The Supreme Court has put a stop to the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Vox, and has rejected temporarily paralyzing the extraordinary regularization of immigrantswhich began a month and a half ago. The Contentious-Administrative Chamber decided this after five hearings held this morning, which served for the Madrid executive, the far-right party, and three ultra associations to launch attacks against the regularization process promoted by the Spanish government after an agreement with Podemos. In one of them, the State Attorney announced that as of May 21st, 549,596 applications had been submitted and 91,905 had begun to be processed. Those who passed the first filter received a provisional authorization to work. In many cases, these were people who had jobs: they were working illegally and now do so legally, or they have found work elsewhere. "We are not talking about entry, but about a radically different issue. We are talking about a group of people who were in Spain, who can prove five months of residence, and who had deficits in accessing rights," argued the State Attorney. He also highlighted that the regularization serves to "respond to labor market challenges" and seeks to offer "effective and rapid integration" to people who have "roots" and an "inseparable bond of coexistence" in Spain.

The imputation of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero before the National Court is an earthquake of still incalculable scope for Spanish politics. News that has shaken the PSOE and given the PP a new reason to attack the Spanish government and ask the Socialists to leave Moncloa. That is why all eyes were on Congress at first, where the first reaction of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, to the issue was expected. And the script has not changed: "All my support for President Zapatero," he said. "If you want to look at corruption, look in the mirror," he even snapped at the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whom he accused of having privileged information from the judiciary and using it politically. "Elections are won with votes, not shortcuts. There will be elections in 2027," Sánchez continued, who also defended Zapatero's legacy. "He did not put us in an illegal war, he advanced rights such as same-sex marriage and ended ETA," he summarized.

The judge José Luis Calama has charged José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero because he believes he was the "decisional and strategic core" of a "network" that exerted influence. "His leadership is not manifested in a formal or public manner, but through his capacity for direction, coordination, and supervision, avoiding direct execution of the most sensitive tasks as much as possible," says the ruling to which ARA has had access. It emphasizes that this role "is deduced" from "multiple pieces of evidence" and places special emphasis on some of the conversations reflected in the summary (in which Zapatero does not directly participate).

There was an "organized scheme of illicit exercise of influence" and a "stable and hierarchical structure" that was "led" by José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and that had the purpose of obtaining "economic benefits" through "intermediation and exercise of influence before public bodies in favor of third parties." This is the conclusion reached by a judge of the Audiencia Nacional to indict the former Spanish president for the alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, and document forgery and to summon him next Tuesday, June 2, within the framework of the Plus Ultra case. In a ruling of 85 pages, José Luis Calama considers that Zapatero "would have put" his "personal contacts" and his "access capacity" to high-ranking officials of the administration at the service of third parties interested in "obtaining favorable decisions." The judge calculates that Zapatero would have received 1.9 million euros in commissions through three companies: one and a half million directly to him and 400,000 euros to What The Fav, his daughters' marketing company.

One of the conclusions from the elections in Andalusia, besides the bittersweet triumph of the PP and the collapse of the PSOE, is the strengthening of Endavant Andalusia, a sovereignist and Andalusianist party that has always wanted to distance itself from the "classic and traditional" left-wing parties that are in the Spanish government. Now it is also distancing itself from Gabriel Rufián's positions, who maintains the commitment to weave a common front for the upcoming general elections. The electoral success, which the polls failed to detect, has been undeniable: they have doubled their votes, quadrupled their seats, and were the third force in Cadiz and Seville, ahead of Vox. So much so that the PP considers Endavant Andalusia responsible for the impossibility of renewing the absolute majority.

Night of infarction in Andalusia, bittersweet outcome for the PP and a blow for the PSOE. Juanma Moreno Bonilla and Alberto Núñez Feijóo were very happy seeing that the polls predicted that the popular party could repeat the absolute majority they achieved four years ago, but the ballot boxes have issued another verdict: the PP has lost five deputies compared to 2022, has fallen two seats short of an absolute majority, and will once again need Vox's approval to govern. Seven months ago, the PP inaugurated the regional electoral cycle that now comes to an end with the unwavering goal of freeing itself from Vox, but it has ended up being even more of a hostage to the far-right. To the point that even the most moderate "baron" of the popular party – who had a free hand – now finds himself forced to negotiate with Santiago Abascal if he does not want to repeat the elections. In parallel, on Ferraz street it has been an even more painful night: the PSOE has achieved its worst result in history and is nineteen percentage points behind the popular party. The only relief that gives some oxygen to the socialists is that the future negotiation between the PP and Vox will once again highlight the discomforts and contradictions of the popular party.

4,311 days after Jordi Pujol's confession, the trial against his family has been postponed for sentencing. In between, there has been an arduous judicial investigation that lasted six years, an eight-month stay in prison for the eldest son of the former President of the Generalitat, and a sum of 80,000 pages. On November 24, 2025, the National Court kicked off the trial: 38 sessions, 200 witnesses, 17 defendants defended by the elite of Catalan criminal law, and two accusations. Three judges and one question to answer: was the fortune the Pujol family had in Andorra an inheritance or was it the fruit of corruption? These have been the best moments at the National Court.

After six months and 38 sessions, the National Court puts an end to the Pujol case trial. It is time for the lawyers of the last seven businessmen to defend their conclusions and request their acquittal. One of those who has intervened is Carles Monguilod, lawyer for Gustavo Buesa. "During the investigation, at times I had a slight feeling that there was anA por ellos. Due to the actions of a certain police force, it seemed that the predicate offense [of money laundering] was being part of the Pujol family or being Catalan", he said. "I know that is not the case, I know that this court will not allow it and will conclude with an acquittal sentence", he concluded. He also took the opportunity to refute the slogan the prosecutor mentioned: "I have publicly confronted it. Spain has never stolen and this is an offense to Spaniards and cannot be tolerated". The Prosecutor's Office requests five years in prison for eight businessmen for the crimes of money laundering and document forgery.

For more than two hours, Cristóbal Martell has tried to dismantle the Prosecutor's accusation against Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, who faces 29 years in prison. The family's lawyer began vehemently to highlight the lack of evidence to support the "grandiose assertion" that the former president of the Generalitat wove a "clientelism network" to profit from illegal commissions in exchange for public works: "When an accusation begins with such a bombastic and ambitious frontispiece, one expects columns that solidly support that gross assertion. Nothing," he proclaimed. "Does this satisfy a filing by the public prosecutor's office and bring it to a court in a democratic state?" he asked ironically at one point during his speech. "It does not seem reasonable to bring this to a court of justice in a state of law with guarantees," he added at another point.

After almost six months, the trial in the Pujol case is reaching –now for real– the final stretch, and if the court's optimistic forecasts are met, it will be ready for sentencing on Thursday. On Monday, the testimonies of the accused concluded, with the four businessmen who were left pending ten days ago. At half past eight in the morning, the lawyers were having a relaxed football chat while waiting to be allowed in. And, behind the scenes, journalists and lawyers were taking advantage of the breaks to make predictions about the prosecutor's verdict. Finally, Fernando Bermejo has opted to maintain the prison sentence requests that the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office initially requested: 29 years for Jordi Pujol Ferrusola, 17 years for Mercè Gironès –his ex-wife–, 14 years for Josep Pujol, 8 years for his brothers, and 5 years for the nine businessmen. "If there has been no common sense until now, why will there be now?", one of the lawyers wondered a while earlier. And another advised excluding the businessmen who have nothing to do with public works: "Between private individuals, it is much more difficult to maintain the accusation, and the Supreme Court's filter is not easy to overcome", he warned, already thinking about a possible appeal. But the prosecutor has taken the middle road.

Judicially investigating Operation Catalonia has become a utopia. In recent years, victims of the patriotic police have tried their best to bring the leadership of the State's sewers to court, but they have permanently hit a wall. The answer has always been the same: the facts are not a crime and are based on press reports, despite the eloquent audios that attest to them. In recent weeks, however, two windows of opportunity have opened, although the possibilities of an investigation proceeding remain slim. In fact, so far, the only person convicted for Operation Catalonia has been Eugenio Pino, who was deputy operational director (DAO) of the Spanish police, for Jordi Pujol's eldest son's famous USB.

Seen for ruling. The trial of the mask case in the Supreme Court, which began a month ago, has come to an end. It has been the moment for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the PP – which leads the popular prosecutions – and the three defense teams to verbalize their conclusions. The first to speak was the prosecutor. "The number one was not the president of the Spanish government, as, to Aldama's notable relief, he attributes to him," he said in the initial part of his speech. It was the businessman's new accusation, and prosecutor Alejandro Luzón has distanced himself completely. That said, he has highlighted that José Luis Ábalos was at the "top" or in the "essential cog" of the organization. In his opinion, he, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama – along with other individuals – formed a "true criminal organization" that was born from a "corrupting pact that interested everyone" as a result of "insistence" and "little resistance" and that it did not "dissipate and exhaust itself" until Ábalos was dismissed as minister in July 2021.

An Israeli court has extended until Sunday the detention of the two leaders of the Global Flotilla Sumud, the Catalan-Palestinian Saif Abukeshek and the Brazilian Thiago Ávila, who have been in a prison facility since they were captured in international waters in Wednesday's assault on the civilian humanitarian mission against the Gaza blockade. The court in the coastal city of Ashkelon, where they are being held, ruled on Sunday that the prosecution had two more days to present the formal indictment. The Israeli government accuses them of terrorism, and they are detained in Shikma prison, on a hunger strike for the seventh day.

"A high-profile case judged a long time ago with a clear conviction." This is how José Luis Ábalos has summarized the face mask case, for which he faces a sentence of between 24 and 30 years in prison. The former Minister of Transport, who has been in Soto del Real for five months, has been the last of the accused to testify, after Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García did so last week. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez in Moncloa and Ferraz testified for almost six hours and, exhibiting meticulous knowledge of the Civil Guard's reports, denied having received money from Aldama: "To say that it was handed to me in person seems gross. I understand why it's being done. I tell you no, and there is absolutely no evidence." He also criticized the Civil Guard's "permanent bias" and denounced a "certain intentionality" throughout the investigation: "I am struck by the eagerness to implicate me and to find something.

Day of revelations and denials at the Supreme Court. After Victor de Aldama's explosive statement, which shot left and right to try to splash Pedro Sánchez and question the PSOE's financing, it is now the turn of Koldo García, who was an advisor to José Luis Ábalos in the Ministry of Transport and for whom the Prosecutor's Office is seeking nineteen and a half years in prison. "Ask me absolutely everything to try to prove my innocence," the prosecutor urged right at the start. And, after five and a half hours, he has resolved one of the great questions of the trial: what are "chistorras"? A Guardia Civil report suspected that it was the code name to refer to 500 euro banknotes. And Koldo García, when questioned by his lawyer, confirmed it, despite the fact that last October, in a couple of television interviews, he stated that the chistorras were "sausages".

Key day in the mask case trial at the Supreme Court. After ten sessions, it is the turn of the declarations of the three defendants: José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama. The only one who could be interrogated this Wednesday was the businessman and alleged facilitator of the plot, who agreed to collaborate with justice a year and a half ago when he was in preventive detention –"what a invention", replied Pedro Sánchez– and for whom the Prosecutor's Office requests a much lower penalty than for the rest of the defendants. Just as he did at that initial moment of the investigation, he has decided to elaborate, stretch the blanket and point directly to Pedro Sánchez. Without providing evidence and relying solely on his word, he has given meticulous details to try to accredit his privileged access to the spheres of power, has detailed the roadmap of the alleged corruption and has expressed "remorse". "If there is a hierarchy of a criminal organization, Sánchez is in the first echelon", he said. "I was told that the president knew everything", he added in a statement that lasted more than six and a half hours.

The inheritance from grandfather Florenci has focused the second part of Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's statement at the National Court, which ended up lasting more than six hours. In a session monopolized by the prosecutor's questions, the eldest son of the former president of the Generalitat explained how he managed to multiply grandfather Florenci's inheritance: the original 140 million pesetas (0.8 million euros) turned into six million euros thanks —he repeated fifteen times— to "financial sheets", a concept he already used in 2015 when he testified in the Barcelona courts. However, eleven years ago, in the Parliament of Catalonia, the CEO of Andbank in Spain, Rafael Gascó, replied that he did not know what they were: "It is the first time I have heard the name of this instrument in 35 years of banking experience," he said. The eldest son of the former president of the Generalitat has pointed out that in twenty years he made between 20,000 and 25,000 movements.

After the decision to exclude President Jordi Pujol from the case, the main event at the National High Court has been the testimony of his eldest son, for whom the Prosecutor's Office is seeking 29 years in prison for five crimes. The first session lasted almost three hours, until his lawyer asked to end it upon seeing him "manifestly tired". Prosecutor Fernando Bermejo has dedicated himself to reviewing his businesses in detail, and the firstborn has defended his work tooth and nail. "What I have done is well done" and "there is nothing to hide", he claimed at two points during the interrogation.

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".

Junts per Catalunya will accompany Jordi Pujol to San Fernando de Henares to "show him support". Next Monday, the former president of the Generalitat must go in person to the National Court so that a forensic doctor can examine him and the tribunal that is judging his family and nine businessmen can determine whether or not to keep him on the defendants' bench. If the decision is not to exempt him, he will subsequently have to testify as a defendant. Despite this, the forensic doctors said in November that "he is not in physical or cognitive condition" to be tried.