After fourteen sessions, the first trial against José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama will be ready for sentencing. Now the court, headed by Andrés Martínez Arrieta, will have to rule on whether to convict the former Minister of Transport and number three in the PSOE, and who became his permanent right-hand man, and whether to follow the Prosecutor's Office or the PP on the prison sentence for the “corrupting link” of the alleged plot. For a month, the Supreme Court has witnessed how one of Pedro Sánchez's first strongmen sat on the defendant's bench and has seen impactful scenes in a trial that will go down in history.

Artificial intelligence (AI) has infiltrated almost every corner of our daily lives, often without us being fully aware of it. A few days ago, the news of a €1,000 fine for a judge for using AI to issue a sentence highlighted the risks of delegating human decisions to algorithms. In this context, the Open University of Catalonia (UOC) has presented a revealing study on AI's vote recommendation. The results are curious: the PSOE systematically leads recommendations in all languages and platforms, followed at a distance by Sumar and Podemos. In contrast, the PP suffers the consequences: it has 96.3% visibility, but only a moderate recommendation of 28.2%, far from the PSOE. Vox, despite appearing often, receives marginal recommendations, below 6%.The study, jointly led by professors Ferran Lalueza and Víctor Gil, has analyzed 1,220 queries on five major platforms (ChatGPT, Copilot, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity) and in four languages (Catalan, Galician, Basque, and Spanish). "Previous studies have shown that these tools have a great capacity to influence people's voting decisions," says Cristina Aced, a UOC professor and member of the research team, in conversation with ARA. "They are very persuasive when building the foundation of their discourse," she explains.The methodology consisted of formulating 61 questions based on the real concerns of citizens according to the CIS, including housing, unemployment, immigration, and healthcare. To avoid personal biases, the research was not conducted as conventional users, but through an application connector. Aced details that this is done to carry out the study "more objectively", as the system "does not take into account the user's memory or their geographical location". The study also reveals that not all AIs are equally opinionated: ChatGPT and Grok tend to position themselves openly, while Gemini or Copilot are more neutral. According to Aced, this is due to "how they are programmed", although they recall that "in the end it depends a lot on the tool you use and the sources they draw from".

Friday, May 1st in the evening, the Girona-based band Minibús Intergalàctic was performing at the Ateneu Salvador Catà in Girona. It was an open-air, self-managed concert, amidst independence and Palestinian flags, to celebrate the eleventh anniversary of this occupied social center. Two days later, their phones started ringing off the hook. The reason was that Pedro Sánchez, in his weekly TikTok videos of cultural recommendations, recommended them to his followers, over 800,000: "I listened to this band I didn't know, Catalan, from Girona. I recommend, from their latest album, this song that I loved, which is Per sentir-me ple", said the president of the government.

Aliança Catalana could become the third force in the Parliament of Catalonia with more than twenty deputies and surpass Junts, which would go from being the main opposition party to sinking to fifth position. Vox would also improve the results obtained in the 2024 elections and would overtake the PP. However, despite the earthquake on the right of the hemicycle, the left would retain the majority that invested Illa as president. These are the main headlines of the ARA's voting intention poll, conducted by YouGov and published in ARA last weekend.

Seen for ruling. The trial of the mask case in the Supreme Court, which began a month ago, has come to an end. It has been the moment for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the PP – which leads the popular prosecutions – and the three defense teams to verbalize their conclusions. The first to speak was the prosecutor. "The number one was not the president of the Spanish government, as, to Aldama's notable relief, he attributes to him," he said in the initial part of his speech. It was the businessman's new accusation, and prosecutor Alejandro Luzón has distanced himself completely. That said, he has highlighted that José Luis Ábalos was at the "top" or in the "essential cog" of the organization. In his opinion, he, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama – along with other individuals – formed a "true criminal organization" that was born from a "corrupting pact that interested everyone" as a result of "insistence" and "little resistance" and that it did not "dissipate and exhaust itself" until Ábalos was dismissed as minister in July 2021.

The latest survey published by ARA predicts an increase in the two far-right parties, the Spanish nationalist one and the Catalan nationalist one. While Vox would obtain between 14 and 17 deputies, Aliança Catalana would multiply its representation by ten (or more), obtaining a range of between 20 and 22 deputies. If we believe the poll, in the upper range there would be more than a quarter of far-right parliamentarians in the chamber. These are serious figures that, before they become a political and social reality, require a rapid reaction from the country.

The CUP usually reconsiders its decisions after a failure. It did so after losing the two seats it held in Congress in the last general elections. Then, it agreed to pause its participation in the general elections and, if there is no 180-degree turn, it will not run in 2027. Also in next year's municipal elections, it could make a painful decision that the rest of the parties with a presence in Parliament, certainly, will not make: not to run in one of the four capitals.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso does not seem overly concerned by the diplomatic headaches between Spain and Mexico. Beyond what the progressive meeting in Barcelona meant for the left, that summit was also relevant for another reason: the visit of Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to the State. Her presence signified a resumption of diplomatic relations after years of clashes due to the Spanish refusal to apologize for the Conquest. The Spanish government recognized for the first time the "injustice" of the colonial past with Mexico, and then King Felipe VI acknowledged "abuses" with a gesture that was very well received by the Mexican authorities. However, amid this climate of reconciliation, the president of the Community of Madrid has intervened.

Ten months ago, Borja Sémper announced that he had just been diagnosed with cancer. During this time, the illness has kept him away from political activity. This Tuesday, the popular spokesperson has officially returned. Sémper starred in a packed press breakfast in Madrid, where, amidst expressions of affection, he wanted to "bid farewell to this difficult stage" during which his "vital compass coordinates" have changed. The PP leader had already reappeared in some media outlets and this Monday rejoined the party's steering committee. Next week, he will be the one to appear at the weekly press conference in Génova. However, Sémper wanted to hold this event with the specific objective of speaking openly about his pancreatic cancer in order to stop talking about it.

Elisenda Carrera is no longer a councilor for Ara Vic. The Vic City Council reported this Wednesday that the Ara Vic councilor has formally requested to leave the political group and become a non-attached councilor. The decision comes the day after Xavier Farrés, the other councilor for the Vigatan group of the defunct PDECat, announced that they would expel him if he did not leave the city council, at a press conference in the consistory accompanied by other members of the party's executive. His departure comes as a result of rumors, as the ARA reported, which place her as the possible candidate for Aliança Catalana in Vic in the next municipal elections. "Our patience has run out," Farrés states in conversation with the ARA.

Joint front of entities, unions and parties in Girona against the manager of the Instagram account Girona Perduda, which with more than 30,000 followers has become since the start of the school year a channel for citizen discontent, on aspects such as cleanliness and safety in the streets, linking immigration and crime with a mixture of photos, videos and true data, others exaggerated, disinformation and fake news. Another example of allegedly non-partisan accounts that serve the far-right to polarize public opinion, according to the assessment of experts consulted by ARA, which in December uncovered the links between the administrator of Girona Perduda and Vox.

The conservative tsunami that seemed to point to the result of the 28-M elections in Spain –with the vast majority of autonomous communities and large cities dyed the blue of the PP and the green of Vox– could end up becoming a wave that dies on the coast this July 23rd. The push of the populars, who dream of surpassing 160 deputies, seems to have been diluted in recent weeks, and, according to the survey that the Opinòmetre Institute has done for ARA, despite winning the elections with between 125 and 140 deputies, Alberto Núñez Feijóo would have it very difficult to access Moncloa. Not even the sum with Vox (between 22 and 30 deputies) would be enough to surpass the 176 seats that mark the absolute majority in Congress. Even at the high end of the range, the two parties only add up to 170 parliamentarians.

It's not new, but it does intensify every day. The PP of Madrid and the far-right Vox are shamelessly spreading the theory of electoral fraud. In the same vein as Donald Trump in the United States after his 2020 defeat – which ended in a failed coup insurrection – and as the Spanish right had already hinted with attacks on mail-in voting in both the last general elections and the Extremaduran contests, the flag of electoral fraud, which points to Pedro Sánchez as guilty, is once again flying.

The presentation of Iván Redondo's book could not be ordinary. If one thing has characterized this political consultant, who was Pedro Sánchez's chief of staff from 2018 to 2021, it is his ability to go off-script and to surprise. And the event he held to present El Manual (Contraluz, 2026) has not disappointed. "Madrid has attended the presentation," in the sense that those who were supposed to be there were at the Teatro de Bellas Artes; and it did not start where everyone expected it to start: with him and his book. Redondo did not want to be the headliner from the outset and ceded the spotlight to who he has revealed as the true minister of democracy: Magdalena Chércoles.

The first lehendakari of democracy died this Monday. The nationalist Carlos Garaikoetxea died this afternoon in Pamplona at the age of 87. He is remembered for presiding over the Basque Country between 1980 and 1985, inaugurating this position re-established following the Spanish Transition. He was linked to the Basque Nationalist Party (PNB), for which he was also a deputy, and from 1986 he split with the Eusko Alkartasuna party, which would eventually lead to Bildu. He was a Basque deputy from 1980 to 2001, although he also held a seat as a Member of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1991.

The first lehendakari of democracy died this Monday from a heart attack. The nationalist Carlos Garaikoetxea passed away this afternoon in Pamplona at the age of 87, after a long political career. He is remembered for having presided over the Basque Country between 1980 and 1985, inaugurating the self-government re-established with the Spanish Transition, before being replaced by José Antonio Ardanza. He who first became linked to the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), by which he was also a deputy, from 1986 onwards split with the nationalist and progressive party Eusko Alkartasuna, which would eventually evolve into Bildu in 2011. He was a Basque deputy between 1980 and 2001, although he also held a seat as a Member of the European Parliament from 1987 to 1991. In 1979 he was also a Navarrese deputy, a position he let go of the same year to focus on the Basque Country.

"I didn't even have the office key," Mercè Gironès defended herself this Wednesday at the National Court (AN), "nor the alarm code," but she did "stop by to say hello some days." Mother of three, Jordi Pujol Ferrusola's ex-wife is accused of a total of five crimes, for which the Prosecutor's Office is requesting 17 years in prison, allegedly committed while she was the administrator of several companies owned by her ex-husband. "When we get married, we make a verbal agreement that everything we earn from now on will be 50%," stated the eldest son this Monday, one of the few statements he made regarding his ex-wife, as he did not want to talk about her because: "she is the mother of my children" and because "she has never deceived me." A "gallantry," as Gironès's lawyer states, which seems to be due to a warning from the couple's children to their father.

For months, a week in June has been circled in red in Madrid: from the 6th to the 12th. It is an event that is on the social but also political agenda, to the point that it is speculated that Juanma Moreno Bonilla decided to move forward the Andalusian elections so as not to coincide with the election campaign. It is about the visit of Pope Leo XIV to the State, where he will stop in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands. This Monday, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande Marlaska, presided over the general meeting of the security device in Madrid, in which the director of the police, Josep Lluís Trapero, also participated. As the minister explained in statements to the media, collected by the ACN, the visit will involve the deployment of 11,000 national police officers, in addition to 2,200 Civil Guard agents. In a few hours, the Mossos d'Esquadra have also committed to reporting on their device. Taking into account the context in which the pontiff's trip is taking place, Marlaska asserted that it involves

Months ago, a week in June was marked in red in Madrid: from the 6th to the 12th. It is an event that is on the social agenda, but also political, to the point that it is speculated that Juanma Moreno Bonilla decided to advance the Andalusian elections so that the electoral campaign would not coincide. It is about the visit of Pope Leo XIV to the State, where he will make a stop in Madrid, Barcelona, and the Canary Islands. This Monday, the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, presided over the general meeting of the security device in Madrid, in which the director of the police, Josep Lluís Trapero, also participated.

The intentions of the Spanish government to ban social media for under-16s have been very well received in Catalonia. 87% of Catalans - almost 9 out of 10 - endorse this as the minimum age for social media users in all EU countries, according to a survey by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) and the European Parliament. The poll, published this Monday to mark 40 years since Spain's accession to the community club, indicates that only 10% of respondents are against the measure, while only 3% do not know or do not answer. Setting a minimum age limit for these platforms convinces even the youngest in the sample, as 84% of those interviewed between 18 and 24 years old are in favor.