family, with the shirt with their names printed on it, celebrating yesterday night's 2-0, in a double exercise of showing what behavior is expected of a Spaniard on occasions like this and that his harmony with the joy of his subjects is total. And on Sunday, to the box with Donald Trump.In short, a selection is a flag and a name, a cry. That is why Spain prohibits by law the participation of selections like the Catalan one in international competitions (even though the Catalan Football Federation is older than the Spanish one (1900 the Catalan, 1913 the Spanish) and punishes athletes who refuse to go. By the way, the tweet from the Royal House encourages the selection to win the final with a phrase that will sound familiar to them: "!A por ello!". They don't get out of there.Good morning.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/philip-of-bourbon-go-for-it_1_5799315.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Wed, 15 Jul 2026 09:42:06 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/ff84276b-9cb9-4845-9d8d-6a3faad6041d_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Philip of Bourbon, "Go for it!"]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/ff84276b-9cb9-4845-9d8d-6a3faad6041d_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[Watch this video, and tell me if you had ever seen the always grumpy Philip of Bourbon so exultant]]></subtitle>
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      <title><![CDATA[The World Cup is no longer banal nationalism, but principal]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-world-cup-is-no-longer-banal-nationalism-but-principal_129_5799005.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c1a381c6-500e-4fb9-811c-2db8abedf2c4_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059305.jpg" /></p><p>With flags on the pitch the size of half a field, starters and substitutes coming onto the field preceded by the flags of each country and lined up to sing the national anthems, heads of state in the stands, film and music stars occupying inaccessible seats and dressed in the national team jerseys, commentators losing their voices to hoarseness in the epic of patriotic pride... The World Cup in the United States, Mexico and Canada has pushed the limits of what we know as banal nationalism to turn it into mainstream nationalism.</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/the-world-cup-is-no-longer-banal-nationalism-but-principal_129_5799005.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 14 Jul 2026 19:22:48 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c1a381c6-500e-4fb9-811c-2db8abedf2c4_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059305.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[Lamine Yamal during the quarter-final match against Belgium]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/c1a381c6-500e-4fb9-811c-2db8abedf2c4_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_1059305.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[Where there is no equality, there can be no loyalty]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/where-there-is-no-equality-there-can-be-no-loyalty_1_5798302.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/becea0b5-1b56-4b7c-a72e-0543f4f59295_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" /></p><p>July 14th, the French national holiday, to commemorate the end of the Bourbon monarchy and the establishment of a republic driven by easily embraceable universal values, such as liberty, fraternity, and equality. It was only fitting that in "Casablanca," the "Marseillaise" competed against a Nazi anthem to become the anthem of freedom sung with pride and courage by a group of Free Frenchmen, in one of the most moving scenes in cinema history. It would all be very beautiful if it weren't for the fact that in the name of this fraternal republic, France has pursued languages like Catalan to the point of self-loathing and extinction.It is similar to what the Spanish state has done in Catalonia. What it has done, and what it continues to do:The Supreme Court has ruled that <a href="https://en.ara.cat/languages/the-supreme-court-prohibits-excluding-spanish-from-the-signage-of-catalan-public-schools-and-institutes_1_5797420.html" >Spanish cannot be excluded from the signage of public educational centers in Catalonia</a>. He says that “Castilian is the official language throughout Spain, which means it is a language that cannot be excluded from communications between public authorities and citizens".As Sebastià Alzamora titles his article today, <a href="https://en.ara.cat/opinion/if-you-are-spanish-speak-spanish_129_5797777.html" >“if you are Spanish, speak Spanish”</a>, which is what my parents had to hear in their youth during the dictatorship. It's the same old song, when it suits us we are Spanish (especially when it comes to paying taxes that go away and don't serve the well-being of Catalans) and when it suits us (always) our language is not Spanish enough. We know all this by heart and, even so, meanwhile, President Illa went to Madrid yesterday and <a href="https://en.ara.cat/politics/salvador-illa-boasts-in-madrid-of-catalonia-s-loyalty-it-is-the-first-time-there-is-no-nationalist-majority_1_5797270.html" >signed Catalonia's loyalty to the State</a>. A loyalty that, as we see, is not reciprocal and that, by dint of repetition, led to the logical conclusion of half the country wanting independence in 2017. Loyalty is only possible from equality. And what exists between Spain and Catalonia or between Spanish and Catalan is a Catalan subordination to the supremacy of the State over the province. The rest are rhetorical sleight of hand that no one can believe anymore. Or kind, almost pleading, ways of telling the Spanish that the current government of the Generalitat will not organize any October 1st for them. </p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/antoni-bassas-analysis/where-there-is-no-equality-there-can-be-no-loyalty_1_5798302.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Tue, 14 Jul 2026 08:45:58 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/becea0b5-1b56-4b7c-a72e-0543f4f59295_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[260714 analysis.00 04 31 03.Still image001]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/becea0b5-1b56-4b7c-a72e-0543f4f59295_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[Loyalty is only possible from equality. And what exists between Spain and Catalonia or between Castilian and Catalan, is a Catalan subordination to the supremacy of the State over the province.]]></subtitle>
    </item>
    <item>
      <title><![CDATA[They are Spanish]]></title>
      <link><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/they-are-spanish_129_5797870.html]]></link>
      <description><![CDATA[<p><img src="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/70ab2557-64ea-49f4-8ba7-36327a1c1524_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x362y210.jpg" /></p><p>President Illa has offered, at an event by Efe and RTVE in Madrid, the "institutional cooperation" and "loyalty" of his government, and has considered that those who criticize the new financing model because Catalonia proposes it and not for its content are "bad Spaniards".</p>]]></description>
      <dc:creator><![CDATA[Antoni Bassas]]></dc:creator>
      <guid isPermaLink="true"><![CDATA[https://en.ara.cat/opinion/they-are-spanish_129_5797870.html]]></guid>
      <pubDate><![CDATA[Mon, 13 Jul 2026 17:01:45 +0000]]></pubDate>
      <media:content url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/70ab2557-64ea-49f4-8ba7-36327a1c1524_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x362y210.jpg" type="image/jpeg"/>
      <media:title><![CDATA[The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the journalist Pepa Bueno, during 'Los Desayunos' of RTVE and the EFE agency, this Monday, in Madrid.]]></media:title>
      <media:thumbnail url="https://static1.ara.cat/clip/70ab2557-64ea-49f4-8ba7-36327a1c1524_16-9-aspect-ratio_default_0_x362y210.jpg"/>
      <subtitle><![CDATA[]]></subtitle>
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