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 mayor of Tremp has worked for thirty years as a Catalan teacher. She began in municipal politics in 2007 and, when she became a deputy in the Parliament of Catalonia last term, she requested a compulsory leave of absence which she extended after the 2024 elections, when she was appointed delegate of the Generalitat in Alt Pirineu i Aran.

Reality insists on changing the plans of novelist Richard Ford (Jackson, 1944). If a couple of years ago, coinciding with the publication of the fifth and last book starring Frank Bascombe, Be mine (2023; Sé mía in the Spanish translation published by Anagrama), he hinted that he was giving up writing, he is in Barcelona presenting a new work, How I got on (2026; En palabras sencillas in Spanish by Feltrinelli), an essay of about a hundred pages that starts with a stimulating question: how can we live decently in a world where politics tends to be dishonest?

A Japanese food company has announced that it is removing the color from the packaging of its products due to a shortage of the material used for ink in But because they say that a picture is worth a thousand words, it is very suggestive where black and white can lead us. Because this combination can be either very elegant or very mothballed, with that included smell of this chemical product that in the colorful world is already practically out of use. So let's forget the elegance of black and white and focus on that black and white that smells of a dingy past that refuses to leave. A good example is Florentino's press conference and the fact of addressing a journalist as "little girl

Alianza 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 place. Vox would also improve the results obtained in the 2024 elections and would achieve the sorpasso of the PP. However, despite the earthquake on the right of the hemicycle, the left-wing parties would retain the majority that invested Illa as president. These are the main headlines of the ARA voting intention poll, elaborated by YouGov and published in ARA last weekend.

It's not just the sun and the beach. Nor the gastronomy. Nor Gaudí. Barcelona is now also showing its magnetism to representatives of world progressivism. Pedro Sánchez has summoned them, and one cannot deny him either cunning or the gift of timing, making the aura of an international anti-Trump leader eclipse his domestic version, which is much grayer and more questioned. If the game board is the world, I am with Sánchez and against Trump, for the record. I am with him completely (the choice is not that difficult). But the view from within is different. Sánchez reminds me of Gorbachev during perestroika, acclaimed in the West, unpopular in Russia. Sánchez can play with better cards than old Gorby, who managed a ruined empire; but he has justice breathing down his neck, and the PP-Vox duo lurking him in the polls. It is understandable that he prefers to exploit his statesman profile. With what ease he acts as spokesman for world pacifism, and installs himself on the “right side of History” with Xi Jinping (Thursday) and Lula (Friday). Meanwhile, in the domestic sphere, the right grows on the shoulders of the ultras, the true left becomes smaller and smaller, despite Rufián's efforts, and the center does not exist. A Russian roulette scenario.If nothing else, the Catalan issue (which occupied the headlines last decade) is no longer causing problems. The proof: This weekend of progressive tourism in Barcelona. Because Barcelona, like Catalonia, has outsourced the management of its brand and its role in the world. The Spanish government now takes care of it, while Illa and Collboni act as cheerleaders. For Sánchez, being seen in Barcelona is very useful, not only to show that we have returned to the fold, but also because ours is a much more left-wing city than Madrid (and than Spain as a whole). Barcelona is the great refuge of the PSOE, which appropriates it, uproots it, isolates it from its hinterland, and turns it into an alternative capital. Of Spain, of course. A more plural Spain than that of the PP? Undoubtedly! But let's not kid ourselves: This weekend's spectacle is designed from Madrid to project the PSOE's Spain around the world. Primarily from the Latin American world. This is why all these summits use Spanish orally and in writing, ignoring the native language and the lingua franca. Barcelona, needless to say, looks divine, but it is only a backdrop. And the Generalitat, a silent guest. Did you know, by the way, that the Generalitat has a Ministry of Foreign Relations?Readers of a certain age may recall, although it may seem incredible now, when King Juan Carlos I entered the Olympic stadium to inaugurate the 1992 Games while Els segadors was playing over the loudspeakers. Internal balancing acts were being performed in those days. Olympic diplomacy emerged from a creative tension between the city council and the governments. Independence was an abstraction, almost like now, but we were playing at appearing to be a country, and Barcelona could act as the capital of Catalonia, and the capital of the Catalan language, because for many of us it was much more than a backdrop. This weekend, Catalans find themselves at the epicenter of world politics, but we have been reserved the role of butlers and ushers.I imagine that to the more cosmopolitan readers this kind of complaint will seem unbearably provincial. I apologize. With a final plea: Next week, let us at least enjoy Sant Jordi in peace. We already know that all over the world April 23rd is Book Day, plain and simple. But it turns out that in Catalonia – only in Catalonia – we call this day Sant Jordi, and it is also the day when Barcelona and Catalonia, hand in hand, project themselves to the world. It is only one day; we will see to it that it passes quickly.

Unfortunately, the upheaval that the world is suffering, with regional conflicts of strong global implications, economic but above all of democratic culture, diminishes the Catalan cause. Now, as almost a hundred years ago, the emergence of totalitarian, not to say fascist, positions and discourses demands a strong democratic reaction that, as a hundred years ago, is not happening nor is it foreseen. Despite everything, it is essential that it occurs, for the good of all and, above all, of the young generations. And the leadership can only fall to consolidated democracies, with Europe at the forefront, following the stance made explicit by Mark Carney, the Canadian Prime Minister, at the last meeting of the Davos Forum.We must promote policies for greater European integration, supporting political parties that are firmly committed to it, not just discursively. As European integration progresses, the sovereignty of states will diminish. The most relevant decisions – economic, regulatory, or geopolitical – will no longer be made solely at the state level, but increasingly at the European level. In such a context, some issues that today seem almost irresolvable – such as the Spanish state allowing a referendum on self-determination – may be different. When the political weight of states is diluted, the relationships between peoples, territories, and governments can be reorganized with greater flexibility and less drama than we perceive today.Perhaps, then, the most realistic path lies not so much in local decisions as in contributing to the construction of a federal Europe, a Europe in which its peoples share the great responsibilities and challenges of our time.

In an interview yesterday in La Vanguardia, the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo stated that Pedro Sánchez is delaying the application of the amnesty to Carles Puigdemont. It is not new. Before, Feijóo had already said that Sánchez has deceived Carles Puigdemont with the amnesty law.

Whenever we try to understand complex situations, we try to find a reason that justifies how someone acts, or why something happens a certain way. Lately, even experts in politics, particularly international politics, are completely baffled as to the reasons behind this particular figure: any reasonable prediction based on the rules we previously knew has been shattered. Some, even with immense effort, have lined up all the facts, like an Excel spreadsheet, and tried to find a common thread. In Trump's case, at this point, we have to accept that everyone who has tried has failed.

Commuter rail, education, healthcare, farming, fishing, the self-employed… Anyone might think I'm listing sectors with no connection to each other, but the reality is very different. Either they aren't functioning as they should, or they're on strike and mobilizing because they're fed up with the situation.

Why revisit the question of Catalan independence today? Because the debate on regional funding has resurfaced, once again, shrouded in language that expresses grievance against Catalonia, explicitly portraying it as a subordinate society, not fully involved in defining strategies in Spain. And because the recurring infrastructure crisis—commuter rail, the Mediterranean Corridor, decades of accumulated investment shortfalls, the strangulation of all public services—can no longer be presented as a series of technical issues. When these shortcomings are systematically repeated in the same region, the issue ceases to be administrative and becomes political.

1. I suspected the situation was serious. And I decided to document it. I wondered when Spain, Catalonia, and Barcelona started living with extended budgets. Spain is just getting by on the 2023 budget. Catalonia is also barely surviving on the 2023 budget. Barcelona, ​​for its part, is just scraping by with the budget approved in May 2024 thanks to a special procedure: a vote of confidence. The paralysis, therefore, is threefold and affects all areas. For three years now, so to speak, the planned structural spending—on healthcare, education, social services, and civil servants' salaries—has been maintained, but new programs and structural investments cannot be implemented. Extending the budget means ensuring that, administratively, the country doesn't grind to a halt, but neither does it improve in any way. It's a death sentence. Projects, infrastructure, and, consequently, the citizens suffer. And that's how things are going for us, for example, with doctors protesting a new agreement, teachers in the streets, and commuter trains at a standstill. But let's take it one step at a time.

We've read very different versions of the true meaning behind the maneuvers of Gabriel Rufián, the voice of ERC in Madrid, who has managed, through his own merits, to place himself in the Spanish media spotlight. He himself maintains that his is an honest effort to stop the foreseeable rise to power of Vox and the PP with an alliance of Sumar, Podemos, and the plurinational left. Period. Some believe that Rufián is acting independently, without the support of his party, and that his real objective is to ensure he remains the lead candidate, in contrast to those sectors that consider him a "soft" separatist, whose mission—or assignment—is to dilute the party's maximalist discourse. There are also those who claim that Oriol Junqueras is delighted that Rufián "complements" the official ERC discourse with a narrative more palatable to the non-separatist sectors that until now voted for the PSC or Comuns. And finally, there are the suspicious ones who believe that Rufián is preparing his political future outside the ERC party to become one of the leaders of the new Spanish left, which is in yet another process of reconfiguration.

We are not fed up with politics. We are fed up with politicians and this way of doing things that is spreading lies, recriminations, and a loss of direction. We are fed up with their degradation. We are tired of the public discourse of those in power, here and everywhere, right and left. This weariness does not express a rejection of collective life or democratic deliberation, but rather a clear intuition. Politics has been replaced by the management of power, by party logic, and by a technical administration of the present that has given up on thinking about the future as a shared project whose aim is the well-being of societies.

The mayor of Cunit, Jaume Casañas, wants the municipality to leave the Baix Penedès region and join the Garraf region, thus becoming part of the province of Barcelona. Casañas, who leads the Impulsem Cunit party, linked to Junts per Catalunya, is proposing a public referendum starting in 2027. Should the popular vote validate the proposal, approval would be required from the Catalan Parliament for the regional change and from the Spanish Congress for the provincial change. Casañas believes the referendum would garner a majority vote in favor: "90% of Cunit's current population has emotional ties to the province of Barcelona. On social media, we've detected that 80% of people are in favor of the regional and provincial change." The other parties represented on the council have not yet taken a position on the matter, but have not expressed opposition. Impulsamos a Cunit and the PSC have shared the local government since 2019 and have alternated in the mayoralty.

We are experiencing a paradoxical start to the year. Politics—especially international politics—is increasingly unstable: open conflicts, blurred alliances, and decisions that strain the global order. At the national level, parliamentary fragility and the lack of a budget hinder any significant reform. And yet, the economy seems to be progressing with surprising calm. Markets remain stable, and growth, both in the United States and in Catalonia and Spain, has exceeded many forecasts.

Just over a year ago, Núria Gil (Soses, 1981) left the Lleida Provincial Council to take up the position of delegate of the Generalitat (Catalan Government) in the Lleida district. At the provincial level, she was the coordinator of the PSC (Socialist Party of Catalonia) group, and she moved to the regional administration with little more experience than that of her hometown council.

Over the past ten years, several long-serving politicians from Tarragona have retired. In 2019, Josep Poblet, mayor of Vila-seca for 26 years (1993-2019), ended his long career in active politics, although he had been a councilor since 1987. He succeeded another historic but shorter-serving mayor, Joan Maria Pujals, and won a string of absolute majorities. He combined his last twelve years as mayor with the presidency of the Tarragona Provincial Council (2007-2019). He also served as a member of the Parliament of Catalonia for two short periods.

The latest barometer from the Center for Opinion Studies (CEO) has confirmed a widespread feeling In inland Catalonia: the rise of Aliança Catalana (AC) on the Catalan political scene, positioning it as the third strongest force in hypothetical regional elections. But that's not all. In the provinces of Lleida and Girona—from which the party's two current (and only) representatives in the Catalan Parliament hail: Sílvia Orriols, mayor of Ripoll, and Rosa Maria Soberana, from Vinaixa (Les Garrigues)—it would become the leading party. But what are the reasons behind this apparent exponential growth of Aliança in the Girona and Lleida regions?

A total investment of over sixty million euros and a hundred projects spread over the next seven years in the historic center of Lleida. This is the main headline that Mayor Fèlix Larrosa (PSC) announced on October 13th during the presentation of the new comprehensive plan for the neighborhood"The transformation of the historic center will be the largest undertaken by the city in the democratic era," declared Larrosa, citing "the restoration of livability, the increase in green spaces, the enhancement of public spaces and heritage, and the economic and social revitalization of the neighborhood" as the central pillars of this initiative, which aims to incorporate the Generalitat's Pla de Bar (Bar Plan). Despite the announcement, both some neighborhood leaders in the historic center and the main opposition political groups in the Lleida City Council have expressed skepticism. On paper, the new comprehensive plan, to be implemented between now and 2032, appears appealing. With projects to restore facilities such as the former Santa Teresa convent, the Mercat del Pla market, the Roman baths of Cardenal Remolins, and the Cervantes school, the Paeria (Lleida City Council) also plans the construction of 387 homes and up to 400 renovations, in addition to an urban forest of approximately 2,000 square meters. "We want to replace the current stock of aging and uninhabitable housing with new or renovated buildings that are accessible, efficient, and attract new residents, especially young people and families who want to live in a vibrant neighborhood," explains the mayor.