International policy has been a battlefield that Pedro Sánchez has managed to capitalize on his favor throughout the legislature. He achieved a leadership position with the Gaza war, with the recognition of Palestine as a spearhead and with "No to war" after the attack by the United States and Israel on Iran, and he also dragged part of the European countries towards his narrative. However, where he has not achieved allies has been in migratory matters, despite the attempt to present regularization as the antithesis to Donald Trump's policy. A large part of the European Union partners did not welcome the measure, as they are immersed in a dynamic of tightening border control policies – one only needs to review the new Pact on Migration and Asylum – and the last thing they want is to give the impression that entering irregularly into the Schengen area can end up being legal. Within this framework, the crisis in Ceuta has only aggravated Pedro Sánchez's solitude in this matter.

Pedro Sánchez has had to face many crises since he arrived at Moncloa in 2018. The Procés, the pandemic, the outbreak of corruption cases in the PSOE, and the proliferation of new wars in the international context. The Ceuta crisis is the latest, but while Sánchez has overcome all the ones he has experienced so far, the massive entry of immigrants on July 30 has overwhelmed the Spanish government. The week of appearances by a dozen ministers to account for the management of the crisis has only created a sense of disarray. With Sánchez, moreover, practically absent.

Following an unprecedented escalation of tension in Ceuta – a group of demonstrators burned down a migrant camp on Thursday and prevented the Red Cross from bringing them food – the main political forces have condemned the violence and called for calm.

If there has been an issue that has focused the Spanish government's appearance this Thursday on the Ceuta crisis, it has been the role of Morocco. After the clash within the executive due to the information transmitted by the CNI, the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, appeared before the Joint Committee on National Security in Congress, with the aim of accounting for the management following the massive entry of more than 70,000 immigrants on July 30 into the autonomous city. What happened? According to Bolaños, it occurred due to the "distortion" of a Supreme Court ruling that rejected hot returns in case of entering by swimming, as it considered that in these cases an administrative process and an individualized evaluation should be opened before an immediate return. The minister has dissociated Morocco from the events:

With the Ceuta crisis, immigration has become the central issue of Spanish politics. In this context, Junts has once again brought up the transfer of powers in this matter to the Generalitat. For the Junts members, who consider that Catalonia does not have the capacity to increase its population further, it is necessary for the Catalan government to manage the entry, integration, or expulsion of immigrants. The initiative failed in Congress due to Podem's opposition, but this Tuesday Junts has re-registered it with a gesture towards Ione Belarra's party: it has changed the preamble, which Podem considered "racist". A change that does not resolve the discrepancies with Podem, as it maintains the veto arguing that the problem is the norm as a whole.

Was there a warning from the CNI or not, to foresee that there would be a massive influx of immigrants on July 30? This is the question that has led to a clash of versions within the Spanish government, especially between the Ministry of Defense, from which intelligence services depend, and the Ministry of the Interior, which is responsible for border control. Minister Margarita Robles, who at no time said she was aware of a migratory wave like the one that occurred, has assured that the CNI shared two warnings with the Interior, the government of Ceuta, and the Spanish Government Delegation verbally: on the one hand, that there was a surge in swimming entries; and, on the other, that there was a call on social networks to enter Spain through Ceuta. A statement that has called into question the entire Spanish government and, especially, the Ministry of the Interior, as it implies that if there were warnings, it could have acted. For this reason, Moncloa aligns with Fernando Grande-Marlaska: it emphasizes that there was no report from the intelligence services from which it could be inferred that there could be an entry of more than 80,000 immigrants into Ceuta.

The Spanish government approved two key draft bills on migration matters this Tuesday: on the one hand, a new law on the right to asylum and, on the other, a reform of the law on the rights and freedoms of foreigners. This was announced by the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who appeared after the first council of ministers after the summer holidays, which focused on the Ceuta crisis. Marlaska explained the impetus for these two reforms to adapt Spanish legislation to the new European Pact on Migration and Asylum, which tightens the migratory policies of the European borders.

Pedro Sánchez has convened the National Security Council (CSN) this Tuesday at 9 a.m. He convened it 26 days after thousands of people crossed the border with Morocco and entered the autonomous city of Ceuta, which is already the deadliest migratory crisis experienced in Spain. The Spanish government itself branded the events as a violation of Spain's territorial integrity.

"It's for sale; bye, fish". In this way, the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, tried this Monday to close the controversy over the purchase of the luxury attic in Chamberí by the regional government. A way to shake off the pressure coming from her own party: this Sunday it was the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who considered that the Treasury of the Community of Madrid had to give explanations for having acquired a property that could not be used as an office.

Almost a month after the entry of tens of thousands of immigrants into Ceuta (which Pedro Sánchez defined as a "violation of the territorial integrity" of the State), the Spanish government will declare a "situation of interest for national security" and will agree to establish a "single command" that will be led by the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres. It will be approved at this Tuesday's cabinet meeting, the first after the summer period.

Carles Ramió (Girona, 1963) is a professor of political science and administration at Pompeu Fabra University, and as of this week formally chairs the commission of experts launched by the Government for the transformation of public administration (CETRA).

Eusebi Campdepadrós, former secretary of the Parliament's bureau, leaves Junts. As ARA has been able to learn, Campdepadrós communicated his decision to the party's executive a few days ago, on July 27, when he announced that he was leaving the formation after the Supreme Court had applied the amnesty to him. He considered, in this way, that his political stage had ended. Contacted by ARA, the now former Junts militant did not wish to make any statements on the matter.

Onalabs is a company founded in Barcelona ten years ago. A deep tech that has spent a decade focused on research and development of a technology to generate a "paradigm shift" in the healthcare field, in the words of CEO Elisabet del Valle. How? It proposes a new way of monitoring health: moving from punctual blood tests to an "intensive" and continuous "monitoring" of people through sweat.

There has been much talk of an alliance to the left of the PSOE, of everything that the Sumar space represents with the possibility of extending it to Podem and, even, to Gabriel Rufián. However, for now, this option is not materializing. Faced with this, within the PSOE there are already those who are thinking of other scenarios if the other left-wing parties finally run divided again. This is because there is a demographic reality that is difficult to appeal: if the PSOE does not currently have options to stay in Moncloa, it is not because it is collapsing, but because of the generalized decline of Sumar, Podem and the rest of the partners of the plurinational majority. It is enough to compare the 31 seats that Sumar won in 2023 with what the polls now predict for them: the latest CIS places them at just over 6% of the votes, half the support they had three years ago.

Josep Antoni Duran i Lleida was a totem for many years of Catalan and Spanish politics. The best-rated leader in Catalonia and with influence in Madrid, he was abruptly removed from politics because he did not secure representation for Unió in the Spanish elections of 2015. He had already planned to gradually retire, but that defeat, which he experienced as a tragedy, relegated him from public life. Now, eleven years later, he gives thanks every day for not being there. Thanks for not having experienced the peak of the 'Procés' firsthand, which he always considered to be going down the wrong path, nor the current Congress hemicycle with its polarized atmosphere. He does deeply regret the demise of CiU, as he believes that both Catalonia and the State as a whole have lost out. However, this does not mean that Duran i Lleida is retired. At 74 years old and a grandfather, he continues to be hyperactive and his schedule is packed. The difference is that now he does it out of the spotlight.

If there is anything that has marked the week, again, it is the Zapatero case. It began with the defense statement of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez to the National Court, in which he implicated the former Spanish president in the rescue of Plus Ultra; and it ends with Zapatero's first interview since he was charged on May 19. The former PSOE leader maintains his innocence: this Thursday he again denied any dealings with the Spanish government to obtain credit for the Venezuelan-capital airline; and explained that the jewelry was a "courtesy gift" without explaining its origin. The former president said he would explain this soon to the judge of the National Court. However, has Zapatero convinced? How does it affect Pedro Sánchez's government? See the analysis.

This Thursday is a day for anniversaries. It has been exactly 26 years since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected Secretary General of the PSOE. At that time, he could not have imagined that a quarter of a century later he would be sitting on the set of "Mañaneros" on TVE, giving explanations for two serious criminal cases: one for alleged influence peddling related to the Plus Ultra bailout and another for alleged smuggling of millionaire jewelry found in the safe of his office. Why has it appeared now? In fact, the explanations, according to what he himself had announced, should have come earlier. In his first video after being indicted, he announced that he would address the media, but in light of the information that was appearing regarding his businesses, he decided to appoint a spokesperson, Luis Arroyo, president of the Ateneo de Madrid.

"It is difficult to explain that someone does not want their liabilities reduced." This is how the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, defended the partial debt write-off for the autonomous communities in the face of the total amendments from the PP and Vox, which failed in Congress thanks to the votes of the plurinational majority. For Arcadi España, a breathing space is needed for a good part of the communities, which are the administrations that bear the expenses of the welfare state, but many, like Catalonia and the Valencian Community, are underfunded and still struggling from the economic crisis a decade ago.

These are probably the most anticipated explanations in recent times. Both by public opinion, as well as by the PP and Vox opposition, and also by the Spanish government, which maintains its confidence in former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. Two months after being indicted, the former PSOE leader broke his silence this Thursday in the first interview he has granted since being investigated by the National Court. And right from the start, he was clear: he maintains that he is innocent, that he has not "corrupted" himself, and that the jewels were a "courtesy gift," the origin of which he will explain to Judge José Luis Calama. In other words, Zapatero has reaffirmed that he did not exert any kind of influence over the government presided over by Pedro Sánchez for them to rescue the Plus Ultra airline during the pandemic and, in parallel, has defended that he has had no profit motive in possessing jewels valued at 1.3 million euros. Even, at one point in the interview, he went so far as to say that they were simply "there," in the safe, mixed with the family's inherited jewels.

Sumar announced this Wednesday that it has agreed with the PSOE on the extension of rents until 2028 through a new housing decree that will also include tax incentives for owners, an indispensable measure to achieve the text to be finally approved with the favorable vote of Junts in Congress.