One of the missions of the Supreme Court in the first three days of the trial against José Luis Ábalos has been to reconstruct the alleged cronyism of two women close to the then Minister of Transport and former organization secretary of the PSOE. They are Jessica Rodríguez, who was his partner for a year and a half; and Claudia Montes, with whom he maintained a "virtual" relationship. The first has admitted that she was receiving payment without going to work – a total of 44,000 euros at Ineco and Tragsatec–. The second woman claims that she did fulfill her duties at Logirail, although others dispute this. Amidst contradictions and labor disputes, several witnesses have tried to shed light on this this week at the high court. "I had a contract, but I wasn't actively working," Jessica Rodríguez acknowledged on Tuesday. Marino Turiel, José Luis Ábalos' lawyer, suspects there is a hidden agreement between her and Víctor de Aldama: "It is very clear that there is a pact and an agreement".

The key witness in the third session of the trial against José Luis Ábalos was Carmen Pano. And her statement followed the script: as she said at the Audiencia Nacional, during the investigation at the Supreme Court and at the Senate's investigation committee, she reiterated and to the Senate's investigation committee, But there was a second delivery that raises more doubts. Carmen Pano first said that the "operation" was that Claudio Rivas made transfers to her accounts and she withdrew the money in cash. And it wasn't until half an hour later that she admitted that in the second case she didn't directly withdraw the money from the bank, but rather a certain Lolo, a "worker or friend" of Claudio Rivas, brought it to her home. She didn't get to count it, but – in theory – there were also 45,000 euros. She took it back to Aldama's office, but later he called her "quite angry" and told her that 10,000 euros were missing. "Therefore, I deduce that there were 35,000 euros," the businesswoman acknowledged. This is a point that only came to light at the end of her statement, after spending a long time equating the two deliveries and without having mentioned this unforeseen event.

There is a name linked to the PSOE that has appeared in the first two sessions of the Kitchen case trial, which implicates the leadership of the PP's Ministry of the Interior: Javier Pérez Dolset. He is a businessman and collaborator of Leire Díez, the former socialist militant nicknamed the plumber of the PSOE, and considers himself a victim of the state's dirty dealings. Months ago, he admitted to meeting with Santos Cerdán at Ferraz to hand over documents on irregular practices of Mariano Rajoy's government, and since last October he has been investigated for attempting to bribe two prosecutors. What is his connection to Kitchen? Four years ago, he provided the Spanish police's Internal Affairs Unit with a series of recordings by José Manuel Villarejo. And now, at the request of the retired commissioner, he will have to testify as a witness in the trial.

“An agreement that had as its object the future commission of crimes as opportunities to commit them arose”. After a year and a half of investigation, 30 years in prison. On the table will be nine crimes, including membership in a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement.

The National High Court kicks off the trial of the Kitchen case. It is the operation orchestrated by the state's "sewers" to steal from Luis Bárcenas, the former treasurer of the PP, information or data that could compromise leaders of the Popular Party within the framework of the Gürtel case. Sitting on the defendant's bench are, among others, Jorge Fernández Díaz (who was Minister of the Interior from 2011 to 2016), Francisco Martínez (who was Secretary of State for the Interior), Eugenio Pino (who was deputy operational director of the Spanish police) and retired commissioner José Manuel Villarejo. "I face the trial with great enthusiasm, I trust that the truth will prevail," Villarejo acknowledged upon arriving at the headquarters of the National High Court in San Fernando de Henares. And he said he has "no fear" of going to prison: "If they put me in again, it will be to not get out. Since they've seen that I don't shut up, it's normal that this time the plan works out for them," he added.

Year 2013. Mariano Rajoy governs Spain with an absolute majority and the "papers of Luis Bácenas" come to light, revealing the existence of a black box within the PP. Following this, the Ministry of the Interior, led by Jorge Fernández Díaz, designs and –according to the Public Prosecutor's account– launches an "illicit police intelligence operation" with the aim of stealing information and evidence from Luis Bárcenas, the former treasurer of the PP, that would incriminate popular leaders in the context of the Gürtel case. The ultimate objective is to "prevent" it from reaching the hands of the investigators. Five years later, that corruption trial ends with the sentence that leads to the motion of no confidence that brings Pedro Sánchez to La Moncloa. And now, thirteen years later, the leadership of the patriotic police sits on the defendants' bench, with "requests for fifteen years in prison by the Public Prosecutor's Office, in a trial that begins on Monday at the National Court and which will have to shed light on the maneuvers of the state's sewers to protect the PP. The main crimes they are accused of are cover-up, embezzlement, bribery, disclosure of secrets, and influence peddling.

A written procedural battle. That is what the investigation of the Montoro case has become, which in recent weeks has been a constant tug-of-war between the defenses of the investigated and the accusations. “It’s a mess. We are flooded with appeals,” complains one of the parties in the proceedings to ARA. And it is that, through a battery of “cascading” appeals, the lawyers try to stop the investigation by attacking it mainly on four elements: the casual finding that originated the case, the jurisdiction of the Tarragona courts, the duration of the secrecy of the proceedings and the last extension of the investigation. And all of that, added to other obstacles that have appeared, hinders the course of the investigation. What is being investigated is the payment of bribes by certain gas companies in exchange for Cristóbal Montoro, who was Minister of Finance, to promote changes in laws in the Congress of Deputies to benefit them.

Nine times has the spokesperson for Podemos, Pablo Fernández, repeated the "outstretched hand" of the purple party to go in coalition with Izquierda Unida (IU) and Movimiento Sumar for the Andalusian elections on May 17. And it is that after two resounding falls at the polls in Aragon and Castilla y León – with less than 1% of the votes – Podemos is making a 180-degree turn to the strategy of recent months and, for the first time, is opening up to an alliance with Yolanda Díaz's party in an electoral event. It thus lifts the veto it had imposed on Sumar and which had derailed other understandings: "With all actors," he made clear at a press conference. The offer, which comes four days before the deadline to register coalitions, would not change the number 1 position of Por Andalucía, the leader of IU, Antonio Maíllo.

The same morning that her loyal aide from the start of the legislature –María Jesús Montero– handed over the baton to her successor –Carlos Cuerpo–, Pedro Sánchez met with Imanol Pradales to satisfy the demands that the PNB has been making for some time and to inject some oxygen into the legislature through advances in the Gernika Statute. "As you know, the Statute is still not fully complied with. There is a political agreement, and we have insisted on the need to do so quickly," the lehendakari stated upon leaving. The meeting, accompanied by a new meeting of the State-Euskadi Cooperation Bilateral Commission, comes exactly two months after the last meeting and fulfills the requirement to be held before Holy Week. On that occasion, despite having secured the transfer of five powers, Pradales left frustrated with the "non-compliance" of the Spanish government. But now he returns to Bilbao "reasonably satisfied" after having signed a "political agreement" for the transfer of seven new matters. The transfer of pensions, among other things, remains pending. The most significant thing is that the door has been opened for the Basque Country to participate in the management of airports "for the first time in history".

Three months after the elections in Extremadura, it seems the People's Party (PP) and Vox are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. The two parties met this Wednesday in Mérida to finalize the agreement that would allow María Guardiola to be sworn in and re-elected as regional president. Speaking after the meeting, both parties affirmed that there is "harmony" and expressed optimism, although they cautioned that there are still "issues to be resolved" before the pact can be considered complete.

There is no session in the Congress of Deputies that does not involve a clash between Junts and Esquerra. The same leader of the Republicans, Gabriel Rufián, admitted this Wednesday while intervening in the appearance of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, on the war in Iran. From the lectern, Rufián said the following: "Some Catalan journalists are already writing the chronicle of Rufián attacks Junts, well yes. I don't care because fortunately people have other means of communication to know what is happening here, Junts lies and there are less than 30 days to tell people about it," he sentenced, alluding to the Junts' opposition to validating the decree that extends the Spanish government's rental contracts and which must be voted on in the Congress of Deputies within a month at the latest. "Who do you work for? Don't you have any voters whose rental contract is ending? Why such a self-harming vote? Do you have a real estate company?" he asked the Junts bench. "If you overturn this decree, I wish you years of political ostracism and I promise you I will try very hard for it to be so. You do terrible harm to the people of this country," he concluded.

There isn't a session in the Congress of Deputies that doesn't involve a clash between Junts and Esquerra. The leader of the Republicans, Gabriel Rufián, himself admitted this on Wednesday while speaking during the appearance of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, regarding the war in Iran. From the podium, Rufián said the following: "Some Catalan journalists are already writing the story 'Rufián attacks Junts,' well, yes. I don't care because, fortunately, people have other means of communication to find out what's happening here. Junts is lying, and there are just under 30 days left to tell people," he declared, alluding to Junts' opposition to ratifying the decree extending rental contracts issued by the Spanish government, which must be voted on in the Congress of Deputies within a month at the latest. "Who do you work for? Don't you have any voters whose rental contracts are about to expire? Why this self-destructive vote? Do you own a real estate company?" he asked the Junts party members. "If you overturn this decree, I wish you years of political ostracism, and I promise I will work very hard to make sure it happens. You are doing a terrible disservice to the people of this country," he concluded.

The beginning of the speech was indicative of what the tone of the debate and the strategy of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, would be to defend Iran's 'no to war'. A few minutes after taking the podium in Congress, he recited: "There are dates that are not forgotten, that remain marked forever in the collective memory of a country. February 15, 2003 is one. That Saturday, 3 million citizens said no to war", he recalled. In this way, alluding to the citizenry's reaction to the invasion of Iraq twenty years ago, Sánchez contrasted his position with that of the PP government in 2003. "José María Aznar dragged us into a war to feel important and because Bush invited him for a cigar," he stated, guaranteeing that "now Spain will not be an accomplice, not while I am president."

Junts per Catalunya gives the Spanish government a breather and will save the decree which contains fiscal measures to mitigate the effects of the Iran-Iraq War. Among other things, it includes a reduction in VAT on fuel, electricity, and gas. This was announced by the Junts per Catalunya spokesperson in the Congress of Deputies, Miriam Nogueras, in an interview with TV3. She linked it to a gesture by the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) in favor of exempting self-employed workers with an annual turnover of less than €85,000 from VAT. How should this gesture take the form of a vote in favor of a point in a non-binding motion—a non-legislative initiative, known as a PNL, which is not legally binding—presented by Junts and scheduled for a vote on Thursday. "We expect them to vote yes to supporting the self-employed; therefore, they will have our vote in favor of the decree," said Nogueras, even though its approval would not have immediate effects unless the Spanish government takes any concrete action. "We know that they want to transpose this directive and that, indeed, small self-employed workers will have a little more breathing room," Nogueras stressed in this regard.

The Spanish government has vetoed the stricter migrant regularization rules that were scheduled to be approved this Thursday in Congress. Given that, as the ARA advancedAlthough Junts supported the amendment introduced by the PP in the Senate to the law on multiple recidivism to control the criminal records of applicants for residence permits and review police reports, Moncloa has decided to use the exceptional powers granted to it by the Constitution to stop it. According to SER And parliamentary sources confirm to this newspaper that the Spanish government, through the Congress's governing board, has vetoed the changes, arguing that they represent an additional cost to public coffers. Specifically, they have argued that reviewing the criminal records or pending cases of residency applicants would entail an expenditure of 16 million euros.

After the clash with the PSOE within the council of ministers On Friday, Sumar is now focusing all its pressure on Junts and the PP to ratify the extension of rental contracts and the limitation on price increases. This is the second decree approved in addition to the one on tax cuts: it has been in effect since Sunday, but it needs the approval of Congress—with the decisive vote of Junts—to remain valid. Early Monday morning, in an interview on RNE, the Second Vice President of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, made it clear that the vote will be "the last day" to extend the validity period as much as possible to validate the measure. Thus, Moncloa will have thirty working days to bring this decree-law to the lower house, which places the parliamentary review in the first week of May. "The three right-wing parties have to explain why they are harming the citizens of our country," Díaz said. Shortly afterwards, on TVE, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, called for the "biggest pressure campaign" to get the lower house to give the green light.

It has been a turbulent week for the left of the PSOE. It started with the hangover with a resounding kick in the elections in Castile and León and it has ended with the Sumar ministers challenging Pedro Sánchez to include measures in housing in the social shield against war. In the midst of it all, the emergence of the Irene Montero - Gabriel Rufián tandem has shaken things up. The event they will share in Barcelona In twenty days, he has brought Podemos back into the equation, pulling it out of the isolation it had been mired in for some time. Those close to the ERC spokesperson in Congress describe it as "just one event and nothing more," but Podemos members hint that it could crystallize into a future electoral alliance. "I can't think of a better team; they have a path I hope they can follow," declared Podemos' general secretary, Ione Belarra. And Irene Montero herself publicly acknowledged that an electoral partnership with Rufián is a "very good idea" and, contrary to what those close to the Republican maintain, confessed that events like this are held "not only for the general elections, but also for the general elections."

First stop, Madrid, and now it's Barcelona's turn. Gabriel Rufián will return to the campaign trail on April 9th ​​to defend his proposal for a national left-wing front. He will do so alongside Podemos MEP Irene Montero, at an event in Barcelona moderated by former Comuns leader Xavier Domènech. feeling The relationship between Rufián and Montero is well-known, and, as happened with Emilio Delgado in Madrid, similar speeches will likely be heard. This Thursday, in fact, Podemos's next candidate for the general elections considered it "a very good idea" to team up with Rufián in the elections. In an interview with RTVE, Montero stressed the importance of citizens knowing that there are people "willing to play and win the game" against the far right. The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, also celebrated the alliance between Montero and Rufián: "I can't think of a better team to give people hope that we can govern from the left," she also told RTVE. Rufián's views, however, are not so well received within his party. The ERC leadership has repeatedly distanced itself from the left-wing unity project, and internal criticism is mounting, to the point that some members are demanding that the "disobedience" of the party's spokesperson in Madrid be addressed by the party's disciplinary committee.

The opposition from Esquerra Republicana, along with the rejection by the PP, Vox, and UPN, has sunk the law promoted by the PSOE in Congress to lower the legal blood alcohol limit for drivers from 0.5 grams per liter to 0.2. This legislation had been stalled for a year. It is the first time this legislative term that the Republicans have rejected a law promoted by the Spanish government – ​​in the previous term they did so with the labor reform, which passed thanks to a mistake by the PP. The decision comes – precisely – on the same day that the PSC and ERC agreed that the Catalan Government withdraw the Generalitat's budgets To prevent Salvador Illa from suffering a parliamentary setback on Friday, MP Inés Granollers argued during the debate in the lower house's Interior Committee that "this law won't prevent accidents; what it will do is cause a lot of frustration." The Republican MP lamented that the Socialists were "cowards" for establishing a rate around 0.0 and argued that the law was "very cynical" and contained a "false promise." However, the PSOE, Sumar, Junts, Bildu, and the PNV supported it, with 18 votes in favor and 19 against. The ERC's position was that the "best" rate would have been to prohibit drivers from drinking a single drop of alcohol, but not only that. The Republicans also advocated for early retirement for professional drivers—they presented an amendment to this effect—and for reducing the number of hours they can spend behind the wheel. Furthermore, they had long been demanding more driving examiners in Catalonia to end the backlog of waiting lists. In fact, there was a call this morning between ERC and Pere Navarro, the Director General of Traffic, but the conversation was unproductive. "The truth is, we haven't received an adequate response," summarized Inés Granollers.

King Felipe VI's gesture toward Mexico—in which he acknowledged the "abuses" committed during the conquest of the Americas—has had an initial, palpable effect on thawing relations. According to the Royal Household, the monarch has received an invitation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to attend the World Cup, which her country will host from July 11 to 19. In a letter, Sheinbaum expresses that this sporting event "provides the perfect opportunity to highlight the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain, forged by a historical brotherhood." The invitation was welcomed at the Zarzuela Palace "within the framework of the fraternal relationship of friendship between the two countries." At a press conference this Tuesday, Sheinbaum indicated her willingness to accept the monarch's invitation and welcomed his remarks earlier in the week during a conversation with the Mexican ambassador to Spain while visiting the exhibition.Half the world. Women in indigenous Mexico. The Mexican government had been demanding for years an apology to Spainbecause of its colonial past. Although Felipe VI did not apologize, the Mexican president interpreted his words—in which he admitted that there are behaviors that, viewed through the lens of current values, are not something to be "proud of"—as "a gesture of rapprochement" within the framework of a process that "must continue to be worked on."