"Without music, life would be a mistake," the German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche proclaimed almost two centuries ago, and politics seems to have taken this maxim as a pattern to follow. Those in the MAGA movement know this, as they dance to the rhythm of "YMCA" by the New York group Village People, imitating the peculiar steps of their great leader, Donald Trump, who once again claimed it last week.

Football fans, economic elites –like the richest man in the world, Elon Musk– and markedly ultra-right formations have developed a taste for raising their right arm high in tribute to the Nazi and Italian fascism of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. And they are not the only ones. For years, the famous phrases "Life was better under Franco" and "This didn't happen under Franco" have also been heard, assertions that, often and paradoxically, come from young people for whom the image of Franco is that of a bald, old man who could barely walk and who, therefore, couldn't have been very dangerous.

On the chessboard of Catalan and Spanish politics, words have ceased to be mere vehicles of information and have become symbolic projectiles. In recent months, we have witnessed a resurgence of terms that seemed to be an inheritance from other eras: the Popular Party of Catalonia (PPC) referred to the budget project as "Soviet and communist" – and last week the general secretary of the Populars, Juan Fernández, returned to this, referring to the housing policies of the Generalitat – and the leader of the PPC, Alejandro Fernández, has described the president of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, as a "Marxist with a tie". All this while from the business sector, Josep Sánchez Llibre, president of Foment del Treball, described the veto on the purchase of housing for speculation, which is still ongoing, as "pro-communist".According to political scientist Jordi Mir, in conversation with ARA, we are faced with concepts that have been "altered" throughout history. Mir maintains that many of these definitions are born in scenarios far removed from their origin in order to "turn them around to be negative." The objective is not reasoned debate, but rather "to activate an imaginary that people have more or less in place." In Mir's words: "When Sánchez Llibre or other representatives speak in this way, it is because they are very convinced that by using this concept they will activate an imaginary that will make people think 'this cannot be'."This tactic directly recalls the political scene in the United States, where, as the expert points out, "the disqualification of public representatives of the Democratic Party as socialists is very common." There, accusing Obama or Biden of socialism seeks to make the population identify the leader with the historical enemy of the Cold War, he highlights. However, Mir clearly differentiates the situation here: "It is more difficult for this to happen here with socialism because the Socialist Party has not abandoned its concept." Therefore, to generate the same "shock" and evoke Stalinism or the Soviet Union, terms like communist or pseudo-Soviet.This phenomenon has been widely studied by international authors such as the American linguist George Lakoff, who in his theory of framing or framing, argues that words activate mental structures (frames) that determine our view of the world. If the dominant frame is that of fear of totalitarianism, any social policy will be trapped under the Soviet label, preventing a rational analysis of the measure. It is what Mir defines as the "dispute over concepts": who has the ability to make people think of one reality and not another when they hear a word?From "feminism" to "feminazi"

One of the most significant changes in this semantic dispute is found in the feminist movement. Mir recalls that, during the 80s and 90s, "presenting a woman as a feminist was a way to disqualify her" because they were not considered "respectable" people. However, today feminism has gained a positive hegemony in society, she states.Faced with this change, the neologism feminazi has emerged. Mir analyzes it precisely: "I can no longer call a feminist woman to discredit her because it seems to be well received... What can I call her to create this negative imaginary? Well, let's combine her with nazi". It is, thus, an attempt "to raise the tone of the imaginary" to recover the insulting character that the original word has lost, highlights the expert.The "ultraconservative" and the "caste"

This intense discursive battle is not one-way. Political consultant Luis Arroyo –famous in recent months for having been Zapatero's spokesperson– recalls, in conversation with ARA, that democratic politics is, in its very essence, "the struggle between narratives". In this sense, Arroyo points out that the concept conservative does not in itself have a negative connotation in society, but rather that the real political problem arises "when the addition of ultra or far-right" is placed on it". Faced with the current context of uncertainty, the left intentionally tries to place its adversaries' discourse "on the level of the ultra, the extremist, the eccentric". The objective is, he explains, to activate a feeling of social rejection, since the term ultra today has a profoundly pejorative meaning that evokes "what is beyond, what exceeds the limits of what is reasonable". Thus, formations like Vox or Aliança Catalana are punished every time they are associated with it, or even Junts per Catalunya, described as "the independentist far-right" last May by Emiliano García-Page, president of Castilla-La Mancha, in a warning to the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez for his pacts with Carles Puigdemont's party.On the other hand, the play of concepts reaches its maximum complexity with the so-called "intersecting narratives", a tool that, Arroyo highlights, is no longer exclusive to any ideological bloc but rather becomes a characteristic of populism. This strategy is based on the dichotomy of "the virtuous people versus the elite or the "casta governing and corrupt". According to the expert, it is a framework used by both the right and the left. In the Spanish case, Podem made an "extraordinary use of the concept cast, which worked very well", while, at the other extreme, leaders like the President of the United States, Donald Trump, adopt exactly the same language and identify with this "virtuous people" against a corrupt elite. They are the two sides of the same coin in the dispute over the interpretation of reality.

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Melilla has been a Spanish city since 1497 and Ceuta definitively since 1580, fully integrated into the Crown of Castile in 1640. Despite more than five centuries of history and peninsular ties, its current administrative status is a territorial anomaly in the State. And its political focus is basically confined to migratory crises like the one that began on July 30. The 1978 Constitution explicitly provided, in the fifth transitional provision, for the possibility of their being constituted as autonomous communities. Nevertheless, it was not until 1995 that the Cortes Generales approved their Statutes of Autonomy, opting for an unprecedented figure: the "autonomous city." Before that, they functioned as special regime municipalities integrated into the provinces of Cadiz – in the case of Ceuta – and Malaga – in the case of Melilla –, and enjoyed the status of free ports with certain unique fiscal advantages compared to the rest of the territories.

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The Andalusian Party ran in the last Andalusian elections —it obtained only 532 votes— appealing to "Islamic humanism" as a banner and the desire to reclaim Arabic as a "historical language". Its emergence has served as fuel for the far-right. Candidates like Manuel Gavira (Vox) stirred up the ghost of "Islamization", and have turned a linguistic normalization proposal into the burden of proof for the alarmist arguments they share with Catalan Alliance: the idea that the self-organization of immigrants is a direct threat to democracy and freedom. In short, that the day will come when they are enough to create their own parties and win elections. A theory of invasion to which a part of the citizenry also resorts now to demand the expulsion of all immigrants who arrived in Ceuta.

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Only about fifty members and sympathizers of the ultra group Save Europe Act attended their call this Saturday in Plaça Sant Jaume in Barcelona, a figure that contrasted with the approximately 200 demonstrators of the anti-fascist counter-demonstration. In this way, the scene of this double mobilization of opposite signs showed from the first moment the fizzle of the extreme right, which had chosen the Catalan capital for its first stop in Spain with a rally at 7 p.m. In response, collectives such as the Barcelona Anti-fascist Coordinator and Som Antifeixistes (We are Anti-fascist) had called to "face them" in the same place, starting an hour earlier, at 6 p.m.

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The recent squabbles and tensions between the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, and King Felipe VI, have once again put the complex coexistence between the Head of State and the executive under the spotlight. This is not a new phenomenon. Historian Charles Powell recalled how the former President of the Spanish Government, José María Aznar, deliberately sidelined the emeritus King Juan Carlos I during state visits of great international relevance, generating enormous suspicion at the Zarzuela Palace. These frictions highlight an unavoidable reality of the Spanish political system: theoretically, the monarch and the President of the Government must get along by force, as practically no act of the King is valid without the executive's approval.

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The migratory crisis experienced at the borders of Ceuta has once again strongly brought to the public debate a concept that seemed to have been forgotten: territorial integrity. Understood as the inalienable principle of international law that grants a state the right to preserve its territory intact and to inviolably protect its borders, this idea has once again topped the media headlines and monopolized the most fiery speeches of many politicians from the rostrums. But where does this concept come from and why is its violation once again feared?

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August arrives. Cities empty, the frantic pace fades, the heat suffocates the asphalt and citizens pack their bags for the beach or seek the cool refuge of the mountains. It is time to hang the "Closed for holidays" sign on businesses and disconnect from routine. But what happens meanwhile with the institutions?

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Salvador Illa reaches this Saturday the equator of his term at the head of the Generalitat, and he arrives facing a phenomenon well known to political science: the wear and tear of government action. Demoscopics show us that after the victory at the polls, the PSC experienced an upturn. However, as the legislature has progressed and the harshness of daily management has taken hold, citizen support has suffered a constant and progressive decline until hitting rock bottom and settling at the lowest point of support since the start of the term. How is this cycle of loss of popularity explained and what real options does the PSC have to regain lost ground before the next elections?

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It is the first multi-operator vehicle in the Spanish state and its main function will be for people to receive ES-Alert messages and have coverage in places where telecommunications have been lost due to fires or other emergencies, as in the case of last year's blackout. This is the premise with which the Government launched a new mobile unit this Wednesday, a vehicle prepared to travel to rural environments and act in the face of serious incidents.

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Junts per Catalunya formalized this Monday its integration into the European Democratic Party (PDE), an adhesion that had been being finalized for months as the ARA advanced. With this step, the party led by Carles Puigdemont closes a long period of political orphanhood on the Old Continent, which dated back to 2018. It was that year when the PDECat was expelled from the Party of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) under pressure from Ciutadans and in a context marked by accusations of corruption against the formation then led by David Bonvehí for the 3% case.

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Since it was put on the table, Vox has made the amnesty law one of its main battle horses, promising actively and passively that, if it comes to the Spanish government, it will "reverse" and "repeal" the norm immediately. The People's Party has also joined this idea, and its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in a dynamic that, analyzing the archives, is common among the populars: promising the repeal of PSOE laws to end up keeping them intact once they come to power —as happened in the past with the abortion law or same-sex marriage. Despite the constant insistence of the far-right on this supposed repeal, the threat clashes head-on with an insurmountable wall: the architecture of the rule of law. According to experts consulted by ARA, Vox's promise is legally unfeasible and the elimination of the law would have practically no effect on the accused. In fact, the party itself admits to ARA that it is aware of this legal wall.

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Austria's Minister of Labour, Christine Aschbacher, had not planned to resign from her post until 48 hours earlier, when accusations of plagiarism surfaced on a blog by a professor commenting on her final thesis in 2021. Nor did French Interior Minister Bruno Le Roux, who in 2017 had hired his daughters as parliamentary assistants during the summer, even though French law still allowed the hiring of relatives. Nor Peter Magnus Nilsson, who in 2023 resigned as chief of staff to the Swedish prime minister for fishing eels without a license and denying it to the authorities when discovered. The culture of resignation is widespread in Nordic and Central European countries and contrasts with the attitude taken by politicians in Southern Europe.A clear example of this resistance are the presidents of the Spanish government in a context where the president of the government, Pedro Sánchez, remains in office despite the judicial cases surrounding his party and the constant demands for resignation from opposition parties, some of them until now parliamentary partners. Sánchez, however, is not the exception. While the United Kingdom, in ten years, has seen six prime ministers pass through number ten of Downing Street, in 51 years of Spanish democracy only the first Spanish president, Adolfo Suárez, resigned from his post.This same inertia is transferred to Catalan politicians. Precisely in recent months, the word "resignationin the mouths of the opposition parties and also from the teachers' collectives who are demonstrating against the Government: they have pointed out the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, and the director general of the Mossos, Josep Lluís Trapero, as well as the head of Education, Esther Niubó, from whom the opposition has demanded that she step down.now for the error in the PISA tests.

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Jordi Sendra has been officially chosen as the Junts per Catalunya candidate for the mayoralty of Tarragona this Wednesday. Sendra obtained a total of 108 votes (85.04%) in a primary election in which 127 (82.47%) of the 154 registered militants participated, and which was marked by the absence of alternative candidates. The vote, held between this Tuesday and this Wednesday, culminates what the Tarragona militants requested, who requested to be able to vote in a referendum to decide their future mayoral candidate.

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During the last few weeks, the figure of the confessor has taken on absolute prominence in the Spanish judicial ecosystem. But the so-called reward law – the State's practice of granting benefits and sentence reductions in exchange for internal information – was not designed in Madrid's offices to combat political corruption. Some of its roots take us back to prisons in the United States and the streets of Palermo (Sicily), where the state had to accept a prior defeat in order to move forward: the only way to destroy a closed criminal organization is to buy the betrayal of its own members.

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The uncertainty about the application of the amnesty law to the leaders of the Procés has left a judicial labyrinth open. Waiting to see if the Supreme Court will apply the CJEU ruling, within this labyrinth there is a path that is still unresolved and leaves an open question: in case of a hypothetical non-application of the amnesty, is it possible to open the file for a second pardon to erase what was left pending? At the time, the Spanish government partially pardoned the leaders of the Procés – it was the only possible way after the sentencing court opposed the measure of grace – that is, they forgave them the prison sentence, but kept intact the disqualification penalty that affected Oriol Junqueras, Jordi Turull, Raül Romeva and Dolors Bassa, who were also convicted of embezzlement. This disqualification, for example, prevents the current leader of ERC from running in an election –as he has shown himself willing to do– or to teach.

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With the ECJ's endorsement still present and the day after former president Carles Puigdemont denounced Spain to the European Commission for non-compliance with the law, separatism has taken advantage of the last control session with the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, to pressure him, but above all to bring back his hemeroteca. This has been done by the leader of Junts in the Parliament, Mònica Sales, when she told him: "First he said "no amnesty or anything like that"". Shortly after, the head of ERC in the chamber, Josep Maria Jové, was added, who asked him to "remember": "You didn't want it." The President of the Generalitat avoided engaging and defended looking "forward": "An amnesty was necessary so that negotiations could be normalized in Catalonia.

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“This will all end up in international courts,” predicted the then-President of the Generalitat, Carles Puigdemont, in November 2017. For now, the amnesty – which at the time could not even be imagined – has already passed the validation of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and it is not the first setback that European justice has dealt to the Spanish Supreme Court. From exile, Puigdemont's defense has chained a series of favorable rulings across the continent. A series of victories that, for now, have not served him to return to Catalonia without the risk of being arrested.

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The ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) on Thursday regarding the amnesty has once again focused attention on who judges our representatives and how. Once the Constitutional Court (TC) determines its position, the final decision on the application of the law to the leaders of the 'procés' will fall to the Supreme Court (TS), given that they were or should have been tried by this body. But why go directly to Madrid?

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