The cruise ship affected by hantavirus will disembark in three or four days in Granadilla de Abona, a secondary port southeast of the Canary Island of Tenerife, very close to the airport. Here it is expected that all passengers and crew can disembark from the ship to be evaluated by medical teams. Subsequently, they will be repatriated to their countries of origin if they do not present any symptoms compatible with the infection. In the case of the 14 people of Spanish nationality who are on board —including five Catalans—, they will be transferred by an army plane to the Torrejón de Ardoz base, in Madrid, to be admitted to the Gómez Ulloa military hospital, where they will spend their quarantine. The authorities have not yet determined for how long, but they have confirmed that the incubation period for hantavirus is about 45 days.

Brussels keeps the regulated electricity tariff in its sights – in our country technically known as PVPC (voluntary price for small consumers) – which some member states, including Spain, have. In fact, in 2023 the Spanish government already undertook a reform of this electricity bill modality because the Community executive demanded it. Pedro Sánchez's executive, however, firmly defends it, especially in a context of tension in energy prices like the current one, although it has committed to the European Commission to carry out an "in-depth" study to analyze its functioning and competition, as required by European regulations and confirmed by the third vice-president and minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, in a statement to the media this Tuesday.

The return of Donald Trump to the White House and his constant threats against European states have led the European Political Community to unite not only against Russia, but also now against the United States. Emmanuel Macron promoted this alliance after the start of the war in Ukraine. It is an organization that goes beyond the territory of the European Union and includes, for example, countries like the United Kingdom, Turkey, and various states that lie between Russian influence and proximity to the European bloc, especially from the Western Balkans. Those not invited, however, are Belarus and Russia. And, in fact, the raison d'être of this organization is the desire to isolate Vladimir Putin's regime and promote –beyond the EU borders– a more sovereign European alliance with respect to the Kremlin. And now, also, with respect to Washington.

Viktor Orbán did not attend the last European summit and, instead, Volodymyr Zelensky attended in person as a guest. A change of pieces symptomatic of what the far-right pro-Russian leader's farewell could mean for the future of the European Union, and, above all, its relationship with Ukraine.

The European Central Bank (ECB) remains cautious. The banking institution has once again avoided making a move prematurely and, despite the war in Iran and the rebound in inflation, has decided this Thursday to keep interest rates at 2% for the seventh consecutive meeting. In this way, the financial entity chaired by Christine Lagarde keeps its powder dry in case the situation worsens and, in fact, has already warned of "the high uncertainty" of the Eurozone's economic future due to the war initiated by Donald Trump.

An era has ended and a new one begins. With the farewell of Viktor Orbán, the main black sheep of the European Union, comes Péter Magyar, a conservative who aims to bring Hungary back into the fold. The intentions of the future Hungarian prime minister have been staged with the trip to Brussels and the meeting he had with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and the President of the European Council, António Costa. Budapest aims to recover ties with Brussels and, in the short term, save money from European funds, which are in the balance due to the breaches of Orbán's government.

New offensive by the European Commission against the Meta group. Brussels announced this Wednesday that it has indications that the social networks Instagram and Facebook "fail" to ensure that minors under thirteen years of age cannot access them. Thus, the community executive considers that the American technology company may be violating the European Union's digital services law.

New offensive by the European Commission against the Meta group. Brussels announced this Wednesday that it has indications that the social networks Instagram and Facebook "fail" to ensure that minors under thirteen years of age can access them. Thus, the community executive considers that the American technology company may be violating the Digital Services Act of the European Union.

More pressure to keep European funds decentralized, such as the European Cohesion Funds. The Eurochamber has voted against Brussels' proposal for the next European multiannual budgets (2028-2034), in which it proposes that this item – currently managed by regional and municipal administrations – be controlled by state governments. In this way, in the case of Catalonia, they would cease to be in the hands of the Generalitat and would depend on Madrid, which would have the final say in distributing throughout the State the financing that comes from Brussels.

Green light to investigate Alvise Pérez (S'ha Acabat la Festa). The European Parliament voted this Tuesday in plenary session to withdraw the immunity of the far-right Spanish MEP and, therefore, the Supreme Court will be able to investigate him for the case of harassment of the delegate prosecutor for hate crimes in Valencia, Susana Gisbert.

Donald Trump has threatened NATO allies since returning to the White House. The President of the United States, who de facto controls the Atlantic Alliance, has not stopped humiliating European partners and has even recurrently questioned whether he is willing to comply with Article 5 of the entity's treaties. The point states that an attack on an ally is an attack on the entire alliance and, therefore, a joint response must be made, which is one of the main reasons for the military alliance's existence.

Ursula von der Leyen took only a few hours to slam the door on the request by Pedro Sánchez and Giorgia Meloni to suspend fiscal rules to confront the energy crisis derived from the war in the Middle East. The President of the European Commission was not at all ambiguous and emphatically dismissed the request from the Spanish and Italian leaders, who had also asked her —unsuccessfully— to apply an additional tax on the extraordinary profits that energy companies are making from the rising cost of fossil fuels. "The clause [to suspend fiscal rules] can only be activated in case of a severe economic recession in the eurozone or the European Union as a whole. Fortunately, this is not the situation," Von der Leyen responded at a press conference, although she omitted that the community bloc has applied exceptions with the deficit cap to finance the great European rearmament.

Cyprus is the only European Union member state that has received attacks of Iranian origin in the war initiated by the United States and Israel in the Middle East. The island is located about 200 kilometers from Lebanon – closer than to continental Europe – and is the easternmost community territory. Furthermore, due to its geographical location, it has great military importance. Even so, the country is not part of NATO and, therefore, does not have the military umbrella of the US army. A rare avis within the European club that serves as an excuse for EU leaders, who are meeting this Thursday and Friday precisely in Cyprus, to discuss how to defend themselves from potential attacks without relying on Donald Trump's US, which is increasingly distancing itself from European military interests.

European justice definitively invalidates Germany's multi-billion euro aid to the airline Lufthansa during the covid pandemic. The General Court of the European Union (CJEU) has overturned the European Commission's decision and, therefore, confirmed the annulment of the German state's rescue of the airline for 6 billion euros, as had been ruled by the General Court of the European Union (GCEU).

Weeks after the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and the resulting energy crisis, the European Commission has presented the long-awaited plan to try to mitigate its consequences. The main point is the flexibility of aid that state and regional administrations can adopt to reduce electricity bills, as well as greater coordination between countries in the purchase and storage of fuel to avoid competing with each other. On the other hand, Brussels has ignored the request of Pedro Sánchez's government and rules out generalizing the imposition of an additional tax on what are known as the electricity companies' "windfall profits", the additional profits they make when fossil fuel prices skyrocket.

The war in Iran has fully impacted the aviation sector. With the main Persian Gulf airports threatened and fuel prices soaring, airlines advise buying tickets for this summer with the maximum possible margin to avoid price increases. "The recommendation, as always, is that if you know you will travel this summer, buy as soon as possible," emphasized this Tuesday the president of the Association of Airlines (ALA), Javier Gándara.

New ruling by European justice against Viktor Orbán's governments for violating EU legislation. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled this Tuesday that the Hungarian law against the LGBTIQ+ community approved in 2021 under the government of the acting Prime Minister infringes the fundamental rights of the European Union because it "discriminates on grounds of sex and sexual orientation" and "does not respect private and family life", as well as "freedom of expression and information". In this way, the highest court in the EU has sided with the European Commission, which was the one that brought the law of the current acting Prime Minister of Hungary to justice.

The governments of the European Union are raising their tone against Benjamin Netanyahu for Israel's continued attacks on Palestine and Lebanon, but they avoid applying any sanctions to him. Member states have opted not to increase diplomatic pressure on Tel Aviv and, once again, the proposal promoted by Pedro Sánchez to suspend the European bloc's association agreement with the Israeli country has failed in the Council of EU Foreign Ministers this Tuesday. As usual, the main countries that have opposed it have been Germany, which leads the bloc of the most pro-Israeli European partners, and Italy, governed by the ultra-conservative Giorgia Meloni. "It has not had the necessary support," confirmed the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, at a press conference, who also assured that "it is probably not true" that applying the diplomatic pressure measures proposed by Moncloa would stop Israel from expanding the occupation of the West Bank.

Pedro Sánchez does not stop pressuring the European Union to apply sanctions against Israel, but with rather moderate success. Kallas recalled that the approval of Spain's request, which it has submitted along with Ireland and Slovenia, is a measure that requires unanimity among member states and that, in any case, before "other measures to pressure Israel should be evaluated" that can be approved by qualified majority, which have also not obtained sufficient support so far. Among other measures, member states can opt to partially suspend the EU-Israel association agreement – which would mean an increase in tariffs or a reduction in imports – as proposed by the European Commission last September.

A week after Viktor Orbán's defeat, pro-Russian and Eurosceptic candidate Rumen Radev has won the elections in Bulgaria. The departure of Hungary's current acting prime minister was met with great enthusiasm in Brussels, but in no case was it a definitive blow to leaders who hinder the proper functioning of the European Union and are close to the Kremlin. Although Radev remains committed to the European bloc and NATO, he has often railed against the aid the community club provides to Ukraine and the sanctions it has imposed on Russia. He is also critical of the euro's entry into Bulgaria, which has been part of the eurozone since January, and is opposed to the European green agenda and community regulations on LGBTIQ+ rights. Furthermore, he has openly declared himself a follower of Orbán.