The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office believes there are grounds to charge the PSOE within the framework of the Leire case at the National Court, but considers that it is still “premature” to take this step. It is the public prosecutor's response to the request made by the PP –which leads the popular accusations– two days ago, the day after the call for the elections on November 29. The prosecutor argues that first, pending proceedings must be carried out, such as, for example, the statement as an investigated person by Santos Cerdán, former number three of the PSOE. The popular party wanted Pedro Sánchez's party to be investigated for the crimes of illegal financing, bribery, influence peddling, money laundering, and embezzlement.

A decisive move for Ada Colau to end up leading the candidacy for the Spanish elections for the left-wing coalition Broad Front. Més Madrid proposes that the former mayor of Barcelona be the candidate for the presidency of the Spanish government and head the list in Barcelona for the elections on November 29, according to sources from the same party. However, although this bet is key to paving the way for Colau to lead the Broad Front, it is not the final step, as the choice will have to have the approval of the four formations that have allied, also United Left (IU), Sumar Movement and Comuns.

In recent months, the PP and Vox have spread suspicions about alleged electoral fraud in two directions: postal voting and the right to vote of those nationalized through the Democratic Memory Law. After Isabel Díaz Ayuso took less than an hour once the Cortes were dissolved to recommend that people not vote by mail –a mistrust that the PP spokesperson has disavowed–, the focus is once again on the Supreme Court, which a month ago blocked the right to vote for thousands of people until they prove that they are descendants of exiles. Following the announcement of the 29-N elections, both Iustitia Europa and Vox have demanded that the Supreme Court act to ensure that the precautionary measures are complied with, since the electoral body called to vote in the elections was closed two months ago, before the high court took the measures. This morning, the Minister of the Presidency, Fèlix Bolaños, warned that if the Supreme Court maintains its decision, the 29-N census will be "altered" and would lose 400,000 people added to the Electoral Census of Absent Residents –CERA– since 23-J.

Following the Constitutional Court's (TC) endorsement of the amnesty for the leaders of the 'Procés', all eyes are on former president Carles Puigdemont. His return to Catalonia, after nine years of exile, wavers between imminence and waiting for the right political moment, and right now it is unknown whether he will make it coincide with the general election campaign on November 29th or not. Supreme Court magistrate Pablo Llarena, however, has already lifted the arrest warrant that was against him, although several prominent figures from the former head of government's circle have publicly expressed that Puigdemont should return after the elections. A different view from the Spanish government, which reminds him that he has the green light for an immediate return: "Puigdemont could return today if he wanted to," stated the Minister of the Presidency and Justice, Félix Bolaños, this morning in statements to SER. "It is a decision that is up to him," he added. For the moment, the Government has indeed granted Puigdemont's request for the office he holds as former president, which was located at Palau Centelles in Barcelona, to be moved to premises on Carrer Dr. Roux, 51-63, which are owned by the Generalitat, as reported by El País and confirmed by ARA.

Mariano Bergés is the lawyer for Dolors Bassa. He defended the former Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Families during the trial of the Procés and almost two years ago he filed an appeal for protection (recurs d'empara) to the Constitutional Court against Manuel Marchena's refusal to apply the amnesty law to her. The ruling has paved the way for the rest of the 1-O government: it will allow the return of Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig to Catalonia and will put an end to the disqualifications of Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull and Raül Romeva. The appeal argued that the Supreme Court's interpretation of the amnesty “frontally attacks” the “spirit and purpose” of the norm and “dangerously delves” into the legislative function with a maneuver that “entails the practical repeal” of the law.

3,263 days have passed since he left for Belgium and 847 days since the amnesty came into force, and Carles Puigdemont now has a clear path to return to Catalonia, although he will wait for the final archiving of the case to do so—in a few days or weeks. He will be able to put an end to almost nine years of exile after the Constitutional Court ordered the Supreme Court to apply the amnesty law to the 1-O leaders in a “preferential and urgent” manner and, a few minutes later, Judge Pablo Llarena lifted the arrest warrant that had been in force since November 2017 and which he confirmed in July 2024 with a convoluted justification. The TC now concludes that pardoning the embezzlement is “the only conclusion reconcilable” with the “rules of logic and common sense” and reproaches Manuel Marchena for deciding to “evade the genuine meaning” of the amnesty with an “internally contradictory” interpretation that is “manifestly contrary” to the “purpose and spirit” of the law.

The countdown has been activated after Pedro Sánchez announced that he is calling general elections for November 29. The deadlines will begin to count from this Tuesday, which is when the decree calling for elections will be published in the Official State Gazette (BOE). Those who will have to maneuver against the clock will be the parties of the Broad Front –the new brand of the Sumar space to the left of the PSOE– to nominate their candidate. The parties will have until Friday, October 16, to register the coalitions: it will be the moment when they must confirm whether or not they run in the elections together. Comuns, United Left, Més Madrid, and the Sumar Movement will run under the same ballot, but they have to finish sealing the alliance with forces such as Compromís, the Aragonese Chunta, and Més per Mallorca. Three years ago, Sumar registered the coalition three hours before the deadline ended.

With the consummation of the calling of the general elections on November 29th, the parties of the old Sumar –recently rebranded and reconfigured as Broad Front– must choose the candidate against the clock. Comuns, United Left, Más Madrid, and Sumar Movement have been working for months to weave the new coalition that must be presented in the elections, but they still lack a key piece: the head of the list. The rumors have been firing up for days, and now knowledgeable sources assure behind the scenes that the white smoke will “undoubtedly” be this week.

With the permission of the Ceuta crisis and the demands for the right to housing, the Constitutional Court is once again on the front page of political news. Next week it will approve the ruling that contradicts the Supreme Court's criteria regarding the amnesty law and will impose on the high court that it apply the pardon to the embezzlement attributed to the October 1st referendum. The proposal drafted by the president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, regarding Dolors Bassa's appeal directly orders the high court to backtrack and "declare amnestied" the crime of embezzlement in a "preferential and urgent" manner. Why was it so explicit? "From what I have read, at times the Supreme Court itself has stated that it would take into consideration the Constitutional Court's doctrine provided that the Constitutional Court had established a clear and precise doctrine. Therefore, we want to establish a clear and precise doctrine," argued Cándido Conde-Pumpido at a breakfast organized by Nueva Economía Fórum.

“Impunity, illegality, and disorder cannot continue to roam at will in Puerta del Sol”. The government of the Community of Madrid, led by Isabel Díaz Ayuso, is raising the tone and demanding that the Moncloa evict the encampment that was set up on Saturday in Puerta del Sol, right in front of the Royal Post Office, the headquarters of the Madrid presidency. After the protesters have spent their third night there, the Madrid executive has sent a formal request to the Spanish government's Delegation to remove them within a maximum period of 48 hours.

The president of the Constitutional Court, Cándido Conde-Pumpido, fundamentally amends the Supreme Court's refusal to apply the amnesty law and considers that pardoning the embezzlement attributed to the October 1 referendum is "the only conclusion reconcilable" with the "rules of logic and common sense" and with an interpretation of the amnesty that "attends to its spirit and purpose" and its "own genesis." This is reflected in the report he has prepared, to which ARA has had access, regarding the appeal for constitutional protection (recurso de amparo) by Dolors Bassa, who was Minister of Labor, Social Affairs and Families during the October 1 referendum and is disqualified until 2031. The text argues that the "interpretation sponsored" by the Supreme Court was "clearly expansive," "opposed" to the "purpose and spirit" of the law and "contrary to the defendant," and establishes that Dolors Bassa's rights to effective judicial protection, to access public functions and positions, and to criminal legality were violated.

At the beginning of April 2024, few people knew Juan Carlos Peinado. His name rose to fame when on April 24th it became known that he had opened a case against Begoña Gómez, the wife of Pedro Sánchez, following a complaint from Manos Limpias. A decision that led to the five days of reflection during which the Spanish president considered resigning, although in the end he decided to continue. Last Monday, five days before his retirement—this Saturday the BOE already publishes his forced retirement at 72 years of age—, the controversial judge put the finishing touch on his career by sending Begoña Gómez to trial before a jury for influence peddling and embezzlement.

Seven years after being charged, the National Court has acquitted Gonzalo Boye of the crimes of money laundering and document forgery. In between, there was a fourteen-month investigation against him, two years of waiting to send him to trial, two years of interlude until it was held and a four-month oral hearing. The trial was adjourned for sentencing a year and a half ago. In contrast, the court has sentenced the Galician drug trafficker Sito Miñanco to 17 years in prison for the operation to introduce almost four tons of cocaine into Europe in 2017. In a 325-page ruling, the court has exonerated Carles Puigdemont's lawyer because it could not “conclude unequivocally” that he had “any participation in the drafting” of the documents that served to camouflage and hide the illicit origin of the 890,000 euros in cash that were seized at Barajas airport in February 2017 and which were the embryo of the case. The case has ended with 24 convicted and 24 acquitted.

In recent days, a new torpedo has emerged that the PP is using to fire against Pedro Sánchez and the Spanish government. Last week, Beatriz Biedma, the judge from Badajoz who investigated and sent the brother of the PSOE leader to the dock, asked to appear as a private prosecutor at the National Court in the case regarding Leire Díez. The reason? The alleged maneuvers to remove her from the investigation of the David Sánchez case. Since then, news has been appearing in a cascade speaking of an alleged relationship between the Los Rochos drug trafficking clan and those christened politically and media-wise as the sewers of the PSOE. And the PP has clung to it during the control session in Congress to pounce on the Moncloa.

After having promised to provide explanations about the origin of the jewelry from the moment they were found in his office on May 19th, former Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero gave an official explanation this Wednesday through a document submitted to the National Court. Four months later, in the document, which ARA has had access to, he states that the pieces are a gift that the King of Saudi Arabia Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud –who died eleven years ago– gave him in June 2007, during his first term at the head of the Spanish government. It is a gift that the monarch delivered to the family home located at the Moncloa Palace on the occasion of a trip made to Madrid, and he justifies the delivery as a "strictly personal attention, accepted out of deference and as a sign of gratitude and respect" to the Saudi king. Asked about Zapatero's version, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, from New York, has reaffirmed his confidence in the presumption of innocence of the former Prime Minister.

Chaos in Congress following a controversial intervention by PP deputy Ana Belén Vázquez, who displayed pepper spray and ended up being expelled from the hemicycle. But the absurdity did not end there. Later, the Spanish lower house had to seal off three restrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room due to the presence of a toxic substance. A PP staffer ended up admitting that he had handled and triggered the pepper spray while cleaning it at the request of the parliamentarian. Twelve people received medical assistance. Among them, there is a member of the Mauritanian delegation who was visiting the chamber and had to be treated for vomiting caused by the strong smell of gas. Furthermore, a woman from the kitchen is on sick leave due to intoxication –by mandate of her mutual insurance company– and another worker has filed a complaint. Let's take this step by step.

Since the amnesty law was approved in the Congress of Deputies 846 days ago, there has been a question that conditions Catalan politics and Spanish politics: when will Carles Puigdemont return to Catalonia as a free man? The return of the Junts leader has been hovering over the legislature from the very first day, it has been a repeated demand of the independence supporters and has become a hope for the PSOE to rebuild alliances and complicity with Miriam Nogueras's party in Madrid. Now the Constitutional Court has set the machinery in motion so that –definitively– it may be possible.

The Constitutional Court has activated the countdown for Carles Puigdemont's return to Catalonia. It has done so by endorsing the application of the amnesty law to the embezzlement attributed to the Procés, as ARA has learned. As expected, the progressive majority imposed its criteria and rejected the proposal of the conservative José María Macías, who was in favor of rejecting the appeal for protection (recurs d'empara) by Jordi Turull –Minister of the Presidency during the 1-O and current secretary general of Junts– and validating the criteria of the Supreme Court, which until now has refused to exonerate the crime of embezzlement. After an hour and a half of deliberation, he was left in the minority.

The Supreme Court judge who drafted the interlocutory decision that blocks the right to vote for thousands of Spaniards who obtained nationality by availing themselves of the Democratic Memory Law –adopting the PP's thesis that the Grandchildren Law is a “founded, real and serious danger” that could “gravely affect the objectivity and transparency” of the elections– is an old acquaintance of the independence movement. He is Antonio Narváez, who was a magistrate of the Constitutional Court from 2014 to 2023 and, therefore, played a prominent role during the years of the 'Procés'. His name resonates in Catalonia because in February 2021 he stepped aside from the debate on the amparo appeals of the political prisoners against the October 1st ruling. He had to recuse himself after the pro-independence leaders collectively requested his disqualification due to words he had uttered in November 2017.

María Tardón (Zarzuela del Pinar, Segovia, 1957) has been a judge at the National Court since 2018, when she took over from Carmen Lamela, the magistrate who sent the 'Jordis' to prison in September 2017. Tardón, a single mother and a cinema enthusiast, has made cameos in five films and has completed many stages of the Camino de Santiago. She began working at sixteen in a chocolate factory while studying law by correspondence and has been practicing as a judge for 39 years. She had only a four-year hiatus to jump into politics as Deputy Mayor for Security with the PP in Madrid from 1999 to 2003. She is now at the forefront of current events because she will investigate the mass entry of immigrants into Ceuta and her past with the PP has led Minister Óscar Puente to “doubt her impartiality”.