For many years, surely since its founding in 2017, Junts has been accused of not having clear ideological lines. With the 'Procés' and the metamorphosis of Convergència, the right-left axis blurred and the national agenda predominated in all cases. Almost ten years later, the codes of Catalan and Spanish politics are different and, especially in Congress, the voting agenda forces one to take a stand in debates that until now had been uncomfortable for the 'juntaires'. Not anymore: Junts has adopted a clear line on ideological proposals regarding housing that differs from the price controls proposed by the left, and is increasingly critical of Pedro Sánchez's government.

Celebrating Sant Jordi a week later is surely one of the strangest things that happens to Catalans in Madrid. April 23rd is the Book Day –which is by no means the same thing– and normally a few days later the delegation of the Generalitat government in the Spanish capital organizes its own festival. It doesn't quite catch on either: books and roses are celebrated, but everyone is already speaking in the past tense. This year has been no different, the delegation led by Núria Marín chose theResidencia de Estudiantes in the El Viso neighborhood, in Chamartín, to celebrate the Sant Jordi festival in Madrid. The festival and what it represents have been championed, but a good part of the attendees seemed to have their heads elsewhere: probably in Congress, where the Spanish government was losing the voteto extend the rent freeze and the consortium between the PSOE and Esquerra due to Junts' 'no' vote.

The last time there was similar expectation in San Fernando de Henares was on November 24 last year. A crowd of journalists waited from early morning in freezing cold for the arrival of the Pujol family. It was the day that what has been dubbed the trial of the decade began, although after that day the media spotlight has not been the same. In Madrid, comments in talk shows have been minimal in recent months, and the trial has not made headlines on any other day than the first. Until this Monday, April 27, when there were more or less the same journalists again, this time suffering from the heat and with maximum expectation due to the widely misunderstood decision of the tribunal president, Ricardo de Prada, to make Jordi Pujol appear in person in the Spanish capital. "He has discovered the Mediterranean Sea," quipped a lawyer, when they decided to exclude the former president from the case due to incapacity.

Jordi Pujol i Soley has finally been excluded from the judicial case that has his family at its epicenter after fourteen years of investigation. The procedure, which began in 2012 concerning his eldest son and worsened with the confession about grandfather Florenci's inheritance in 2014, has ended in the former president's case because he is not in a condition to be tried. Too much time has passed and his cognitive abilities are no longer adequate. This has been decided by the National Court, which has communicated his exclusion from the procedure after having seen him face to face. As the doctors had already repeatedly stated, the judges have confirmed the "impossibility" of Jordi Pujol continuing as an accused with "full knowledge and capabilities".

There is a sector in the State that is living a golden age, which is growing without yet having comprehensive regulation and which is increasingly relevant in the decision-making process of governments and Parliaments: public affairs consultancies. A type of bridge between the public and private worlds, which is unknown territory for a good part of the population and which in recent years has been proliferating strongly in Madrid, but also in Barcelona, ​​due to political fragmentation, the ever-increasing complexity of decision-making processes and the rise of economic and geopolitical crises. What do these companies do, however? Is it a professionalized sector? Why is it fertile ground for former politicians? El ARA has X-rayed the main companies established in the State, speaking withpeople from within the sector, professional associations, politicians, and also experts who point to the lack of regulation as the main problem.

Palantir is a company known to all those who operate in the field of defense and artificial intelligence (AI). However, until now it has had little presence in public debate, despite being present in the United States and, according to consulted experts, having contracts with a good part of European governments. Also with the Spanish executive: the Ministry of Defense has at least two contracts with the Spanish subsidiary, which began to operate with a physical office in Spain in 2022, despite some reports already registering activity since 2018.

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.

The Pentagon is reportedly considering suspending Spain from NATO, among other proposals to punish countries that have not supported American operations in the war with Iran. This is indicated by an email that has circulated among senior officials of the War Department —formerly the Department of Defense— of the United States, as a funcionario has assured the Reuters agency on condition of anonymity.

The relations between the PSOE and Junts have not been going well for some time —they avoid negotiation since the Junts considered the investiture agreement broken—, but this Wednesday the spokesperson for Carles Puigdemont's party in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, has raised the tone against the Spanish president. To the point of reproaching him that he has been "governing without a majority" in the Spanish chamber for "too long" and that he makes no decisions: "What argument does he have left not to call elections?"

The PP has presented an amendment to a Vox motion for the first time to debate in Congress the establishment of a "national priority" when receiving aid and subsidies. This is an element that both parties agreed on in the pact signed to govern in Extremadura —although the candidate for re-election, María Guardiola, did not mention it in Tuesday's investiture debate— and which the Spanish government has already taken it upon itself to censor. The Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, in the Senate control session, stated that the pact between the right and the far-right is "discriminatory, inhumane, and xenophobic." In the Extremaduran investiture

First housing plan of the Spanish government within the framework of the new housing law. This Tuesday, the Council of Ministers presented the pillars of its policy to try to solve citizens' main problem, according to the CIS, but with the difficulty that a significant part of the competencies is in the hands of the autonomous communities. The minister in charge, Isabel Rodríguez, has assured that the "public housing stock is protected" to prevent the investment of state funds in the construction and habilitation of buildings from ending up in private hands. "Until now, the role of the general administration of the State was that of a paying agent," said Rodríguez, whereas now its intention is to intervene in the autonomous communities to ensure citizens' "rights".

In an era when international politics is at the forefront, Spanish leaders seek godfathers abroad to strengthen themselves internally and try to win the electoral game. The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, is the one who has the most blatant strategy in this regard, by establishing himself as one of the leaders of the world left this weekend in Barcelona, but also the rest of the political spaces go beyond borders to seek references. These days, the PP and Vox have made a demonstration with the reception of María Corina Machado – whom they use to attack the Spanish government – and a few days ago it was Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary that marked Spanish politics.

Pedro Sánchez sought to proclaim himself the leader of the global left this weekend in Barcelona, and he has succeeded. To re-emphasize this in this piece would be to repeat an analysis that has already been done inside and out since the Spanish president intensified his joust with Donald Trump. Not only has this been written about in the Catalan and state media, but he has been recognized as the North American's "nemesis" by major international newspapers. Barcelona has been the culmination of this strategy, which is the only ace up Sánchez's sleeve to try to stay in Moncloa, along with the fear of PP and Vox governments that will begin to act after this regional electoral cycle.

This weekend in Barcelona there were many photos, many summits, and a lot of media attention due to the presence of world leaders at the progressive meeting organized by the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. But there was one that is especially relevant and signifies a before and after in the diplomatic relationship between two countries: Spain and Mexico. After eight years of tension, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, visited Spain to participate in the multilateral forum in defense of democracy, but also to hold a one-hour bilateral meeting with Sánchez.

"Racist and classist", this is how the Spanish vice president, Yolanda Díaz, of the Sumar space, has described Junts per Catalunya, with whom they agreed to the investiture of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. Díaz has argued that she "knows very well" who Carles Puigdemont's party is and has asserted that "in her life she has never defined Junts as progressive". This accusation, made in an interview with Onda Cero, comes amid a clash with the Junts members over housing measures, as Sumar wants the group led by Miriam Nogueras to validate the decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers in the package of measures for the Iran war that extends rental contracts. Support that Puigdemont's party refuses to give them because they do not share the measure and becausethey have presented an alternative that involves lowering taxes (deductions for tenants and owners). The vote must take place in Congress on April 28 and Sumar has begun a round of contacts to achieve support, which has started off on the wrong foot.

Sumar has initiated a round of contacts to secure sufficient support to validate the extension of rental agreements, which is to be voted on in Congress on April 28. This is an essential step for the decree-law approved by the Spanish government following the Iran war on housing matters to remain in force. Yolanda Díaz's party assures that negotiations are open with Junts and they see "water in the pool," but Míriam Nogueras's party is by no means in line with this: they maintain their 'no' to the extension of rental agreements and have presented an alternative in housing policies to address the crisis generated by the conflict in the Middle East, which directly clashes with what the Spanish government is doing. The Junts members, therefore, would only be open to discussion if the PSOE and Sumar accept their "emergency" measures and withdraw their decree.

The Spanish government is usually prudent when it has to comment on the judiciary, but there are two exceptions: the case of the Attorney General, Álvaro García Ortiz, in which they defended his innocence until the end, and the case of the Spanish president's wife, Begoña Gómez, who this Monday Judge Juan Carlos Peinado brought a step away from trial. This Tuesday, up to three ministers have closed ranks with Pedro Sánchez's wife and have even insinuated that there is political persecution. Moreover, they have reaffirmed that everything will be corrected by higher authorities. "We are in a state of law and not in the regime of Ferran VII," said the Minister of Justice, Félix Bolaños, alluding to the reference that Peinado made in his ruling comparing the Spanish government to an absolutist regime.

Green light for the regularization of migrants. After the public hearing process and the mandatory reports, the Spanish government approved this Tuesday the royal decree that will serve to regularize the situation of more than half a million people who are already in the State but do not have their rights recognized. "It is an act of coherence and social justice," proclaimed the spokesperson and head of this portfolio, Elma Saiz, this Tuesday. "It is a historic measure and has all the legal guarantees," she added. How will the procedure work, however?

What will happen this weekend in Barcelona is not little. For the PSOE and its progressive European family, it is a lot. They believe it is the first step towards a comeback for the world of the left, which they hope will be transnational, despite the fact that on a Spanish scale they currently have few demographic joys, starting with the Andalusian elections. And what is happening on Friday and Saturday in the Catalan capital? The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, will host a major summit with international leaders – heads of state, mayors, deputies, party leaders, union activists, etc. – to showcase that the left is also capable of organizing internationally (as the far-right has done) and to fight the so-called ultra wave.

The visit that Pedro Sánchez is making starting this Monday to China is not like the previous ones. Not so much for the magnitude of the agreements that may derive from it nor because it is an exceptional visit –it is the fourth time he has been there in the last three years–, but for the treatment that the Chinese authorities will give him. It is an "official" trip, qualified as such in diplomatic terms, in which his wife, Begoña Gómez, has been invited and in which a banquet is being organized following his visit to the Great Hall of the People, where the most important diplomatic events take place. Ceremony is not trivial in Chinese culture: for Beijing, forms and staging are very important. The banquet will be the culmination of a visit that will begin on Monday with a conference at Tsinghua University and a visit to the tech company Xiaomi and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and will continue on Tuesday with a meeting –and the banquet– at the highest level between Xi Jinping and Pedro Sánchez. In the evening, there will still be another meal in the same format with the Prime Minister, Li Qiang.