This summer's migration crisis has once again placed Ceuta and Melilla at the center of the political debate between Spain and Morocco. In an interview with the Arab television channel Asharq News, the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, acknowledged on Wednesday that the claim of sovereignty over both cities "remains on the table," although he called for "calm" and a long-term solution through dialogue. "Inside Ceuta there are Moroccans and there are Spaniards, and we continue to hold onto our territories," Ouahbi stated.

The consultation to change the name and recover Catalan identity in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales, the French nomenclature for Northern Catalonia, has ended. This Saturday was the last day of a vote held since June 22, although the results will not be known until August 28. With the participation data available (10% of the electorate with around 35,000 votes, according to departmental sources consulted, pending the publication of definitive data this Monday) and the positioning of the various actors, is a Catalanist shake-up expected? Will Pyrénées Catalanes win, will Pyrénées-Orientales remain, or will there be the cosmetic change of Pyrénées Méditerranée? This is the unknown after the departmental government rejected País Català because it believed the Council of State would veto it.

An “anti-party” that “does not align with any ideology” and rejects the “regime of 78” is responsible for the National High Court investigating the massive entry of migrants into Ceuta and that, in parallel, a court in Madrid has opened a criminal case regarding the purchase of the luxury penthouse for Isabel Díaz Ayuso. It is Iustitia Europa, a group known for intervening as popular prosecution in judicial cases involving the PSOE environment and which will make the leap to general elections in 2027. “We are transversal and we defend that the solution to corruption must come from civil society. After almost fifty years, we have a serious problem in Spain and we must move away from left-wing and right-wing ideologies,” defends its president, Luis María Pardo, in conversation with ARA.

The PSPV-PSOE has submitted a letter of complaint to the bureau of the Valencian Parliament regarding the presidency's cabinet's decision to "not inform the media about the speakers' meeting on August 13th," where, among other matters, the socialist party's requests for the President of the Generalitat, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, and the Emergency Counselor, Juan Carlos Valderrama, to explain their management of forest fires were to be addressed.

The criticisms of the Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, towards King Felipe VI for having taken a photograph with the far-right agitator Javier Negre are unusual because the PSOE's usual stance is not to question the monarchy. Pedro Sánchez's government has never wanted to open the Pandora's box of the monarchy or republic debate, and it has been more than ten years since the Sociological Research Center (CIS) – chaired for eight years by the socialist José Félix Tezanos – has asked about the institution.

A mobile coverage outage, a damaged telecommunications tower, a cut fiber optic cable. Until nine months ago, when one of these things happened, Catalan town councils had to blindly call the operators and wait. Since last October, however, they have had a direct phone line with the operators with which they can request information and follow-up. In the balance of these first nine months, the Government estimates nearly 1,000 calls received and over 450 incidents managed, with 746 municipalities already subscribed to the service, representing approximately 80% of the total.

The crisis in Ceuta is reopening the Pandora's box: the diplomatic relationship between Rabat and Madrid, always sensitive, could become strained and threaten to trigger a clash between the two countries, which joins the list of ups and downs that have marked the relationship bilateral. The cautious tone of the Spanish government with Morocco is beginning to differ from that used by the Alawite country, which in recent days has accused Spain of "hindering" the return of migrants, but has also questioned the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla. Although it is not the first time it has done so, in this context it generates more alarm. Rabat is now pressing with the extradition agreement it has with Spain and is opening the door to "suspend it". At the same time, however, it says it is willing to "develop a plan" with Spain, a "friendly" country, to "definitively resolve the migratory problem", according to the Moroccan Minister of Justice, Abdellatif Ouahbi, in an interview with Efe this Wednesday afternoon.

Since there has been a coalition government in Spain, criticisms from Sumar ministers against the king have occurred to the point where they are now part of normality, as are walkouts at official royal house events. However, this is not the case with socialist ministers. In fact, the socialist part of the state government has always staunchly defended the head of state, even against criticisms from the right and far-right regarding certain speeches or actions, taking into account that everything Felipe VI does must be endorsed by the Spanish government. Nevertheless, this week a sudden crisis has emerged between the Spanish government and the Crown that represents a plot twist, following a harsh criticism from a socialist minister like Óscar Puente, one of the main escorts of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, over a recent photograph of the king with the far-right agitator Javier Negre in Colombia, within the framework of the investiture of the new leader, Abelardo de la Espriella.

While in Ceuta they continue in a situation of humanitarian emergency hundreds of migrant people who entered swimming from Morocco on July 30, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, has been forceful regarding their future in the autonomous city: "Up to the last person who has entered [irregularly] will be returned," he said at a press conference this Tuesday, after meeting with the president of Ceuta, Juan Jesús Vivas (PP). In fact, Vivas demanded the "immediate return" of the migrants on Monday, but also the opening of a center for the internment of foreigners (CIE) for the "confinement" of the migrants while the expulsion is processed. Albares has not specified any timeframe.

Like many other young people, Nabil Doubrik arrived from Morocco by boat. He was only 16 years old. The lack of opportunities led him to undertake a journey in which he risked his life because in the Atlas village where he was born he had no future: "If in general in Morocco it is complicated, in the southeast even more so," he explains, while making it clear that his family did not endorse his plan. "I was not aware of the risk and at first my parents told me no, but over time they ended up accepting that I leave".

On July 16, 2025, seven years after leaving the Ministry of Finance, it became publicly known that Cristóbal Montoro – along with his team – was being investigated by a judge in Tarragona for allegedly trafficking in the modification of laws to favor gas companies in exchange for bribes. In twelve months, the investigation has progressed slowly and Rubén Rus's orders have arrived sporadically. One of the major new developments was a report from the Tax Agency that located 850,000 suspicious euros: this is the amount that gas companies sent to Equipo Económico – the firm founded by Montoro and at the epicenter of the alleged scheme – between 2011 and 2019 in installments and with an operation to try to disguise them. Around this document, the two visions of the investigation that have been constructed can be traced.

The PP has been forced to balance with Vox in the face of the humanitarian emergency situation in Ceuta. And the distribution of unaccompanied migrant minors who remain in the city since they entered swimming from Morocco is testing the complicity and understanding between Alberto Núñez Feijóo and Santiago Abascal. The far-right party announced on Saturday that its three vice-presidents with responsibilities in Childhood – in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León – will not attend the meeting to be held on Thursday to begin addressing the distribution of minors. However, the PP will leave Vox alone because the regional ministries that depend on the Popular Party – in Andalusia, where there is also a coalition, and in the other seven territories where they govern alone – will attend the meeting.

[This article was first published in July 2022. We are republishing it in light of the humanitarian crisis in Ceuta]The two lions guarding the main entrance of the Congress of Deputies were made with the melted cannons of the Moroccans defeated at the battle of Wad Ras. This confrontation, along with the battles of Tetuan and Los Castillejos, led to Spain's victory in the first declared war against the Rif tribes from 1859 to 1860. The Sultanate of Morocco, the Riffian tribes, and, later, the Alaouite kingdom have been a constant source of conflict for the Spanish State for more than a century and a half. All in all, the armed contingents from this area of the Maghreb have constituted, by far, the foreign forces that have fought for the longest time against the Spanish army since the Peninsular War.

LA UNIÓ criticizes that the Ministry of Agriculture leaves out due to lack of budget a total of 140 applications from municipalities to access aid for the conditioning of rural roads corresponding to 2026 and only 50 localities manage to obtain these economic supports. The organization requests that the credit of 4 million from the existing budget be increased so that no town that wishes to improve its rural roads is left without aid.

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?

Tension remains high between Italy and Spain over the Ceuta migratory crisis. The Italian government has denounced Spain's decision to impose border controls at ports and airports on passengers arriving from Italy as "totally unacceptable" and "incomprehensible." This was stated this Sunday in an interview with the newspaper La Stampa by the Italian Foreign Minister, Antonio Tajani. The former President of the Eurochamber criticized Pedro Sánchez for making the decision "solely as retaliation, without reason, harming tourism".

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?

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has arrived at the month of August more cornered than ever. The controversial trip to Mexico a few months ago, the judicial investigation against her partner, and the management of the serious fires that have affected the Community of Madrid are added to the latest controversy that has shaken her figure. This is the purchase and subsequent hurried sale of a luxury attic in Chamberí with a value of 6.6 million euros — the Community of Madrid published the sale announcement this Friday — surrounded by contradictory statements and unconvincing justifications. Initially, the Madrid government maintained that it had to be converted into a temporary office – even though it is not enabled as such – during the works on the Royal House of Correos, headquarters of the executive. But 24 hours after the information was made public, it hurried to sell the property, claiming that it would be used to rebuild the Western Sierra after the fires.

In recent days, the amnesty has returned to the forefront of political news following the ECJ's endorsement and the six applications of the law made by the Supreme Court. Despite this, the pardon has not yet reached everyone. Beyond the well-known cases of the leaders of the 'Procés', who continue to await the Constitutional Court, there are other independentists who judges from both Madrid and Catalonia have excluded from the scope of the law. Unlike Carles Puigdemont and Oriol Junqueras, who have been excluded due to a convoluted argument by Pablo Llarena and Manuel Marchena regarding embezzlement, the other cases have not benefited because the justice system has considered that they had no connection with the independence movement.

On August 8, exactly two years ago, the investiture of Salvador Illa hung by a thread. That day, all eyes were on Carles Puigdemont. The former president's return ended up being fleeting and marked a day that culminated with the PSC leader being designated as the new president of the Generalitat thanks to the votes of ERC and Comuns. Since then, Illa has wanted to establish his Government as the one that has "turned the page" on the Process. The one that has put housing at the center of its priorities and also the one that has agreed with ERC and the Spanish government on a new financing system for Catalonia. However, Illa is also the president with the deepest educational crisis in recent years and the one who has had to face the chronic chaos of Rodalies. Past the halfway point, the socialist government faces the second part of the legislature with the first – and perhaps the only – budgets secured. It is the guarantee of stability that Illa was looking for to reach the end of the term – although the socialists do not rule out presenting those for 2027–. However, the Government still has assignments to resolve before reaching the end of a legislature that will also have external variables that will fully impact it, such as the next municipal and general elections, or the possible return of Carles Puigdemont.