Mariano Rajoy has always managed to get extraordinary performance out of his public persona. Some time ago, he managed to create, even among his detractors, a kind image, for many even endearing, of a absent-minded man, a little slow, with somewhat bizarre but funny remarks, more interested in football than in politics (sadly, both in Spain and Catalonia, football works as a perfect social whitewash for any scoundrel), old-fashioned, fundamentally a good fellow.All of this, needless to say, is false. It is a facade, half-casual and half-studied, which, as we said, has given him very good results. Rajoy always maintains a clearly visible distance between what happens around him and his person, as if things never concerned him, as if there were no causal relationship between the positions he has held in the Popular Party and in the government of Spain and the crimes that were committed within the party or within the executives he presided over. It doesn't matter if it's the Kitchen plot, the patriotic police, the police charges of October 1st, or any other scandal. He wasn't there, he didn't know anything about it, he was alien to it, his ignorance was absolute. Rajoy also possesses a notable cold-bloodedness, which allows him to lie before a court and remain impassive. Even more so if the president of the court helps him, as Magistrate Teresa Palacios did last Thursday during the declarations of Rajoy and Cospedal at the National High Court, precisely for the Kitchen case.Rajoy, however, is like bad actors, who eventually get tired of playing the same role and then overact. On this occasion, he even denied knowing the aliases by which he was known within the criminal circles organized within the leadership of his party: he claimed to be unaware of the nicknames of el Asturiano, el Barbas, etc. "My name is Mariano Rajoy, as everyone knows." Another of Rajoy's favorite recursos are obvious statements and tautologies, with which he often manages to provoke the audience's smile and facilitate jokes from monologists and impersonators.The reality is that Rajoy's time as president was one of the darkest in Spanish democracy, and that's saying something. These are years of blatant patrimonialization of institutions, of denial of any dialogue with the opposition, of impulse to the ultra ideology that has finally become hegemonic within the Spanish right (now we exclaim, but Rajoy already had ministers who sang "El novio de la muerte" at the processions of Holy Week in Malaga), of constant belligerence against any form of diversity (especially against linguistic diversity, especially against Catalan) and, of course, of organized and institutionalized corruption at all levels of public administration. Perhaps it would be necessary that the next times Rajoy sits before a court it is not to mock justice and citizens again, and to leave as happy as ever.

We now know that Mariano Rajoy's great secret, the masterful formula that explains such a long political career, has consisted of never getting bogged down in details. If we are to believe his account to the judge, a Minister of the Interior, a head of government, or a party leader knows almost nothing about what goes on below him. "I was not aware of the reserved funds for a second of my life when I was Minister of the Interior," he stated. And this is despite the fact that one of his predecessors, José Luis Corcuera, was tried (and acquitted) for fraudulent use of these funds. But the point is that with this formula he has been able to surf through all the scandals that have affected the PP while he was one of the main, or the main, leader. He never knew anything because he wants us to believe that he only dealt with the great matters of state, with high politics.

Mariano Rajoy, former Spanish Prime Minister, declared this Thursday before the National Court for the Kitchen case. Almost a decade after testifying in the Gürtel case, he appeared today and, in an interrogation that lasted 35 minutes, he answered questions about the Popular Party's slush fund, about the operation to spy on and steal information from Luis Bárcenas, and about the use of reserved funds.

Nine years after testifying in the Gürtel case, Mariano Rajoy has returned to the National Court to testify in the Kitchen case. He arrived in San Fernando de Henares at 9:40 a.m. by car and accessed the judicial premises through the parking lot. He responded for thirty minutes, in a statement that began with monosyllables and evasiveness and ended with three pleas in which he distanced himself from the facts and lent a hand to the defenses of the accused. The star phrase came right at the beginning, during the interrogation by the PSOE lawyer, who asked him if he was M. Rajoy, el Asturiano, or el Barbas: "My name is Mariano Rajoy, as everyone knows, and then each person calls me what they want; ask them." After this first display, he dedicated himself to categorically denying everything. "Did you give Bárcenas an envelope with the remainder of the B fund? Did you put the last page of Bárcenas's papers into the shredder? Do you have knowledge that Bárcenas was pressured or intimidated by order of party officials?", asked the PSOE lawyer. These are three questions that the former PP treasurer assured on Monday when he testified as a witness. "Absolutely false", Rajoy limited himself to answering on all three occasions.

I begin where we left off yesterday: the creation of the Investment Consortium that the Government and Esquerra have agreed upon to direct and control state investments in Catalonia. It was presented yesterday as a tool to guarantee budgetary execution in Catalonia. Well, yesterday a prominent Esquerra leader pointed out to me, through a message, in good humor, let it be clear, that I had been very harsh saying that while the Chinese were making humanoids run, we were creating consortia. I hope I am mistaken, but in Catalonia, political consensus on anything significant has disappeared a long time ago. And the State, the governments of the PP and the PSOE, have shown that there are a thousand ways to budget and not execute, making it look like an accident, and even your fault. Nevertheless, as I tell you, if the invention works, we will be here to acknowledge it.And speaking of inventions, Bárcenas and the Kitchen. What the PP treasurer declared yesterday before the judge and for five hours is that the PP itself set up the Kitchen as a way to save Rajoy. That when they saw that the accounting records of M.Rajoy and MR could incriminate the party president, they set up the patriotic police to steal and destroy documentation from Bárcenas. Bárcenas is today a free man, he was in prison for eight years, convicted of corruption. What he came to say yesterday is that Rajoy was aware that the party had double accounting, that Rajoy was paid under the table (because it was he, Bárcenas, who paid him in envelopes), that Rajoy made him destroy the evidence but that he recorded it. What happened is that later most of it was destroyed by the patriotic police. The undeclared money came from commissions paid by companies to which the PP government awarded public works, and it is the money with which part of the renovation of the party headquarters in Madrid was paid for. Yesterday, therefore, Bárcenas sang La Traviata and Rajoy and Cospedal will declare the day after tomorrow.So the Kitchen operation would have been mounted from within the state itself by the PP government to prevent it from splashing Rajoy. These were the "patriots" who were to save Spain from the clutches of Catalan independence. The same "patriots" who will now investigate the United States to find out if Spain deceived them to close Banca Privada d'Andorra. "Mariano, be strong".Good morning.

It has become commonplace to see the Spanish government lose votes or need to reach agreements with multiple political parties. But it was ten years ago that the PP and the PSOE began to face this dilemma. The elections of December 20, 2015, led to unprecedented fragmentation in the Congress of Deputies and ended the historic two-party system: the PP lost 83 seats, while Podemos and Ciudadanos—from Catalonia—entered the lower house with 69 and 40 deputies, respectively. Despite their obvious political differences, on election night both parties offered the same diagnosis: Pablo Iglesias, the leader of Podemos, proclaimed that a "new Spain" had been "born," and Albert Rivera, the most visible figure of Ciudadanos, celebrated the beginning of a "new political era of hope and optimism." Neither project has that strength today—Ciudadanos has even disappeared—but the two-party system has not been restored. Now Vox and Sumar have taken up the mantle to consolidate a system with four national parties coexisting with the string of regional parties that are also key to governance.

From the author of "It is the mayor who wants the residents to be the mayor." and of "Very Spanish and very Spanisharrives in bookstores The art of governing (Almuzara, 2025). Mariano Rajoy presented his new book Wednesday evening, which, according to his own definition, is "a reflection" of his "way of being, thinking, and seeing life." "It's impossible to read this sentence and not hear Rajoy," remarked Alberto Núñez Feijóo during the event, referring to one of the reflections included by the former president of the Spanish government and of the People's Party (PP), namely, "the only serious thing is to be serious."

Last year, the Spanish courts blocked the Andorran judicial investigation into Operation Catalunya by closing the letter rogatory. The World The case seeking the indictment of former Spanish President Mariano Rajoy and former Interior and Finance Ministers Jorge Fernández Díaz and Cristóbal Montoro has now been reactivated, according to information obtained by ARA. Judge Stéphanie Garcia has again issued letters rogatory in Spain to the competent judicial authority to summon the political and judicial leaders of the Andorran branch of this alleged anti-independence plot.

Today marks two years since Pedro Sánchez lost the elections but ended up governing thanks to the fluke of the seven Junts deputies. Losing but ultimately winning is something the PP hasn't forgiven Sánchez for, having already won a vote of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy in 2018. Losing and governing, winning a vote of no confidence, are two things that have never happened before.

Three months ago, with the secret investigation against him already in its final stretch, but without the case of alleged trafficking in laws in the Ministry of Finance having put him on the ropes yet, Cristóbal Montoro (Jaén, 1950) appeared in Congress to give explanations about the Catalunya operation, where he still denied all accusationsThe PP's use of the Interior Ministry during Mariano Rajoy's term for its particular dirty war against political adversaries, such as the independence movement, is under full parliamentary and judicial scrutiny. Next year, the National Court will try Jorge Fernández Díaz for the Kitchenen case, a PP member. However, until now, Montoro, despite the suspicions against him and the indictment by an Andorran court for alleged pressure on Banca Privada de Andorra (BPA), had managed to escape scrutiny for the irregular practices of that period. The situation has changed this week with The indictment of the former Minister of Finance and members of his team by a Tarragona courtA judicial move that has opened a can of worms regarding Montoro. How did he get to this point?

While the PSOE is renewing its leadership to survive the Santos Cerdán case, the PP is using him at the party congress, which started this Friday, to predict a change of course. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has worked hard until the very last moment, with the transaction of amendments, to avoid any crack that could tarnish the image of unity he wants to project at a conclave where he faces no internal opposition. The alleged corruption cases of the Socialists have contributed to this closing of ranks, which on the first day of the PP congress was staged with the interventions of former PP presidents of the Spanish government, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy, who appeared together on stage at the Ifema Madrid trade fair pavilion. However, the differences between them were quick to surface. As usual, the harshest speech was Aznar's, who warned the PSOE that the price of coming to power by making pacts with the pro-independence parties, which he called "criminals," would also mean ending up in prison. "If you negotiate budgets in a prison, you associate with inmates and negotiate an amnesty with criminals; don't be surprised if you end up in prison because that's your environment," he asserted days after the former number three of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) was admitted to the Soto del Real penitentiary center for the alleged commissionsil plot.

If we're honest, we must agree that only a magnitude 8 earthquake can prevent a majority formed by the PP and Vox in the next Spanish elections. Go away, Mr. Gonzalez. Aznar's 94-95 (with a media conspiracy to expose the dirty laundry of Felipe González's government) and the street unrest that took place against Zapatero (demonstrations against dialogue with ETA, gay marriage, the return of the Salamanca papers in Catalonia, etc.). Feijóo is convinced he can step on the gas and then, from the Moncloa Palace, he'll be able to brake, just as his predecessors did. Let's remember that Aznar made a pact with CiU and the PNV, and Rajoy didn't repeal the emblematic laws of Zapatero's administration. The question is: will Feijóo really have the room to turn things around, given a partner like Vox and pressure from Ayuso?

Just two blocks from the Congress of Deputies and with Alberto Núñez Feijóo still seated in the chamber, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy briefly met at a meeting organized by the Freedom and Democracy Group, made up of Latin American leaders and former presidents who, at least in the image of Aznar, are united. at the gates of the party congress, of the two former Spanish presidents with the current leader of the PP, that the control session has come to an end. "Things are what they are," Aznar justified in a brief speech in the auditorium of the Ateneo de Madrid when he excused himself for not being able to stay. Before leaving, however, he left a warning for Feijóo.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo is seeking to put his house in order before the final assault on Moncloa, but let's not fool ourselves, Congress is merely a domestic matter, a way to resolve all the internal crises that may arise between now and the elections and reach an understanding, albeit temporary, between the two on the one hand, and Juanma Moreno Bonilla on the other, with him positioned in the middle as a kind of forced synthesis. The congress is brought forwardHowever, for a reason. And that is that the PP believes it has already found the strategy that will inevitably lead it to the Moncloa, and therefore it is simply a matter of being prepared for when the moment arrives. And what is that strategy? 1994-1995.

The Spanish government has increased its average real investment in Catalonia by approximately €158.9 million annually since Pedro Sánchez took office, compared to the period under Mariano Rajoy. This increase is due, in part, to the rise in investment in Catalonia that appears in the general state budget since Sánchez took office. In fact, the fact that the total budgeted investment has grown more than the total investment actually invested means that the current government's execution rate is significantly lower than that of the previous PP administration.

Despite the PP's efforts to deny its existence, the maneuvers of the state's sewers during Mariano Rajoy's governments are accumulating ever more evidence. New audio published this Wednesday by RAC1In fact, it directly implicates the former Spanish president in the Kitchen operation, the operation paid for with secret funds to steal information about the party's corruption from former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas. It concerns a September 2014 conversation between María Dolores de Cospedal and José Manuel Villarejo. "I know that they had previously found, and more or less cleaned out, everything he had," the former PP secretary general says at one point, supposedly about Bárcenas. She adds: "The president told me, no one else did."

If Jorge Fernández Díaz is capable of lying and saying that he does not recognize that conversation with Villarejo that we have all heard ("I will deny, even under torture, that that meeting ever took place"), it is not surprising that yesterday he lied saying that the Catalunya operation did not exist. After all, he also says that he knows nothing about the Kitchen case (the Bárcenas papers), for which the prosecutor is asking for 15 years in prison and for him to be suspended from membership by his own party.

Former Spanish President Mariano Rajoy appeared again before a high court investigating events that occurred during his mandate. It was the Congressional commission of inquiry into the Catalonia operation and the dirty war of the Spanish state against the Catalan independence movement. In previous cases he had testified before another Congressional commission, for the Kitchen corruption plot; before the National Court, for the Gürtel corruption scandal, and before the Supreme Court, in the trial against the leaders of the Proceso. In all cases he has done the same: claim complete ignorance of what he is being asked, although in all cases it concerns facts directly related to his functions as a senior leader of the Popular Party or as President of the Spanish government. He knows nothing, he was just passing by. Imbued with the character that he himself has decided to project in public (a rancid and absent-minded gentleman who could be in some Alfonso Paso farce, like The Extremadurans touch each other either Teach a scoundrel) and that public opinion, and especially the media, decided to buy him some time ago, he lets out a few ironic remarks, he puts on airs, he pretends to be a little annoyed for having gotten in the way, and that's enough. In this absurd way he goes through the days and the appearances, without having to assume, for the moment, responsibility for anything that happened while he was in the political front line. Everyone finds it very funny, and now that he has reminded Rufián about the 155 coins, he has even managed to make many of the independentists he ordered beaten on October 1st laugh (he also declared that he had neither ordered nor known anything about the police charges of that day).

Former Spanish President Mariano Rajoy appeared again before a high court investigating events that occurred during his term in office. It was the Congressional commission of inquiry into Operation Catalonia and the dirty war of the Spanish state against Catalan independence. In previous cases he had testified before another Congressional commission (for the Kitchen corruption plot), before the National Court (for the Gürtel corruption scandal) and before the Supreme Court, in the trial against the leaders of the Proceso. In all cases he has done the same: claim complete ignorance of what he is being asked, although in all cases it concerns facts directly related to his functions as a senior leader of the Popular Party or as President of the Spanish government. He knows nothing, he was just passing by. Imbued with the character that he himself has decided to project in public (a rancid and absent-minded gentleman who could be in some Alfonso Paso farce, like The Extremadurans touch each other either Teach a scoundrel) and that public opinion, and especially the media, decided to buy him some time ago, he lets out a few ironic remarks, he puts on airs, he pretends to be a little annoyed for having gotten in the way, and that's enough. In this absurd way he goes through the days and the appearances, without having to assume, for the moment, responsibility for anything that happened while he was in the political front line. Everyone finds it very funny, and now that he has reminded Rufián about the 155 coins, he has even managed to make many of the independentists he ordered beaten on October 1st laugh (he also declared that he had neither ordered nor known anything about the police charges of that day).

"I have no knowledge of the existence of a so-called Catalunya operation," Mariano Rajoy said in a statement to the commission investigating the dirty war against the independence movement in Congress. The former president of the Spanish government and the PP has denied being aware of anything, as he did when he was questioned as a witness in the Gürtel trial in the summer of 2017, and in the lower house in another commission of inquiry into Operation Kitchen at the end of 2021. "I cannot become a commentary. I have no business here, although I am very comfortable," he stressed in his particular style.