In recent days, the residents of Urda have become the involuntary protagonists of an accident that will leave indelible marks on this small town seventy kilometers from Toledo. They are a multitude of anonymous people who did not hesitate to approach the scene, who were on the front line from the very first moment to help the victims. Now, still in shock, they remember a few hours that have changed their lives. Nor will the passenger of another AVE train that was covering the route from Seville to Madrid, and which stopped 500 meters from the accident, ever forget it.

“Uncertainty, of course, is what is hardest to bear. But I believe there is one thing that counteracts it, which is hope, which must never be lost”. This is the reflection verbalized this afternoon by Manuel, the brother of one of the missing persons in the train accident in Urda, Toledo, who continues to long for good news. “There are peaks of absolute hope and peaks where you collapse”, admits his sister, Esther. Both have spent the day at the Casa Sacerdotal in Toledo, the space that has been set up for people who have not yet located their relatives. They are looking for Pepe, who is 54 years old and was traveling to Seville for work.

At 8:54 in the morning, Nicolás was listening to music sitting in the sixth carriage of an AVE train heading to Seville to visit his girlfriend. He makes this journey three or four times a month. But today was different. All of a sudden, the seats were dislodged, a group of people fell together, they ended up crushed and he could not move. “I looked and I realized that I was on the opposite track. It was like Adamuz. I got up and tried to open the door,” he remembers in conversation with ARA. But, with the impact, he had lost his glasses and could not read the instructions, so he had to ask for help from the other passengers. “When I got out, I could hear the screams from the seventh carriage, which was destroyed. And I saw two people on the ground who were begging me while crying to let them have my mobile to call their family. One could not move and I had to hold the phone for him,” he recounts.

Hugo Chávez, when he was president of Venezuela, gave José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero a replica of Simón Bolívar's sword and a brass figure of Don Quixote –in fact, the former Spanish president received five sculptures of the Spanish literary icon made of iron, bronze, wood, and papier-mâché during his years at the Moncloa–. When he was president of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev gave him a decorated bottle of vodka and a machete with a leather sheath. From the United States, Barack Obama opted for more formal gifts: an official White House Christmas ornament and a leather folder with a reproduction of Abraham Lincoln's second inaugural address. Zapatero declared more than 300 gifts he received as president, but he forgot some, starting with the jewelry that the police found in a safe in his office.

“They say it’s good, I’ve read it”. This is how Alberto Núñez Feijóo defended on Friday the mysterious community manager of the PP, who has become one of the great protagonists of the November 29th electoral pre-campaign. With a combative, ruthless, ironic, and daring style, the popular party’s posts on Instagram, TikTok, and X have gone viral rapidly and have been able to make an appearance in conventional media. The one that has had the most resonance is a video made with artificial intelligence, seen by more than two million people on X, in which Begoña Gómez, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, and Santos Cerdán, among others, appear admitting to the facts for which they are being investigated. It is what is known as a deepfake. “Having a chair thanks to the fact that my husband is the president”, says Pedro Sánchez’s wife. “Hiding jewels in a safe”, expresses the former Spanish president. “Belonging to a criminal gang”, verbalizes the former number 3 of the PSOE. Leire Díez also appears, who has filed a lawsuit against the PP for the crimes of slander with publicity, attack on moral integrity, and digital identity theft.

The Supreme Court raises the tone in the conflict with the Spanish government over the vote of those naturalized under the Democratic Memory Law. The high court has given a five-day deadline to ministers José Manuel Albares and Félix Bolaños to submit the list of the 163,020 people affected by the suspension of the vote for the Spanish elections on November 29th. They must send it to the Supreme Court, the Central Electoral Board, and the Electoral Census Office, and they have until Wednesday, October 28th, at 3:00 PM to do so. The contentious-administrative chamber of the high court does not stop there, but threatens the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and of the Presidency, Justice and Relations with the Cortes with a possible fine or, even, with criminal liability –which would have to be investigated by the criminal chamber– if they fail to comply with the requirement. The fine would be 1,000 euros and could be “reiterated” until the request is met.

The list of people awaiting amnesty continues to shrink drop by drop. The latest court to take the step has been the National Court, which had been dragging its feet for three months to avoid applying the law to the twelve CDR members of Operation Judas accused of terrorism. After the approval of the regulation, the court tried to dodge it by asking the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) if granting amnesty to the CDR members contravened European law. It was a way to boycott and delay the implementation of the amnesty. The Luxembourg ruling, which took two years to arrive, was finally issued in July, fully endorsing the law. Since then, the National Court had a clear path to make a move, but it needed three more months to make the judicial oblivion effective. Finally, 28 months after the law came into force, it has buried the case: “It must be understood that the facts that are the subject of this proceeding must be included [in the amnesty]”, concludes the four-page interlocutory order.

Significant movements in the Plus Ultra case. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office has formally requested the indictment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero for embezzlement for having kept the jewels gifted to him by the King of Saudi Arabia in 2007 during an official visit to Spain, according to the document to which ARA has had access. It was the former Spanish president who, a month ago, assured the judge that this was the origin of the most valuable jewels that the UDEF found in his office last May. Prosecutor Elena Lorente now asserts that this may lead to the presumption that he also committed a crime of embezzlement. For the moment, in the part of the case related to the jewels, he is only being investigated for tax crimes and smuggling.

After almost nine years in exile and the day after the return of Lluís Puig to Terrassa, Toni Comín has set foot in the Spanish state to swear to the Constitution and collect the European Parliament deputy credentials that the Central Electoral Board (JEC) denied him in July 2024. He has done so now that Pablo Llarena has lifted the arrest warrant that was against him and three days before solemnizing his return from exile by crossing the border on foot through a mountain pass accompanied by his friends. “With loyalty to the people of Catalonia and the mandate of October 1st,” he said in Catalan when swearing to the Magna Carta by “legal imperative.” The president of the JEC, Eduardo Calvo, had previously warned him that he would not meet the requirement if he gave an answer that did not include an “unconditional” form, but just after, he confirmed that he had fully become an MEP.

Gabriel Rufián has spent the last few months calling for a left-wing front for the upcoming general elections, but the only alliance that the republican leader has ended up signing –without an agreement with Ada Colau's Broad Front– has been with Irene Montero, the Podemos candidate. Both, in fact, already held an event together on April 9th in Barcelona and, in recent months, they have been strengthening ties, although their political affinity is not new. Rufián had come to Montero's defense several times in the face of the right-wing's offensive when she headed the Ministry of Equality. However, since when have both leaders known each other? Have they always had political complicity?

The Constitutional Court does not, for the moment, authorize the vote for people nationalized under the Democratic Memory Law. The high court has halted the appeal for protection filed by the Ombudsman against the Supreme Court's decision to suspend the right to vote for all those who have not proven that they are descendants of exiles. Therefore, there will be 163,000 people with Spanish nationality – 0.41% of the census – who will not be able to vote in the general elections of November 29 if they do not prove that they meet the requirements. Ángel Gabilondo denounced that the Supreme Court's decision violates the rights to equality, to participation in public affairs, and to effective judicial protection. However, the court of guarantees considers that it is “premature” to study the appeal because the Supreme Court opened a period for allegations that has not yet ended. Once it has ruled again, after studying the complaints of those affected, the Constitutional Court could indeed agree to study an appeal for protection.

Two years and four months after it came into force, the amnesty has fully reached those convicted of embezzlement in the Procés trial. The Supreme Court, led by Manuel Marchena, has applied the law to four members of the 1-O Government who were disqualified until 2030 and 2031: Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Dolors Bassa and Raül Romeva. In this way, they regain all political rights and will be able to run for elections again, hold public office or, for example, return to teaching at the public university. The final green light for the pardon comes just over seven years after the Supreme Court's sentence and five years after they left prison thanks to pardons. The decision, taken reluctantly and entering into a dialectical battle with the Constitutional Court (TC), is Manuel Marchena's penultimate intervention in the judicial persecution of the October 1st referendum. His last dance will be the application of the total amnesty to Carles Puigdemont, Toni Comín and Lluís Puig, who are still waiting. Before that, Pablo Llarena will need to conclude the summary, a final step he will take in the coming days.

Pablo Llarena assumes that the Supreme Court is bound to apply the amnesty to Carles Puigdemont, but resists facilitating it. It was expected that this week the investigating judge would conclude the summary proceedings and refer the case against the former President of the Generalitat and the former ministers Toni Comín and Lluís Puig to the trial court of the Procés so that Manuel Marchena could apply the total and definitive amnesty to the exiles – although he first still had to grant a five-day period for the parties to pronounce themselves again–. These are the two resolutions missing for the Supreme Court to put an end to the judicial persecution of Puigdemont. However, the investigator has slowed down the path and has limited himself to dismissing the appeal that Vox filed against the lifting of the arrest warrants that the Supreme Court issued after the Constitutional Court endorsed the amnesty in cases of embezzlement. Llarena thus delays the outcome: he takes one more step, but avoids taking the decisive step, which will have to come in the next few days.

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.