The global map of liquefied natural gas (LNG), as well as that of raw materials, has been upside down for some time. First due to the war in Ukraine and the fact that Europe turned off the tap for this fuel from Russia. Now, the war in Iran has been added to this following the attack by the United States and Israel and the subsequent blockade of the Strait of Hormuz –through which between a quarter and a fifth of the world's crude oil and natural gas circulated–, as well as an escalation of tension in the Red Sea. The context has forced many countries to look for gas under rocks –metaphorically and literally– and to chart unimaginable, or at least unusual, maritime routes, to the point that during the first eight months of 2026 (between January and August) the port of Barcelona has seen 7,439 tons of LNG loaded from the regasification plant tanks bound for Thailand. Specifically to the port of Bangkok, according to data on LNG shipments, to which ARA has had access.

"If I had anything to announce, you would be the first to know after my grandchildren," asserted the president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Christine Lagarde, when a Bloomberg journalist asked her if she would leave the institution to go to the World Economic Forum. The rumor about a possible early departure of Lagarde has been circulating for months in the economic press. In February, the Financial Times reported that she was considering stepping down before her term ended in October 2027, to allow Emmanuel Macron and Friedrich Merz to influence the choice of her successor before the 2027 French presidential elections.

Fadi Elhusseini (1975, Gaza Strip) made his debut this Thursday as the brand-new ambassador of Palestine to Spain, in Madrid, in what was his first public act since presenting his credentials to Felipe VI. The playing field was friendly. First, because he was accompanied by the Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego (United Left), who has been and is one of the most forceful voices in the Spanish government against the offensive in Gaza, as was evidenced again this Thursday: "The position of Spanish society [on Palestine] is clear [...]. [Benjamin Netanyahu] is a war criminal," the minister stated.

The eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old Madrid resident who uses a wheelchair, has shaken the entire State. The case of this elderly woman has become symbolic due to her vulnerability, and the protests, which this Wednesday gathered in front of her building to try to prevent her from being thrown out of her home, have had political repercussions. The parties to the left of the PSOE have not been slow to demand a new housing decree from the Spanish government. Sumar, the minority partner, is asking for it to be approved at next week's council of ministers and for it to include, among other things, the expropriation of Maricarmen's apartment from its owners, the investment fund Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión S. L. But they are not enough for the package of measures to move forward in Congress. Pedro Sánchez needs the votes of all the parties in the investiture bloc and that includes Junts. After the breakdown of the relationship with the socialists, the residential emergency has brought negotiations back to the playing field.

The eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old resident of Madrid who uses a wheelchair, was carried out this Wednesday in the fourth attempt to force her out of her home. Although hundreds of neighbors and members of the Tenants' Union of the Spanish capital had gathered and installed themselves outside the building since Tuesday afternoon, the riot police of the National Police executed the eviction order, which led to moments of great tension: the Union reported the use of "violence" by the police, with blows to the heads of protesters, as well as the use of pepper spray. The property owner, the investment fund Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión S.L., proposed a rent increase to 1,650 euros, which Maricarmen could not afford: she has a pension of 1,350 euros and until now was paying 500 euros in rent, because she had an old rent contract. Despite attempts at negotiation, the fund refused to budge. Now the resident does not know where she will go and, for the moment, the Madrid City Council has assured that it has an "emergency spot" in a nursing home. "It is a social tragedy," stated the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, in a press conference from New York, who directly pointed to the Madrid City Council and the Community of Madrid as responsible for not having prevented this eviction.

The border between Ceuta and Morocco will wake up this Wednesday with more security than usual. Faced with messages on social networks about a new attempt to cross the border taking advantage of the call for legislative elections in the North African country, the Spanish government has decided to reinforce the personnel of the State's security forces and bodies in the autonomous city. The decision became known the same day that Pedro Sánchez acknowledged, from the United States, that "it is clear" that "Morocco's border control mechanism failed" with the massive entry on July 30 and 31. "We have requested answers and actions [from the Moroccan authorities]," said the Spanish president this Tuesday in an interview with CNN in which he raised the tone with Morocco.

"Let no one have to choose between blind enthusiasm and fear." That is the goal of the Spanish government when it defends the need to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), especially at a time when the abrupt entry into an era marked by this technology is being questioned. The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, summarized it this way this Monday, before the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, presented from Moncloa IA360. Plan for a responsible deployment of AI. It is a strategy aimed at regulating and promoting the ethical use of artificial intelligence that the Spanish government wants to roll out over the next 12 months. The intention is to make the leap from being the "seventh world power in AI dynamism to the fifth power".

Who would have told Gabriel García Márquez that in a wheat field that is no longer cultivated –a legacy of what was once the Madrid district of Villaverde, as its name suggests– a venue called Macondo Park would be installed. The name of the town that the Colombian writer imagined in Cien años de soledad is what Shakira has decided to christen her European residence in Madrid, where she has been since this Friday until October 11, when she will put an end to the Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran world tour. There are a total of 12 concerts and, in just two days, the Colombian has already sung in front of more than 100,000 people.

After a month and almost twenty days sleeping in the open, the idea of being able to have a roof, even if it is in a temporary camp, is what has led numerous migrants in Ceuta to run out first thing this Friday to get a place in the facilities that the Spanish government has set up at the port of the autonomous city. A total of 1,700 have managed to do so. "We have successfully transferred the people without any significant incidents," assessed the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, through the social network X.

The escalation of prices, particularly of fuel, due to the war in Iran is forcing the Spanish government to continue deploying aid aimed at families, businesses, and the sectors most affected such as transport or the agri-food sector (with the start of the war, a package of measures was launched that expires this September 30). This is taken for granted at the Ministry of Economy and has been conveyed as such by the head of this portfolio, Carlos Cuerpo, to unions and employers' associations in a meeting this Thursday.

The Spanish government has a clear path to relocate immigrants to the facilities at the port of Ceuta. The National Court has finally decided to deny the temporary suspension of the camp's installation, as requested by a police union citing security reasons. It will be the Ministry of the Interior, the judicial order explains, that will be in charge of establishing the security conditions for the police officers and also for the immigrants. This Wednesday all alarms went off when the National Court accepted the suspension of the camp on a "highly precautionary" basis, but it took only a few hours to change its position. Sources from the Spanish government celebrate the speed of the judicial decision in view of the social urgency on the streets of Ceuta and point out that the forecast was that more than 1,700 people could be installed there today. "We reiterate that the port grounds are the most suitable and have all the security guarantees to carry out the operation," they explain from the state executive. The Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, in charge of the crisis, celebrated the decision in a video: "It is magnificent news because it will allow us to start the files and for the migrants to be returned if they do not have the right to stay," he said, assuring that this will bring Ceuta closer to "normality". Wednesday's decision, even though it was temporary, caused "perplexity" for the Spanish government, and the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, put words to this sentiment on Thursday. "There are those who want us to perform magic," he stated in an interview with TVE, recalling the lack of space in the city so that the immigrants who are still living there in poor conditions can have their basic needs guaranteed. The head of Transport has warned of the lack of alternative locations to place the camp: "Going to the port is not a whim."Puente has not refrained from criticizing the wavering of the Ceutan government regarding the camp and has accused it of "profound disloyalty". "Mr. Vivas, beyond defending Ceuta with words, has not collaborated with the Spanish government at any time," he lamented, referring to the Ceutan president, and delved into the clash between the state government and that of the autonomous city. "There are individual people who seem to have heeded Mr. Aznar's call for whoever can do something to do it," added the Minister of Digital Transformation and Public Function, Óscar López, in an interview with Cadena Ser, in reference to some "corrupt" magistrates. "It is becoming increasingly difficult for me to find arguments to defend that there is impartiality in all decisions," added the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, in an interview with RNE.

The Congress of Deputies has once again made it clear to the Spanish government that it does not have a majority to legislate. The Moncloa takes another defeat in the Spanish lower house, which has struck down the royal decree-law to regulate pressure groups or interest groups, popularly known as lobbies. These are groups that seek to influence the legislative agenda of politics by weaving ties with political parties, parliamentary groups in the Congress of Deputies or the Senate, or the Spanish government itself.

The stability of the electrical grid depends, among other things, on cables, stations, or substations. That is, on the infrastructure, as was evidenced after the massive electrical blackout of April 2025. At a time when there is a desire to move towards the electrification of the economy, as set out in the 2023-2030 National Integrated Energy and Climate Plan, the challenge of ensuring this stability is enormous. It is in this context that the Spanish government has long assumed that it must be reinforced and modernized, especially because it wants to continue promoting the increase in electricity consumption. And this Wednesday, another step was taken: the Third Vice President and Minister for Ecological Transition, Sara Aagesen, has announced a historic investment of 17 billion euros within the framework of the electricity planning until 2030, which is currently being processed.

The money to expand El Prat airport was left out of the Second Airport Regulation Document (DORA II) for the 2021-2026 period because the project derailed due to a lack of consensus between the Generalitat and the State. Five years later, the scenario is different: with the project back on the table, DORA III (2027-2031) includes a budget line to make this expansion possible, although it is not the most significant one. In fact, the money that will be allocated during this period (191.9 million euros) will be used for "preparatory actions". That is to say, for the initial procedures, but not for the expansion works, as explained by the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, in a press conference this Tuesday. These actions include drafting the project and environmental compensations in case the expansion goes ahead.

Spain has long been boasting about having managed to contain the price of electricity bills compared to other surrounding countries in a context marked by strong tension and volatility in the global energy market. The main reason: the deployment of renewable energies, which lower the wholesale price of the pool electricity market –reducing the consumption of gas, which is more expensive–. Nothing that could go in the opposite direction pleases the Spanish government, which now fears that the deployment of the data center industry due to the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) is going, precisely, in that direction.

"Infeasible". "I see it as difficult". "We are already in the pre-election period". These are some of the reflections that various union and business voices make when asked about the possibility of tripartite agreements for the remainder of the Spanish legislative term. Pedro Sánchez took his first three-way photo in January 2020, after an agreement with the Spanish employers' association CEOE and the majority unions CCOO and UGT to raise the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI) to 950 euros per month. "It has been the fruit of social dialogue and is based on the solidarity concession of the social agents," Sánchez pointed out at the time, thanking the top social leaders – Unai Sordo (CCOO), Pepe Álvarez (UGT), and Antonio Garamendi (CEOE) – for their "willingness to reach an agreement". More than six years later, some see that dialogue, but also that negotiating will, as a mirage. Although there are those who do not lose hope: "Water under the bridge does not turn the mill".

On the morning of July 30, the Spanish army was already speaking of a "migratory chaos" at the border between Morocco and Ceuta, with the State's security forces and bodies "saturated" in the face of the arrival of thousands of people. But the trickle of migrant arrivals in Ceuta from the Alawite country, mostly swimming, had been a constant throughout the month of July, far exceeding the figures from the previous year.

There were indeed warnings: at the very least, the CNI alerted both Morocco and the Spanish government about mass calls on social media to enter Ceuta. It did so with an informative note to the Moroccan intelligence services the day before the crisis and also via WhatsApp to the executive's delegation in Ceuta and to commanders of the Civil Guard. Reports from security forces prior to the crisis also warned of a possible increase in irregular entries following the Supreme Court ruling of July 8th, which rejected hot returns by sea hot returns by sea. This is what can be gathered from the reports and communications that the Council of Ministers agreed to declassify this Tuesday and which it has published through the Moncloa website. Warnings that, according to the Spanish government, were not sufficient to anticipate the mass entry of migrants.

93 apartments available. This is the initial offer from Casa 47, the state housing company, in Catalonia. This Monday, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda launched the portal where the available properties managed by the public entity will be offered. For the moment, it has an initial offer of 800 apartments across the State, 93 of which are in Catalonia, distributed between Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona, as ARA has been able to verify through the web portal.

The academic year has begun with alarms ringing in the unions, but also in the public administration, after the Volkswagen group put the Seat brand in play, which has placed the Martorell factory in the crosshairs. "Martorell will not disappear," stated the secretary general of CCOO, Unai Sordo, this Monday morning during an intervention at the Ateneo de Madrid. The message seeks to provide reassurance, especially to the employees, and the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, and the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, also joined in this Monday. In fact, they have all rushed to defend the Seat brand: "It is historic," Sordo affirmed. "It is a product that must continue to be championed," he reiterated.