There has been much talk of an alliance to the left of the PSOE, of everything that the Sumar space represents with the possibility of extending it to Podem and, even, to Gabriel Rufián. However, for now, this option is not materializing. Faced with this, within the PSOE there are already those who are thinking of other scenarios if the other left-wing parties finally run divided again. This is because there is a demographic reality that is difficult to appeal: if the PSOE does not currently have options to stay in Moncloa, it is not because it is collapsing, but because of the generalized decline of Sumar, Podem and the rest of the partners of the plurinational majority. It is enough to compare the 31 seats that Sumar won in 2023 with what the polls now predict for them: the latest CIS places them at just over 6% of the votes, half the support they had three years ago.

The Catalan socialists deny any relationship with the media Crónica Libre, the supposed informative "instrument" of Leire Díez's plot in the PSOE. The collaborator and shareholder of the newspaper directed by the late Patricia López, operated under the leadership of the then organization secretary Santos Cerdán, according to the Central Operational Unit (UCO) of the Civil Guard. There is no trace in the summary of a relationship between the PSC and the plot – although the UCO does not rule it out – and only a specific link with a town hall governed by the socialists. The municipal government of Salou, headed by the PSC-Sumem coalition, paid for an advertising campaign to Crónica Libre.

The defense strategy of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez has become a new headache for José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. The friend and alleged frontman of the former Spanish government president has put it into practice this week, advised by lawyer María Dolores Márquez de Prado. It is with whom he was accompanied this Tuesday when he appeared as an investigated party at the National Court, a scenario that Márquez de Prado knows very well. This renowned criminal lawyer worked as a prosecutor there for seventeen years. A period in which she earned the nickname "indomitable." Precisely for being a headache for another former socialist leader, former Spanish president Felipe González during his time in Moncloa.

Alhora, the party founded in 2024 by Clara Ponsatí and Jordi Graupera, has begun to deploy its municipal strategy with the aim of presenting itself in some forty town councils in the 2027 elections. Currently, Alhora has no councilors of its own: it had never run in municipal elections before. But the party has already made public, in Sant Cugat del Vallès, its first confirmed candidacy: it is the one that will be led by lawyer Maria Vila.

Describing the PSOE's life these days is equivalent to writing the chronicle of a desolation. If it was already difficult to give full credit to the merely exculpatory initial statements of former government president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, followed by more than two months of silence, his television appearance to give explanations has only worsened the situation, especially in the political arena. In the judicial sphere, it may be different, because there are other rules of the game. The defense will play the card of requesting the nullity of the proceedings strongly, based on procedural problems and guarantees of fundamental rights. Nor is it an easy battle, but Zapatero has an experienced lawyer in this regard, Víctor Moreno Catena. He is a professor of procedural law who, for six years (1988-1994), held high positions in the Ministry of the Interior, first as technical secretary general and later as undersecretary.

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.

When on February 21, 2024, the Civil Guard arrested him, Víctor de Aldama was president of Zamora CF and his name had never appeared related to the Spanish government. Two and a half years later, his “active” collaboration in the judicial investigations that tarnish Pedro Sánchez has turned him into a ticking time bomb for the PSOE. Not only because of the “full and continuous cooperation” with justice that has led to the "condemnation of José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García, but because, boasting of the benefits of stretching the blanket, it has become a path to follow for other people. And it is a weak point of the defense that Moncloa, under José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, puts up. This very week we have had some examples. 

Double message from Pedro Sánchez from the advanced command post of the fire ravaging the Community of Madrid and which has burned almost 10,000 hectares. The Spanish president warned that the situation “remains complex” because, although temperatures have dropped, it is not known “what the evolution and intensity of the winds will be” in the coming hours, but at the same time he has not ruled out that, during the weekend, there will be a “window of opportunity” to “fight the fire and protect lives and population centers”. He verbalized this after it was reported that, during the night, both the Madrid fire and the Ávila fire – which has burned between 13,000 and 15,000 hectares – have remained out of control despite the efforts of the firefighters.

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.

Will it be in September when the PP designates Juanfran Pérez Llorca as the conservatives' candidate for next year's regional elections or is Alberto Núñez Feijóo fighting for an alternative to the current president of the Generalitat? This is the debate that has been ongoing in the Valencian Community for months and has only weakened the leadership of a head of the Consell who carries the burden of not having been chosen by the affiliates, of not having won an election, and of having to listen almost every week to the criticisms of former president Francisco Camps who claims to be the electoral poster.

If there is anything that has marked the week, again, it is the Zapatero case. It began with the defense statement of businessman Julio Martínez Martínez to the National Court, in which he implicated the former Spanish president in the rescue of Plus Ultra; and it ends with Zapatero's first interview since he was charged on May 19. The former PSOE leader maintains his innocence: this Thursday he again denied any dealings with the Spanish government to obtain credit for the Venezuelan-capital airline; and explained that the jewelry was a "courtesy gift" without explaining its origin. The former president said he would explain this soon to the judge of the National Court. However, has Zapatero convinced? How does it affect Pedro Sánchez's government? See the analysis.

The fires that are devastating the south of Madrid, Toledo, and Ávila in a completely uncontrolled manner have not brought a truce between the Spanish government and the executive of the Community of Madrid. After the Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso requested on Thursday night the declaration of a national emergency "due to the seriousness and simultaneity of forest fires in three autonomous communities" and that the Military Emergencies Unit (UME) joined the extinction services, this Friday Minister Óscar Puente has lashed out at the popular governments for this way of facing forest fires.

Two months after crossing the Atlantic and visiting California, Salvador Illa is now looking towards Asia and this Saturday begins a five-day trip to Vietnam and Singapore to strengthen commercial ties with Southeast Asia. In fact, it is the first time a President of the Generalitat visits this area, but it is the third trip Illa makes to Asia: since he has been President of the Government, he has visited Japan, South Korea, and China. The objective is to promote exports and attract investments from the Asian market. Salvador Illa will visit Hanoi, Da Nang, Ho Chi Minh, and Singapore to meet with economic agents and the main airline of each country, in addition to visiting Catalan companies located in both territories. In parallel, the president will also meet with the Prime Minister of Singapore, Lawrence Wong, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Pham Gia Tuc.

The Supreme Court has applied the amnesty law to eight pro-independence supporters - grouped into four cases - who were pending it. The decision comes a week after the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union, a ruling that the high court tacitly decided to await. Formally, it had suspended the processing of the four cases following the question of constitutionality that it presented in July 2024. The Constitutional Court's ruling, which did not favor him, arrived in October 2025, but nine months have had to pass for the Supreme Court to have made a move. “The facts that gave rise to this procedure would not offer any doubt as to their subsumption in article 1 of the amnesty law. [...] Consequently, the objective scope of application is met,” conclude the four interlocutory decisions. They are three protesters convicted of aggravated public disorder in the protests following the verdict in the trial of the Catalan independence process, a mayor which attributed the competencies of the schools to make possible the 1-O and the four members of the Parliament's table – with Roger Torrent at the head – who were acquitted of having disobeyed the TC rulings.

The president of Plus Ultra Línies Aèries, Julio Martínez Sola, and the CEO of the same entity, Roberto Rosselli, involved in the Zapatero case, have resigned from their positions. They did so while being investigated for the loan the company received during the pandemic, as reported by ACB sources and confirmed by EFE.

Ten days after leaving Girona's municipal government, Junts has made a significant announcement for the upcoming municipal elections in the city. Alongside Gemma Geis, who will repeat as the head of the list, Carles Puigdemont's party has confirmed the incorporation of Carles Ribas as number two. A former member of Convergència and a councilor during Marta Madrenas's term, Ribas ran four years ago with his own brand, ARA Girona, but narrowly missed entering City Hall after obtaining 1,579 votes (4.6%). These were insufficient to surpass the 5% threshold to obtain a councilor but were key to understanding that Junts lost half of its votes in the last municipal elections. Ribas is currently part of the Partit Nacionalista de Catalunya (PNC), founded by Marta Pascual, and will run in the city in coalition with Junts x Girona.

This Thursday is a day for anniversaries. It has been exactly 26 years since José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero was elected Secretary General of the PSOE. At that time, he could not have imagined that a quarter of a century later he would be sitting on the set of "Mañaneros" on TVE, giving explanations for two serious criminal cases: one for alleged influence peddling related to the Plus Ultra bailout and another for alleged smuggling of millionaire jewelry found in the safe of his office. Why has it appeared now? In fact, the explanations, according to what he himself had announced, should have come earlier. In his first video after being indicted, he announced that he would address the media, but in light of the information that was appearing regarding his businesses, he decided to appoint a spokesperson, Luis Arroyo, president of the Ateneo de Madrid.

The emergence of Aliança Catalana (AC) in Parliament and the growth predicted by demography have led Junts to move to try to stem the vote leakage that polls foresee towards Sílvia Orriols' party. And it has done so mainly on immigration matters. Although Carles Puigdemont's formation has not yet presented its immigration plan —it has been delayed without any public explanation, but it coincides with the fact that a part of the party considers that the focus should not be placed on Aliança's framework—, it has made moves both in Parliament and in Congress, as well as in municipalities. What steps has it taken?

Extreme situation due to fires in the Community of Madrid, which have already burned more than 6,000 hectares, and in the province of Ávila, in Castilla y León, have ravaged 9,000 hectares. For this latter fire, the Civil Guard has arrested one person and is investigating another for allegedly starting it. Between the two fires, a total of 63,000 people are affected, including evacuated and confined.

On the third anniversary of the 23-J elections and on the eve of the summer break, Pedro Sánchez has received a new warning that his goal of approving the first general state budgets of the legislature is almost a pipe dream. Congress has thrown out the Spanish government's second and final attempt to approve the stability path (the deficit and debt targets), which is the first mandatory step to bring the 2027 accounts to the lower house this autumn. As happened last weekthe votes against from PP, Vox, and Junts have caused it to fail. In an interview with TVE prior to the debate, the Junts spokesperson in the lower house, Miriam Nogueras, had already indicated that Carles Puigdemont's party had no intention of changing its position, although the Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, expressed himself "hopeful" upon entering the hemicycle, appealing to "rationality," given that what was being voted on today was to give more fiscal room to the autonomous communities.