"We have taken a step forward by obeying the popular mandate. I appreciate the effort of the seven organizations that have made it possible for us to present the best candidacy: For Andalusia". Antonio Maíllo, the candidate for the left-wing coalition led by Esquerra Unida and Sumar, recalled that Podemos is one of these seven formations that next May 17 will try to spring a surprise in the Andalusian Parliament elections. But at Sunday's rally in Seville, there was no trace of Podemos. The purples, who have reluctantly accepted the Andalusian coalition after two resounding electoral defeats (in Castilla y León and Aragón), do not want to get involved in anything that is not strictly essential. And, despite the evident electoral climate in Andalusia, Sunday saw the presentation of the state pact, which also brings together Comuns and Más Madrid.

"We have taken a step forward obeying the popular mandate. I appreciate the effort of the seven organizations that have made it possible for us to present the best candidacy: Por Andalucía". Antonio Maíllo, the candidate of the left-wing coalition led by Izquierda Unida and Sumar, recalled that Podemos is one of these seven formations that next May 17 will try to surprise in the Andalusian Parliament elections. But at Sunday's event in Seville, there was no trace of Podemos. The purples, who have reluctantly accepted the Andalusian coalition after two resounding electoral defeats (in Castilla y León and Aragón), do not want to get involved in anything that is not strictly essential. And, despite the evident electoral climate in Andalusia, this Sunday the state pact was presented, which also brings together Comunes and Más Madrid.

What should be the unitary left-wing front proposed by Gabriel Rufián? Aware that his party, ERC, does not subscribe to the proposal, the republican spokesperson made an explicit request to him this Thursday: "I ask my party to lead this. And if it costs me my position, I'll go home." Rufián wants Oriol Junqueras' party to adopt the proposal and unite, under its banner, this confluence in Catalonia. And in the State? The republican spokesperson in Madrid has argued that Podemos should play this role: "Podemos can help these confluences." The second stop on his tour of the State has taken him to Barcelona, to the auditorium of the Campus de la Ciutadella at Pompeu Fabra University, alongside Irene Montero, Podemos's number two, who has taken up the proposal's gauntlet.

Uproar on the right and desolation on the left of the socialists, where the noisy leaderships of four days ago are getting lost in a general blurring. With canonical cases in both Catalan and Spanish politics, albeit with different forms and styles. Two examples of how stars that seemed to break barriers are fading: Pablo Iglesias, convinced that his presence was enough, did not want to understand that politics has a part of heavy and unsightly work behind the scenes, he was lazy about organic entanglements and got stuck when it came to moving from rhetoric to action. Result: he is a little more out of play every day. In the Catalan case, Ada Colau, who entered the mayorship with momentum, gradually blurred as if she couldn't find her place in the world of institutional politics and got lost in the transition from verbal illusions to practical concreteness. The drift of Podem and Comuns and the consequent fragmentation of their space, on a direct path to insolvency, force us to question the so-called far-left. And it's not just a problem for Catalonia or Spain.

In the survey by the Sociological Research Centre (CIS) last June, Gabriel Rufián first appeared as one of the names Spaniards considered as a candidate for the presidency of the State. The percentage was very low, 0.6%, but what was significant was that a leader of ERC, specifically the party's spokesperson in Congress, appeared in the predictions. The Rufián phenomenon has been growing over the months – in this March's survey the percentage had grown to 5.8% –, spurred on by his campaign for a left-wing front. All the sovereignist left-wing parties, starting with his own, ERC, turned their backs on him and the feeling was that Rufián was rowing against the current, even though he never tires of saying that what he defends is what he hears on the street and what the left has always been criticized for: lack of unity. And especially at a time of rising right and far-right. Sumar welcomed Rufián's proposal, but invited him to join the coalition that was already negotiating with Esquerra Unida, Comuns, and Més Madrid. A project in which Podemos, incidentally, is not involved. It is precisely for this reason that the person who has taken up Rufián's challenge is Irene Montero, the number two of the purple party.

Podemos has reached an agreement with Izquierda Unida and Sumar to run in coalition in the upcoming Andalusian elections on May 17. The pact was sealed before the legal deadline for registering the left-wing confluence under the umbrella of the Por Andalucía brand, which ended at 11:59 PM. In a last-minute negotiation, which lasted more than twelve hours since it began on Thursday morning, the three formations have announced an agreement to run together in a candidacy that will be led by the candidate for the presidency of the Junta de Andalucía, Antonio Maíllo.

Nine times has the spokesperson for Podemos, Pablo Fernández, repeated the "outstretched hand" of the purple party to go in coalition with Izquierda Unida (IU) and Movimiento Sumar for the Andalusian elections on May 17. And it is that after two resounding falls at the polls in Aragon and Castilla y León – with less than 1% of the votes – Podemos is making a 180-degree turn to the strategy of recent months and, for the first time, is opening up to an alliance with Yolanda Díaz's party in an electoral event. It thus lifts the veto it had imposed on Sumar and which had derailed other understandings: "With all actors," he made clear at a press conference. The offer, which comes four days before the deadline to register coalitions, would not change the number 1 position of Por Andalucía, the leader of IU, Antonio Maíllo.

The week begins in a very dangerous way. As you know, Trump has announced attacks on Iranian power plants if Iran does not unblock the Strait of Hormuz Iran has warned that its response will be to attack the desalination plants of the Persian Gulf countries. You attack my electricity, and I'll attack your water.

At the beginning of the year, the PSOE and Podemos parties agreed on a mass regularization of migrants to grant legal status to half a million people already living in Spain. They did so by drafting immigration regulations to avoid having to go through Congress, where they would have struggled to secure a majority to pass them. However, the PP has found a loophole to try to influence the Senate through the law on repeat offenses, promoted by Junts and approved last week in the upper house. The PP pushed for an amendment to toughen the conditions for the regularization of migrants, and, as ARA has learned, Junts will vote in favor this Thursday in the final vote in Congress. The regularization will still go ahead, but controls for obtaining a residence permit will be increased.

It has been a turbulent week for the left of the PSOE. It started with the hangover with a resounding kick in the elections in Castile and León and it has ended with the Sumar ministers challenging Pedro Sánchez to include measures in housing in the social shield against war. In the midst of it all, the emergence of the Irene Montero - Gabriel Rufián tandem has shaken things up. The event they will share in Barcelona In twenty days, he has brought Podemos back into the equation, pulling it out of the isolation it had been mired in for some time. Those close to the ERC spokesperson in Congress describe it as "just one event and nothing more," but Podemos members hint that it could crystallize into a future electoral alliance. "I can't think of a better team; they have a path I hope they can follow," declared Podemos' general secretary, Ione Belarra. And Irene Montero herself publicly acknowledged that an electoral partnership with Rufián is a "very good idea" and, contrary to what those close to the Republican maintain, confessed that events like this are held "not only for the general elections, but also for the general elections."

"A party that has had Francesc Macià, Lluís Companys, Josep Irla, Josep Tarradellas, and Pere Aragonès is above all else." The president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, asserted this Friday the importance of his party, above any specific dispute, including regarding the candidates. "We are not afraid of anything," he responded in an interview with Ser Catalunya when asked if he feared that Gabriel Rufián might leave ERC in search of a national left-wing front. "ERC goes far beyond all of that," he insisted, adding that "if we weren't afraid of prison, how can we be afraid of anything else, much less this?"

The division of the left is as old as the left itself. Ideological purism, doctrinal rigidity, and poor tactical ability, sometimes compounded by a personalism they theoretically reject, are characteristics historically associated with the groups and factions that have positioned themselves to the left of the "official" left. These conditions often lead them, almost inexorably, to dissent and fragmentation, ultimately resulting in political impotence inversely proportional to the ideological virtue they preach.

"It would be unacceptable if, in future elections, progressive democratic forces were unable to organize themselves in whatever way possible to build broad democratic popular fronts capable of stopping the right and the far right." These are the words Ada Colau spoke in OctoberJust after returning to Catalonia from participating in the flotilla to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza, which was ultimately detained by the Israeli government, these statements already hinted at a veiled endorsement of Gabriel Rufián's proposal for a plurinational left-wing front. Now that the ERC spokesperson in Congress has taken a further step in defending this project, with a joint event with a spokesperson from Más Madrid, Colau explicitly endorsed Rufián's call for left-wing unity.

The Spanish legislature often hangs by a thread. The devilish arithmetic left by the June 23rd elections forces Pedro Sánchez to work incredibly hard in every vote. One of the areas where the Spanish government struggles most is in the ratification of royal decree-laws, regulations approved by the Council of Ministers that require the endorsement of Congress. This legislature has seen five repealed, the same number as in the previous 45 years. It is no surprise that the two usual allies who have most frequently abandoned the Moncloa Palace are Junts and Podem. In contrast, Esquerra Republicana is the only partner that has voted in favor of all 31 royal decree-laws promoted by the Spanish government and submitted to a vote in the lower house. The Republicans, along with the PNV, are the only ones with a specific clause in their legislation. the investiture agreement which they signed with the PSOE in which they commit to "providing stability" to the legislature "in parallel with fulfilling the commitments made" through the "willingness to approve," among other things, the decree laws.

I would like to believe that Transport Minister Óscar Puente's approach to political participation will be different after his recent experiences. The most solemn and dignified ceremony for the Adamuz and Gelida train accidents took place last Thursday at the Carolina Marín Sports Palace in Huelva. The most significant moment at this state funeral was the speech by Liliana Sáenz, daughter of one of the victims. "We are the families [now 46] who will fight to know the truth," she said, emphasizing the meaning and purpose of her words. "Only the truth," she added, "will help us heal this wound that will never close. We will know the truth, we will fight to ensure there is never another train accident, but we will do so with serenity, with relief."

President Illa remains hospitalized and, therefore, today it was the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, who answered the questions put to the president in the control session.

Podemos had been until now a wall to the agreement between the PSOE and Junts for the delegation of immigration powers in Catalonia. "It won't be done with Podemos' votes," the purple party asserted, very belligerent about the "racist" motives it attributed to the pact. This outright opposition was the main obstacle to fulfilling one of the demands of Carles Puigdemont's party in exchange for parliamentary support for the Socialists. The failure to meet this point was, in fact, one of the main reasons cited by the Catalan branch of the ruling coalition for breaking with the central government. At one of the most delicate moments of the legislature, with the Spanish government on the ropes due to the railway crisis, the PSOE has pressed the button that Podemos had already indicated could be the key to this impasse: the regularization of half a million people already in Spain. MEP Irene Montero confirmed this Tuesday that her party is now open to negotiating the delegation of powers to the Catalan government. Speaking to SER, he showed his willingness to now discuss the text in order to "modify" what had been blocked until now. so that it "has no racist content"Despite the fact that the PSOE-Junts bill is a rather technical document that transfers functions previously carried out by the central government to the Generalitat (Catalan government), Podemos leader Ione Belarra confirmed at a press conference in Congress that "we are open to negotiation as long as our contributions are taken into account." "Before discussing powers, we had to guarantee rights," explained Montero to justify her party's change of position. Regularization, she added, was "one of the fundamental elements to ensure that the delegation of powers does not reinforce racism against migrants." Junts is demanding that the PSOE finally convince the party. "Catalonia needs to exercise 100% of its power regarding immigration," Junts deputies told the press after the plenary session in Congress. Party sources, along these lines, say that it is now up to the Socialists to revive the proposed law, which has been pending in the Spanish Parliament since September 23, when Congress rejected the initiative with votes against it from the PP, Vox, Podemos, UPN, one deputy from Compromís, and another from the Chunta Aragonesista.

A pact has been reached between the PSOE and Podemos parties to regularize the status of undocumented immigrants currently in Spain. This was announced by Podemos, through MEP Irene Montero, at an event this Monday in Madrid. She stated that the Spanish government will immediately issue a decree to end the irregular status of these individuals within Spain. Sources at La Moncloa (the Prime Minister's office) confirmed to ARA that the decree will be issued this Tuesday. The measure would affect half a million migrants (of whom more than 150,000 reside in Catalonia), according to Podemos's calculations. These migrants will have to prove five months of residency in Spain prior to December 31, 2025. They will have until June 30, six months from now, to complete the necessary paperwork. According to sources within Podemos, this measure will be implemented through a royal decree approved by the Spanish executive branch, which does not require ratification by Congress. This effectively shields the decision from any doubts that might arise from groups within the plurinational majority. It's worth noting that this measure was initially promoted through a popular legislative initiative (ILP) and was stalled in Congress. The agreement is the result of months of negotiations between Podemos and the Spanish government, representing a step forward in the strained relationship between Irene Montero's party and Pedro Sánchez. "It is an urgent measure of social justice that recognizes the rights of hundreds of thousands of people who live and work" in Spain, Podemos sources argue. "Until now, they have been denied basic rights due to an exercise in institutional racism that only fuels exploitation and racist hatred," they stated.

The left wing of the PSOE has long been engaged in a renewal process. Sumar, the citizens' movement launched by Yolanda Díaz in April 2023, hastily transformed into an electoral coalition for the June 23rd general election, aiming to unite progressives across Spain. However, nearly three years later, it has lost its initial momentum. Since its initial unity, the Sumar alliance has suffered an irreparable split with Podemos; the defection of part of Compromís; three electoral defeats in Galicia, the Basque Country, and the European elections; and has produced a diverse range of positions on key issues without achieving the desired appeal. Nevertheless, the left is not throwing in the towel and has joined forces to revitalize itself. For months, with particular emphasis in recent weeks, the Sumar Movement, United Left, Más Madrid, and Comunes—the four parties with representation in the cabinet—have been holding talks to carry out a necessary comprehensive update to the alliance in preparation for the upcoming general elections. However, the new horizon is emerging after Podemos has separated from him and Compromís has distanced itself from him, without a defined leadership and with deep doubts about the role that Yolanda Díaz should have.

The nearly 88,000 Aragonese voters who opted for the Sumar ballot in the 2023 general elections will face a dilemma in the upcoming regional elections on February 8th. While on that occasion they were able to vote for a unified candidacy of the forces to the left of the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party), now they will have to choose between three different lists: that of Izquierda Unida (United Left) and Sumar, that of Podemos, and that of the Chunta Aragonesista (CHA) and Verds Equo. Adding to this predicament is the fact that, while competing electorally, the Chunta will remain part of the Sumar group in Congress. Of the three parties, the CHA currently holds the most seats in the Aragonese Parliament: it has three representatives, ahead of Podemos (1 representative) and Izquierda Unida (1 representative). To make matters worse, the CHA candidate is none other than... Jorge Pueyo, member of Congress and, therefore, a member of Sumar in the lower house.