1. While here we are eating the 'mona' cake, in Madrid they are working. The third term of the school year begins with one of those news items that will have repercussions. This Monday, the trial for Operation Kitchen begins at the National Court. The case will once again place the Popular Party at the epicenter of the mire. And this is not just a case of corruption. It is much more than that. It is being investigated whether the party in power used the State to cover up its own corruption. The indications seem clear, but justice, in Spain, can always come out with a broken candle.

Forestalia is a major Aragonese renewable energy company that is quite well known in Camp de Tarragona: it intended to promote a 287-kilometer high-voltage line, 181 of which are in Catalan territory, to bring electricity from Aragon to Catalonia. A project, controversial at the time, which is now history. However, the headaches for the company are not over, and now the dust is being generated by an alleged environmental corruption case that, for the moment, has resulted in six arrests. What is being investigated?

Let's take it step by step. The case has already been dubbed the Forestalia case. This Friday, a hearing for precautionary measures is scheduled by the magistrate responsible for the case. Broadly speaking, an alleged environmental corruption scheme affecting the province of Teruel, in Aragon, is being investigated. The case came to light ten days ago, when the Central Operational Unit for the Environment (UCO) of the Guardia Civil arrested six people, including a former senior official from the Ministry for Ecological Transition, Eugenio Domínguez, and the owner of the company, Fernando Samper. Searches were also carried out in Madrid and Zaragoza. Juan José Cortés Hidalgo, head of Court of First Instance and Instruction No. 1 of Teruel, is directing the investigation under judicial secrecy.

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The president of the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, Carlos Baño, was arrested Friday morning by the National Police, according to information obtained by ARA from sources close to the investigation. As detailed by the EFE news agency, the arrest was made for an alleged corruption offense related to the management of consumer vouchers in some twenty municipalities in the province during 2022 and 2023. The consumer voucher campaign was launched by the Alicante Provincial Council during the tenure of Carlos Mazón, who would later become president of the Valencian Government, to boost household spending and stimulate local businesses after the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic. The investigation seeks to determine whether there was possible fraud in the management of these public funds. Despite his position at the Alicante Chamber of Commerce, Baño was arrested in his capacity as president of the Alicante Federation of Commerce (Facpyme). In parallel with the arrest, and in coordination with the Alicante Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, agents from the money laundering group of the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit have carried out several raids on the headquarters of the entities that managed the consumer vouchers, including the Facpyme (Alicante Federation of Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises). The campaign represented an expenditure of 58 million euros by the Alicante Provincial Council between 2022 and 2024. The initiative subsidized 50% of consumer purchases at participating establishments, while the customer paid the remaining amount. The investigation aims to determine whether the Alicante Federation of Commerce financially benefited from implementing the campaigns through a shell company. At this time, neither the National Police nor the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office have provided further details about the operation, as it has been declared secret.

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The judge in the Montoro case takes another step in the investigation. The head of court number 2 in Tarragona, who is investigating the alleged scheme of tax favors to companies from the Ministry of Finance In exchange for financial benefits, he has requested a whole series of documents from the former PP minister and the companies under investigation. In a ruling that also extends the investigation for another six months, Judge Rubén Rus grants the request of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and requires the judicial police to provide a whole series of information, including the deeds of constitution and dissolution of the marital property regimes of several of those under investigation, such as Montoro himself. He also requests the complete registry entries, reports, and annual accounts between 2008 and 2025 of Equipo Económico, the firm linked to the former minister and which investigators place at the epicenter of the alleged corruption network, and of other companies, including those listed.

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Five arrests in 24 hours related to the PSOE for alleged corruption cases and cases of alleged sexual harassment: after the Salazar case, and that of the president of the Lugo Provincial Council, Javier Izquierdo, senator and member of the party's executive committee, resigned yesterday.And yesterday, the PSOE failed to pass the deficit target, a necessary step before the budget can be processed.

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Tomorrow the ARA will turn 15, and today might be a good day to explain some of that analysis. It's very simple: when you sit down first thing in the morning to analyze the news, you have to use several lenses: the microscope, to see details that might go unnoticed but are and will be fundamental; the wide-angle lens, to see everything in its entirety; and the telescope, to see further and gain perspective. And then, after everything has been recounted and debated, you have to choose and prioritize the facts. Well, today, after examining the most important news stories from every angle, I've come to the conclusion that I can only tell you that this is a stinking mess.

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Despite the global economic context marked by uncertainty and modest growth in most wealthy countries, Spain will maintain its momentum in 2025 and It will be one of the fastest growing economiesSince emerging from the Covid-19 pandemic, Spain has registered robust growth in almost all activities and sectors, driven by private household consumption—which remains the engine of the Spanish economy—the strong performance of the labor market, the recovery of the tourism sector, the arrival of European funds, and increased public spending. This is recognized by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) in a new report. Economic study of Spain Published this Wednesday, the report revises GDP growth upwards for 2025 to 2.9%, and also for 2026 (2.2%). However, it's not all good news. Like any economy, Spain's also has pending tasks, the OECD points out, including fiscal consolidation. The organization focuses on deficit and debt levels and the need to reduce them. "Consolidation remains essential to steer gross public debt downwards in the medium term; comply with EU fiscal rules; adapt to increased defense spending, the aging population, and the green transition; and create room for spending that will boost the economy," the report summarizes. Therefore, the organization believes that Spain should implement a series of fiscal adjustments in terms of revenue and benefits (spending) to achieve this consolidation, that is, to strengthen sustainability and, above all, reduce public debt. Specifically, it estimates the need for adjustments at 0.4 percent of GDP: approximately 6.8 billion euros. On the revenue side (3.4 billion euros), it proposes broadening the VAT base or increasing revenue through environmental taxes. Regarding expenditure (an additional 3.4 billion euros), it focuses on pensions and the need for reform to contain spending in anticipation of the retirement of the next generation. baby boom –it again proposes measures such as linking benefits to life expectancy or extending the retirement calculation period to 35 years–. In any case, these are not new messages (they were already mentioned in the 2021 and 2023 economic study of Spain).

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One day after Santos Cerdán's release from prison, the PSOE is widening the gap between itself and its number three in order to shield itself from the alleged corruption scheme. This was made clear on Thursday by Minister Félix Bolaños, who stated that the latest report from the Central Operational Unit (UCO) The Civil Guard provides "solid evidence" against the former Socialist Party organizing secretary. "There are many things that are clear," added Minister Ángel Víctor Torres. "If [Cerdán]He claims there is evidence that they are lies."He will have to prove it," she added on Catalunya Ràdio. The former Socialist Party number three will have an opportunity to explain himself in December before the Senate's investigative committee. The People's Party (PP) has taken advantage of his release from prison to announce that it will summon him. "Now that he's free and has time," the PP spokesperson in the Senate quipped. Speaking to the media at an event in Madrid this morning, she asserted that those at the party headquarters in Ferraz are "very disappointed and shocked" by the new developments in the case when asked about the alleged 2% commissions that, according to the UCO (Central Operative Unit of the Civil Guard), Cerdán received in exchange for awarding public works contracts to Acciona. "We had the information we have. If we had, we would have behaved differently," she emphasized. Juanfran Serrano, Cerdán's former deputy in the PSOE's organizational secretariat, also expressed his shock at the revelations about Cerdán. The PP has also summoned him to the Senate. In his case, a date has already been set for Thursday, December 4th. He admitted that the latest information on the case is "damaging" to the party, but they have emphasized the speed and "forcefulness" of their actions in relation to the scheme. "It didn't affect the party, but rather it was a scheme involving specific individuals," Bolaños said. And he added: "We are absolutely certain that there is no irregular financing."

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In recent years, and we have failed to do so, citizens have watched in bewilderment as corruption cases, despite their extreme gravity, accumulate and are diluted in a climate of widespread desensitization. On the one hand, the Santos Cerdán case (with charges of illegal commissions, alleged shady dealings in public works projects, and a scheme involving politicians and companies) has once again shaken what little trust we had left in institutions and has brought to light the systemic corruption we are experiencing.

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Corruption continues to threaten Pedro Sánchez's government. The Civil Guard has produced a report in which Santos Cerdán, former organizational secretary of the PSOE, appears as the link between the Spanish government (specifically Minister Ábalos, who was Minister of Transport) and the construction company Acciona.

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The Spanish government's oversight sessions in the Senate serve as an opportunity for the People's Party (PP) to continue its particular siege, highlighting the alleged corruption of the Spanish executive from a chamber where the Popular Party (PP) holds an absolute majority. But what is unusual is for Pedro Sánchez's administration to warn that years of corruption from the left-wing coalition lie ahead. "There will be a government of corruption for a while. Of corruption for a while. Continue like this and you will never govern," asserted Yolanda Díaz, Spain's second vice president and Minister of Labor, in the upper house of parliament this Tuesday. The minister's lapse left the chamber speechless and provoked massive applause from the entire PP bench, in an ironic outburst amid stupefied laughter and the sudden assimilation of what the Galician leader had just said.

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The constant accusations between the main Spanish parties related to corruption occupy the majority of the public debate on this scourge. In recent months, the PP and PSOE have not come closer to discussing how to prevent the repetition of cases that have affected them, such as those of Montoro or Cerdán, but rather have further distanced themselves from the possibility of working together to curb these practices. "We should all sit down and work and stop pointing fingers at each other," argues the executive director of Transparency International in Spain, David Martínez, in an interview with ARA. The organization has prepared a report with 100 recommendations to combat corruption, in which it analyzes the state plan that Pedro Sánchez presented on July 9 after the scandal broke out involving the man who, until then, was his number three in the party. "The first thing we need is [political] unity," concludes Martínez, who points out that "using corruption as a weapon demonstrates an insufficient level of democratic maturity."

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The Osborne bull, the statuette of a Sevillian woman, the Naranjito, and the envelopes stuffed with banknotes for corruption. Spanish iconography typical I should already incorporate this image, because both are related by the practice popularly known as doing the Egyptian. The World and theAbc Today's front pages include large photographs of the envelopes that the UCO (Spanish National University) attributes to payments from the PSOE to Ábalos and Koldo. It's the typical case where a picture is worth a thousand words. For months, right-wing (and far-right) newspapers have been screaming headlines with details of the case only comprehensible to scholars, academics, and interpreters of the matter: formulations that included concupiscent relationships between such-and-such an advisor, his cousin, or Pasqual's lover. This is different. The photograph of the envelope of banknotes is meant to be the gavel that will sentence the PSOE in the public eye. The amount of money seen is nothing out of this world—just over 3,000 euros—and some coins can even be seen, but the fold is quite thick, thanks to the EU's 2009 decision to stop producing 500-euro banknotes (precisely because they ended up being used for illicit activities). The measure—oh, surprise!—hasn't put an end to corruption, but at least now the tainted politicians must gather and move a lot more paper.

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Argentine President Javier Milei had to be evacuated during an election caravan in the town of Lomas de Zamora, a stronghold of the Peronist opposition, when protesters began throwing objects and stones at the presidential motorcade. Milei was not injured and, once at his official residence, responded in a message to X, blaming the attacks on the former president's followers. Cristina Fernández, disqualified and under house arrest"Civilization or barbarism. Kirchnerism never again," the president wrote, accompanying the text with a photograph of one of the stones thrown his way, which struck the body of his armored vehicle.

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The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has reached the administration. The public sector has been incorporating massive data processing tools for a few years now, but the acceleration of these technologies is now opening up new horizons: for example, to catch corrupt officials, detect tax fraud, help taxpayers file their tax returns, or fine those who don't have an environmental sticker on their cars by scanning their license plate. Some of these mechanisms are already part of the daily work of the State Tax Administration Agency, Social Security, and some city councils. Others are just beginning to gain momentum. This is an issue that is gaining importance in current politics, following scandals such as the Cerdán and Montoro cases, but also Spain's failure to comply with the anti-corruption commitments demanded by the Council of Europe.

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2012-2013. Citizens picked up their medications at pharmacies, but many did so with the anguish of thinking what would happen if we stopped being able to buy them. Now we know that all of this could have been avoided.

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A wake-up call from the Council of Europe. The latest report by the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) finds that Spain continues to fail to comply—fully or partially—with the 19 recommendations for combating corruption it presented in 2019. However, the anti-corruption body acknowledges some progress, although it regrets that these have not yet been fully implemented. Specifically, it establishes partial non-compliance for 16 of the 19 recommendations and total non-compliance for the remaining three. By 2023, six measures had not yet been addressed by the Spanish government.

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Fifteen years ago, Francesco Piccolo wrote a light and delightful book in which he recounted "moments of unseen happiness." The smell of bread as it comes out of the oven, the moment the coffee pots turn off, finding a special stone on a walk along the sand, hands covered in oil when you can't stop eating peanuts during an aperitif, the encore of an extraordinary concert, when the person you're waiting for knocks down the corner, the ruix filling a carefree life for a few summer weeks.

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The Montoro case has shaken the PP, upending its plans and throwing it into disarray at a time that was already sweet because the Spanish government was under siege due to the Cerdán case. "Who knows what else could come out; that will have a big impact," maintains a PP leader, who suggests that this case could significantly damage the party. It is a fear and concern that runs deep within the party. While some, despite acknowledging this, want to play it down, all the voices consulted by ARA indicate that the case has interrupted the political dynamic of cornering the state executive, and has given Pedro Sánchez oxygen, at least for the moment. But it has also brought to light another factor: the old wars within the party, although some sources want to downplay this. Revenge is emerging against the former Minister of Finance Cristóbal Montoro himself and also against his political family, the Sorayismo, linked to the former Spanish vice president Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, of which he was a prominent loyalist, also in the leadership struggle with Pablo CasadoMeanwhile, the party's leadership is trying to continue targeting the PSOE for the cases affecting it and to shield its leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. etc., had passed by his office...", this source speculates, adding that, in his opinion, digging into the tax data of rivals such as Esperanza Aguirre or José Manuel Soria already reveals "mafia-like behavior" due to "personal confrontations." However, many of those affected belong to the liberal sector and the most hardline wing of the hardline wing of the wing. It is likely that there are members seeking revenge." Because it is once again circulating that a section of the hardline wing, which does not control the party, wants to liquidate former Sorayistas.

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Cristóbal Montoro has been a powerful man within the Spanish state. He served twice as Minister of Finance, in the governments of Aznar and Rajoy, at times accumulating more important functions, such as the Civil Service and the Relations with Territorial Administrations, that is, everything related to public employees, autonomous regions, and local authorities. Now we discover, or rather confirm, that in addition to being a powerful man, he has also been a shadowy figure.

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