Faced with the crisis that looms heavily over the PSOE due to the Zapatero case, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, has reiterated his support for the socialist ex-president, who is being investigated for alleged crimes of criminal organization, influence peddling, and document forgery. On the day that the Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard entered the party headquarters on Ferraz Street in Madrid, Sánchez assured from Rome that he has read the judge's order and has been informed of the summary through the media and that he "reaffirms" his opinion: "Full cooperation with justice, full respect for the presumption of innocence, and all my support for President Zapatero. There is no reason to change this position.

The Parliament's board has decided this Wednesday to replace the Secretary General and the chamber's senior lawyer. Thus, Clara Marsan and Anna Casas will replace Albert Capelleras and Miquel Palomares, respectively. Sources from the board have argued the decision by the will to give a "new boost", coinciding with the midpoint of the legislature, which will be completed on June 10, and given the confirmation that the approval of the Generalitat's budgets will give continuity to the legislature. The two chosen names are a proposal from the President of the Parliament, Josep Rull, which has been approved by the board unanimously. Marsan and Casas will be the Secretary General and the senior lawyer from June 1. Thus, the Parliament will have a triumvirate of women at the head of the institution's management, taking into account that Anna Torné recently joined as director of internal government, responsible for personnel management.

"Out of institutional respect, I remind you that the natural language is Catalan and, if you do not know it, I inform you that there are places available at the adult school. If you wish, I can give you an enrollment form." In this way, the mayor of Ripoll, Sílvia Orriols, reprimanded the new councilor of the PSC, Jorge Iglesias, who was debuting in the plenary session yesterday, for making his speech in Spanish. In a subsequent intervention, Morillo responded that he would do "the possible to learn Catalan", but asked the leader of Aliança Catalana that she "do the possible to carry out social actions". It all began when Iglesias, a retiree born in Montevideo and linked to the Ripollès region, intervened in the swearing-in and assured that he would carry out his activity "with the corresponding loyalty". The other socialist councilor, Paco Morillo, a resident of Ripoll, did not want to intervene in his debut as a councilor.

New turn in Junts' battle in Barcelona. Junts MP in Congress Pilar Calvo will also run to be the candidate for mayor of the Catalan capital, as reported by RAC1 and confirmed by Europa Press. There are now five possible names for the primaries: as reported by ARA, besides the municipal leader, Jordi Martí, lawyer Jaume Alonso-Cuevillas and MP and secretary of the Parliament's bureau Glòria Freixa are also finalizing their move, while former minister Jaume Giró is still considering it. Former minister Josep Maria Argimon is not currently in the race, according to consulted sources, even though he met with the general secretary, Jordi Turull.

The Civil Guard has entered the PSOE headquarters. The UCO (Central Operative Unit) appeared at Ferraz street this Wednesday morning to seize information within the framework of a secret case, as well as to search the homes of the former PSOE organization secretary Santos Cerdán, former socialist leader Gaspar Zarrías, and businessman Javier Pérez Dolset. As reported by the National High Court, Judge Santiago Pedraz has requested documentation from the PSOE in an investigation into an alleged scheme to "destabilize" judicial proceedings against the party or the Spanish government. In this context, the judge has ordered the Civil Guard's Central Operative Unit to go to the PSOE headquarters to request various documentation and electronic files.

On February 5, 2015, Lluís Monge was the only socialist councilor accompanying the former mayor of Sabadell, Manuel Bustos, to the courts. The former mayor had to testify in the case of watches allegedly gifted to members of the Federation of Municipalities of Catalonia (FMC) when he presided over the entity, as part of the Mercuri case. Upon leaving, Monge also acted as Bustos' spokesperson to deny that the money came from training courses and to justify the institutional gifts. That was one of the pieces of a proceeding that ended inconvicting Bustos to three years in prison in 2022.

The name of Delcy Rodríguez rose to prominence in Spanish politics long before Donald Trump's intervention in Venezuela and before she became the country's new leader following the arrest and imprisonment of Nicolás Maduro. It was in January 2020, when she landed at Barajas airport and had a meeting (formal or informal, depending on the version) with the then Minister of Transport, José Luis Ábalos, now in pre-trial detention for the Koldo case. That contact was highly controversial, as Rodríguez was prohibited from entering European Union territory as part of the sanctions agreed by Brussels against Maduro's government. Now, the so-called Delcygate is back in the spotlight: there is a thread connecting those events with the summary of the Zapatero case, which has shaken Spanish politics. This thread has a name, and it is Commissioner Jesús María Gómez Martín.

On February 23, 2026, a judge from Madrid sent the case that led to the impeachment of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero to the National Court. The case had resurfaced after France and Switzerland sent information about an ongoing investigation in which Plus Ultra appeared as a "client" of a criminal organization dedicated to money laundering. The magistrate pointed out that Rodolfo Reyes – majority shareholder of the airline and in the crosshairs of the United States– and other airline executives allegedly orchestrated a plan since 2020 to "appropriate clean money from public subsidies." As the alleged crimes were reportedly committed outside of Spain, the National Court is competent to investigate them, which is why José Luis Calama is now leading the investigation.

He won the last three elections in Catalonia, but the doors of the Generalitat remain closed to the PSC. At least until the next Catalan elections. The socialists are soaring in the polls and if elections were held today in Parliament, Salvador Illa would clearly win with between 39 and 45 seats, ahead of ERC (29-34) and Junts (19-24), who have been losing ground as the legislature progressed. The results are collected by the Barometer of the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) which was made public today, the day after Pedro Sánchez's investiture, although the polls were conducted a few weeks ago, before the PSOE's agreements with ERC and Junts. in the July poll, the PSC was also first, but with an estimate of 31-37 seats, practically tied with Esquerra, which obtained between 31 and 36.

The first polls on the May 12 elections, published this Monday in El Español and La Razón, point to a clear victory for the PSC, with a majority of between 36 and 42 seats, and give second place to Junts, which would overtake ERC at the polls. According to these surveys, therefore, Pere Aragonès's party would be the main loser compared to the 2021 elections. The commons could also suffer the consequences of the early elections, protagonists in recent weeks of the legislature for their no

The PSC remains ahead in the polls a month and a half before the 12-M elections. Also in the latest barometer from the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) made public this Thursday, even though the poll was conducted before the announcement by the President of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, of advancing the elections. Be that as it may, if the parliamentary elections were held today, the socialists would revalidate the victory of three years ago and would aim to obtain between 35 and 42 seats, a slight setback compared to the November survey (the November poll) (39-45). Behind them would be ERC, with 26-32 seats and an average rating of its government by Catalans of 4.3 (the same as the Spanish government's). The Republicans see Junts approaching them, which would rise to 24-29 seats. The poll data was collected between February 9 and March 7. Precisely on the last day, the agreement for the amnesty law was materialized and approved in the Justice Commission of the Congress. During this period, the Koldo case also broke out, which implicates the former Minister of Transport, the socialist José Luis Ábalos, and in early February, farmers began to mobilize in the streets.

All polls agree that the PSC will win the next Catalan elections, but the one presented this Friday by the Centre d'Estudis d'Opinió (CEO) is particularly encouraging for the socialists, who would broadly surpass their opponents with a range of between 40 and 47 deputies, growing significantly from the 33 they obtained in 2021. The CEO's poll is also a counter-current poll because it places ERC (31-37) in second position, ahead of Junts (28-34), which would place Pere Aragonès in the fight with Carles Puigdemont to become the candidate for investiture from the pro-independence flank. The director of the CEO, Jordi Muñoz, has spoken of a "technical tie" between the two parties.

If the elections were repeated in October, Salvador Illa's PSC would once again achieve victory with a result of between 39 and 45 deputies, a range that could allow them to improve on the 42 seats they obtained on May 12th. This is what the Barometer of the Centre for Opinion Studies, made public this Thursday, shows, the first since the May 12th elections were held and the investiture negotiations began. According to the survey, Junts would remain in second place with a range of between 31 and 36 seats (they currently have 35) and Esquerra in third, with a range of between 19 and 24 seats (they currently have 20). With this data, the independence movement of Junts, ERC, and the CUP would not sum the absolute majority of 68 deputies even if they achieved the best result assigned to them by the CEO – with the ranges there is a difference of between 1 and 6 seats. They would remain at 66 seats in the best-case scenario, and a possible pro-independence majority would have to go through Aliança Catalana, which could win between 1 and 4 seats and improve on the two they currently have. However, Junts, ERC, and the CUP have already closed the door to negotiating with the far-right pro-independence ultras and, in fact, have signed with the PSC and the commons a commitment to create a sanitary cordon for them in Parliament along with Vox and not to seek or accept their votes. On the other hand, the viability of the PSC, Esquerra, and commons coalition to invest Illa would depend on how well these three parties performed, with a vote frontier between them, and they would regain a majority if they registered a result in the middle or upper range of their forecast.The rest of the parties would remain in the same order as they came out of the ballot boxes on May 12. The PP, the fourth force with 15 deputies, could lose two or improve its result to 18 seats. Vox is the only party that, according to the survey, would have nothing to gain in case of an electoral repeat, because the maximum it could get is between 7 and 11 seats, which are what it already has now. In the best-case scenario for both parties, the sum of PSC and PP is 63 seats. Insufficient, therefore, to form a government without looking for a third partner. It could be the commons, but so far they have refused to repeat the sum that made Jaume Collboni mayor in Barcelona. Regarding the two smaller left-wing groups in the chamber, the CUP could obtain between 1 and 6 deputies (it currently has 4) and the commons, between 5 and 8 (they currently have 6). Jéssica Albiach's party is the one that could suffer the most vote transfer to the PSC in the event of an electoral repeat, up to 10%. The one that best retains its voters is Junts (81% would pick up Carles Puigdemont's ballot again), followed by the PSC, which would again seduce almost 8 out of 10 of its sympathizers on May 12th. For its part, Esquerra has a significant vote leakage towards abstention (30%), although it resists and could still improve results because it incorporates voters who had not voted or had voted blank in the previous elections. The fieldwork for the survey was carried out between June 10th, the day the Parliament was constituted, and July 8th, by which time the scandal of the posters about the Maragalls that implicates ERC and that the ARA uncovered had already been made public the scandal of the posters about the Maragalls that implicates ERC and that the ARA uncovered. In a press conference, the director of the CEO, Jordi Muñoz, explained that the survey already includes part of the possible impact of this information, which was published on July 1st.Who will be the president?

The CEO also asked Catalans who they believe has "more possibilities" of being the next president of the Generalitat: 65% of those surveyed think it is Illa who has the best chance, while 14% believe it is Carles Puigdemont, waiting to know how his return to Catalonia turns out. Furthermore, Illa is the only political leader who passes: he has a 5.2 out of 10, ahead of the acting president, Pere Aragonès (4.8), Laia Estrada and Jéssica Albiach (4.6), Carles Puigdemont (3.9), Sílvia Orriols (3.6), Alejandro Fernández (3.1) and Ignacio Garriga (1.9).Supporters of the PSC, Esquerra, and the commons largely believe that it is a pact between these three parties that should lead Illa to preside over the Generalitat, ahead of other options. The most enthusiastic are the commons: 46% support this sum, a percentage that is 28% in the case of the socialists and 26% in that of the republicans. Regarding Junts, only 27% of their voters believe that Puigdemont has a chance of being invested.The evolution of independentism

According to the Barometer, support for independence is currently at historic lows: only 40% of those surveyed defend independence, the lowest figure in the historical series, which began in 2015 and had never dropped below 41%. On the other hand, there has never been such a high percentage of non-independists: 53% declare themselves to be, a percentage that fits into the trends already detected by previous barometers. Also regarding the relationship with Spain, for the first time since 2015, supporters of Catalonia being an autonomous community outnumber independists: 34% state they are satisfied with the current territorial model, ahead of the 31% who would want it to be an independent state; behind them are supporters of federalism (22%, one point less than in the last Barometer) and of a regional model (7%, also two points less).Furthermore, the drought is no longer the primary concern for Catalans, as it was in March of this year: the top spot is now occupied by "dissatisfaction with politics," followed by access to housing, Catalonia-Spain relations, and immigration. Only 2% believe that water scarcity and climate change are Catalonia's main problem.

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When all the polls, and even more so after the blue wave of May 28, predict a more or less tight victory for the right-wing bloc in the State on July 23, the CIS does exactly the opposite. According to the organization led by José Félix Tezanos, the left not only does not retreat, but advances, as both the PSOE and Sumar could improve their results to the point of bordering on an absolute majority. On the other hand, the PP and Vox would not reach it in any case.

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Either Pedro Sánchez with Yolanda Díaz or Alberto Núñez Feijóo with Santiago Abascal. This is the choice that the two main state blocs offer for July 23, and it seems that in Catalonia voters have a clear idea of who to lean towards. The PSC, with Meritxell Batet at the helm, would broadly win the elections and could climb to 16-18 seats, doubling the results of whoever ends up in second place. It would be the first socialist victory in general elections in Catalonia since 2008 when Carme Chacón achieved the party's best historical results with 25 deputies. In any case, the socialist victory in the Principality could end up being bitter if the PP dominates the State as a whole. The latest poll published, by the CIS, assures that nothing has been decided yet, although most polls place the Popular Party well above the Socialists. The CEO also detects a greater predisposition to participate than on other occasions in the general elections, which could reduce abstention in these elections.

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The elections in Galicia are becoming increasingly tight and the PP sees its absolute majority fully in danger even before the Puigdemont effect was triggered by the proposal for a conditional pardon of the former president by Alberto Núñez Feijóo. This is revealed by the latest poll from the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS) prior to this Sunday's regional elections, in which the popular party led by Alfonso Rueda has stalled at 42.2% of the votes and between 34 and 38 seats –the same as in the previous survey–, while the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) is soaring. The sovereignists reach 33.4% of the votes, with growth that would allow them to reach between 24 and 31 deputies, a historic record for the formation. If the CIS is correct, this double scenario makes the conservative absolute majority in Parliament hang by a thread. In parallel, the PSdeG-PSOE plummets to 18% of support, placing it between 9 and 14 deputies, in a particularly negative result for the socialist candidacy.

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The electoral cycle is tinged with blue. The PP has advanced strongly everywhere, but especially in Andalusia, the Valencian Country, and also in Madrid, both in regional and municipal elections. Now it is confident of doing the same in the general elections of July 23, as all surveys predict, including the CIS one. They are, along with Catalonia, the key territories to pave the way to Moncloa. For this reason, it is in the Principality that the socialists are playing a good part of their credit. Pedro Sánchez knows that the differential he achieves with the PP in Catalonia could end up being decisive, especially if he loses momentum in other autonomies. The PSC will win the elections by a wide margin, according to the survey that the Opinòmetre Institute has conducted for ARA. With a range of between 14 and 16 deputies, the socialists will return to first place fifteen years later. And what will be the differential with the PP? The popular party, also on the rise, capturing the majority of Cs' vote, would be left with between 5 and 7 deputies in the Spanish Parliament.

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Our day will come, could be read on Saturday in the animation stand of the Balaídos stadium in the match between Celta and Barça. With dozens of flags  

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José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will testify as an investigated party before the National Court two weeks later than planned. Judge José Luis Calama has accepted the former Spanish president's defense's request for an adjournment and summons him for June 17 and 18. Initially, he was scheduled for next week, Tuesday the 2nd. In an order, Calama deems it appropriate to postpone the declaration due to the complexity of the case, as requested by the former socialist leader's lawyer, Víctor Moreno Catena, since he did not have access to it until this Monday. In parallel, the former PSOE leader has already begun to publicly defend himself against the accusations.

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The company of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's two daughters, What The Fav, had a role of "operational coordination" with the alleged influence peddling scheme of the former Spanish president. This is the conclusion reached by the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the National Police in the summary: "It is observed that the commercial relationship, combined with the personal ties existing between the participants, is not limited to sporadic contacts". The police force requested the National Court judge José Luis Calama, among other things, to access the content of emails with the domain name @whathefav.com.

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