On Wednesday, from New York, Pedro Sánchez described the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal as a "social tragedy" and, immediately afterwards, committed to moving forward with the new housing decree that, until now, had been kept in a drawer due to a lack of parliamentary support – the Spanish government was supposed to present the regulation before the summer. Now Sumar is demanding that the new decree be approved immediately this Tuesday at the Council of Ministers. Thus, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda has accelerated talks with its investiture partners, especially with Junts. In fact, the Junts members have already submitted their proposal on housing – they did so on September 3rd – which ARA has had access to, and which, in addition to the measures they had already been announcing, they have added two: the prohibition of evictions for vulnerable families when dealing with vulture fund properties and directly prohibiting these entities from buying real estate. Now the Spanish government will have to reconcile these requests with those of the rest of its left-wing partners. And here various friction points emerge that the socialists will have to know how to reconcile to try to get everyone into the equation so that the decree sees the light of day.

José María Aznar is clear that the coming months will be turbulent and that the road to the next Spanish elections will be "turbulent". Hence, the former Spanish Prime Minister has issued a warning to Alberto Núñez Feijóo to prevent a repeat of 2023, where he was left at the gates of Moncloa. "A cool head and a firm hand are needed," Aznar stated this Friday at the closing of the FAES Campus, where he was accompanied by the current leader of the PP, who picked up the gauntlet after his predecessor expressed his conviction that Feijóo "is one of the few public men" who can act with the necessary "calm". "That Aznar says he trusts me is not a compliment, it is a challenge," the Galician politician replied.

The 6.3 million euro luxury penthouse acquired by the Community of Madrid has become a thorn in the side for Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government. The controversy, which threatens to grow even larger following the traumatic eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, has reached the courts and also the Court of Auditors. But almost two months after El País exposed the purchase, it remains surrounded by unknowns, changing narratives, and contradictions. A similar situation, tragedy aside, to the one that occurred with Carlos Mazón regarding his role on the day of the DANA in the Valencian Community.

The Barcelona City Council demanded this Friday that the manager of the Horta Velodrome prevent the participation in one of the 7-a-side football leagues held there of a team that promotes Francoism. The city's Sports Councilor, David Escudé, has sent a letter requesting the expulsion of the team Mingorrubio Balompié —alluding to the cemetery where the dictator is buried—, which, as reported by SER, has among its members two Vox officials in Barcelona and displayed Francoist symbology on its crest.

First point of contact for the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, with all political forces –except Vox– to put an end to the educational crisis. Together with the Minister of Education, Esther Niubó, he met with the parties with parliamentary representation and they agreed on the creation of two working groups to debate and finalize a national pact on the future model of the Catalan school, and to reach a consensus on a way to increase investment in education to reach 6% of the gross domestic product (currently it does not reach 4%). Even so, the parties have shown themselves to be skeptical of the plan and the main opposition party, Junts, has once again demanded Niubó's resignation.

Pedro Sánchez's plan to establish himself as one of the beacons of global progressivism during his trip to the United States –during which he confronted Donald Trump and joined forces with New York City Council member Zohran Mamdani– stumbled at his last scheduled event, at Harvard. The Spanish Prime Minister starred early this morning (Catalan time) in a lecture on the need to act against techno-oligarchs, but the students who attended wanted to corner him with questions about the judicial cases involving the PSOE and its circle, the Pegasus scandal, or his government's position regarding Western Sahara and Venezuela.

They tried it in 2010 with a socialist government – back then with Àngel Ros as mayor – and it is now the PSC once again pushing for the ban on full-face veils on the streets of Lleida. It is one of the novelties incorporated into the civic ordinance that the Paeria approved this Friday, thanks to the pact between the socialists and Junts. "With the same foundation of guaranteeing social interaction in the terms usual and typical of a free and democratic society, it is prohibited to wear any piece of clothing, garment or other attire that conceals the face in public spaces," specifies Article 12. It will be considered a minor offense and will entail fines of between 400 and 750 euros, although before fining, women who wear, among others, a burqa or niqab, which has been banned in the city, will be warned.

Roger Español (Tarragona, 1974) was one of the thousands of activists who, on October 1, 2017, defended the ballot boxes and polling stations where the independence referendum was being held. He suffered the worst of it when one of the rubber bullets fired by the National Police in Barcelona blinded his right eye. Today, nine years later, he is still seeking justice and has managed to bring four of the police officers who participated in those charges to the defendants' bench, including the riot officer who shot him. They will be the only officers tried for the police violence of October 1st.

With Carles Puigdemont's return closer than ever, one of the questions still hovering over this scenario is which text from the Constitutional Court will open the door for the former president of the Generalitat to enter the State. The countdown is already underway for the TC to press the button so that the Supreme Court must rectify and apply the total amnesty to the independence leaders –that is, to also apply it to the crime of embezzlement–, and it has a key date marked on the calendar. Tuesday, October 6. That day, two proposals from two magistrates from opposing blocs will arrive at the plenary session of the Constitutional Court, which will propose applying this amnesty. One, from the president of the TC, the progressive Cándido Conde-Pumpido, which is the one most likely to be chosen, and another from the conservative magistrate José María Macías, with fewer options, but which will also be debated in the plenary session.This Thursday, the draft that Macías will bring to this meeting has emerged; he is the one in charge of drafting the proposed ruling on the appeal by Junts member Jordi Turull. Macías presented a first version that rejected this total amnesty, but the progressive majority struck it down this week and Macías has created a new version that advocates for applying it, even though it goes against his own judgment, which he will express by filing a dissenting opinion that will indeed reflect his personal view. "Having what one did not have implies a benefit", argued the conservative rapporteur initially, in a resolution that defended that the Supreme Court's decision not to amnesty embezzlement is not "the result of alleged animosity".

"The espadrille or the swastika. You choose." The question was asked in an article this very week by the former president of the Generalitat and leader of Junts, Carles Puigdemont, after in the Parliament chamber Junts, ERC, CUP and Comuns displayed the famous poster "Let's crush fascism", created in 1936 by the photographer and publicist Pere Català i Pic. Well, there is at least one Junts councilor who chooses the swastika. It is Roger Pinart, second deputy mayor of Port de la Selva, who has published a clear message on social media. "In this case, swastika", he wrote on X, responding to Junts' unequivocally anti-fascist post: "Against hate, now and always. With President Companys, now and always".

Fadi Elhusseini (1975, Gaza Strip) made his debut this Thursday as the brand-new ambassador of Palestine to Spain, in Madrid, in what was his first public act since presenting his credentials to Felipe VI. The playing field was friendly. First, because he was accompanied by the Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego (United Left), who has been and is one of the most forceful voices in the Spanish government against the offensive in Gaza, as was evidenced again this Thursday: "The position of Spanish society [on Palestine] is clear [...]. [Benjamin Netanyahu] is a war criminal," the minister stated.

The Spanish government plans to increase the capacity of the electricity grid in Catalonia by 50% by 2030. Thus, an additional 3,800 megawatts (MW) will be added to the electrical system, which will allow for meeting the growing demand from both private individuals and various investments in public infrastructure. This increase is the portion assigned to Catalonia of the Pedro Sánchez executive's plan to improve the electricity grid across the entire State, which includes investments worth 17 billion euros in all autonomous communities over the next four years.

The eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old Madrid resident who uses a wheelchair, has shaken the entire State. The case of this elderly woman has become symbolic due to her vulnerability, and the protests, which this Wednesday gathered in front of her building to try to prevent her from being thrown out of her home, have had political repercussions. The parties to the left of the PSOE have not been slow to demand a new housing decree from the Spanish government. Sumar, the minority partner, is asking for it to be approved at next week's council of ministers and for it to include, among other things, the expropriation of Maricarmen's apartment from its owners, the investment fund Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversión S. L. But they are not enough for the package of measures to move forward in Congress. Pedro Sánchez needs the votes of all the parties in the investiture bloc and that includes Junts. After the breakdown of the relationship with the socialists, the residential emergency has brought negotiations back to the playing field.

Ada Colau is willing to take a step forward within the space to the left of the PSOE ahead of the next general elections. According to knowledgeable sources, the former mayor of Barcelona has changed her mind over the last few weeks and, after ignoring the siren calls of her party colleagues on several occasions, she has agreed to start working to promote a broad left-wing front in the State and to position herself as one of the main leaders, at a time when the post-Yolanda Díaz left is short on references.

The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, has taken to the podium of the United Nations General Assembly to defend multilateralism at a time when "different governments, present here, despise or intend to dismantle" the organization that hosts them. Without explicitly mentioning him, the socialist referred to Donald Trump, who had already returned to Washington yesterday. Before Sánchez spoke, the American president had received his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, who preferred the White House to the UN headquarters.

Pedro Sánchez and Zohran Mamdani. Two names from the left, with international projection, who have joined forces this Wednesday in New York to stage an alliance in favor of progressive policies on a global scale. "The powerful are afraid of us," the Spanish prime minister made clear, who was invited by the mayor of New York to an informative breakfast taking advantage of his stay in the American city during the United Nations General Assembly. "Spain is demonstrating that another economic model is possible, and New York, that this ambition can transform our cities," reported Sánchez, in a speech covered by Efe.

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.

For years, José María Aznar has been warning of the negative consequences he attributes to the decision to first pardon and then amnesty the pro-independence leaders who drove the Process. It is known that, in his view, the so-called policy of "institutional, political, and social normalization in Catalonia" launched by the PSOE from the Spanish government has posed a "risk" to "the continuity of Spain as a nation" and an "attack" against the Spanish Constitution. This Wednesday, at the inauguration of this year's FAES Campus, the former president of the Spanish executive added one more consequence in the Catalan context.