With 500 figurines, 60,000 lights, and a budget of 45,000 euros, the nativity scene at the headquarters of the Community of Madrid is the largest in the Spanish capital. This year's display has everything: from the Annunciation to the arrival of the Three Wise Men, including a reproduction of the Temple of Debod and the pyramids of Giza in the biblical episode of the Flight into Egypt—and even a figure of Pope Francis. What this nativity scene lacks, unlike the one at Madrid City Hall, is a Spanish flag. However, this hasn't always been the case: there was a year when the 120 square meters of the display were surrounded by an enormous red and yellow flag, just as has been done with the birth of the Madrid City Council since 2019. However, all of this was due to a misunderstanding caused by the former president of the Community of Madrid, Esperanza Aguirre.

After many years of work as advisors, think tanks and spin doctorsMadrid (that is, Spanish) politics has managed to resemble the most viscous programs on the most popular trash TV. Shouts, nervous breakdowns, threats, fake tears, fake laughter, outlandish characters, speeches that literally make no sense, and language that, in its rudeness and poverty, would put even the most notorious chibius criminals to shame have become the order of the day. As citizens—and as taxpayers—it's impossible to devote even a few minutes of attention to them without feeling an unpleasant mix of stupefaction, embarrassment, and anger. If Pedro Sánchez claimed roughly a year ago that he wanted to "stop the mud machine," nothing else can be said about what has come out of it. On the contrary, the PSOE itself—which always moves in tow with the PP and Vox—is also fully caught in the machine. This Friday the Spanish president is expected to get down in the mud at a forum that is supposed to be an institutional and coordination meeting between the central government and the autonomous governments, but which they men from the PP have already announced that they will go into politics hooligan, for attempting to say no to everything against Sánchez, using the financing of Catalonia and Catalanophobia as the main arguments.

Former Madrid President Esperanza Aguirre, out of the political spotlight since 2017, continues to stir up controversy. As she has done on other occasions, she has once again whitewashed the 1936 military coup and has not held back when it comes to defending the dictatorship over a democratic regime like the Second Republic. In an interview with The CountryAguirre acknowledges that Franco's regime imposed "a repressive dictatorship," but says it "allowed the middle class to emerge." "Of course, how would those who had been killed have opportunities to advance? But Spain grew exponentially," she adds, downplaying the repression suffered by all those who fought against fascism.

If former Madrid president Esperanza Aguirre comes to Barcelona, ​​​​a sector of the hardline and "liberal" wing of the PP goes like a faithful to mass. But this sector, which also includes aristocrats like those who bought titles at the beginning of the 20th century and their descendants like the businessman Joaco Güell – ex-husband of Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo –, is not always disciplined: neither in their arrival time nor in what they say. Güell was in charge of presenting his book, A liberal in politics (Deusto, 2025), at the Casa del Libro in Barcelona, ​​​​along with former CEOE president Joan Rosell and former PP leader Santi Fisas, but one of the key figures, when it was time to start, wasn't in his place. On time, only the leader of the Catalan PP, Alejandro Fernández, also a leader of the hardline sector, was missing.

From the start, it is clear that the right is not united to defeat Pedro Sánchez. At the talk called by the International Foundation for Freedom, chaired by Mario Vargas Llosa, the former leader of Cs Albert Rivera arrives late. Afterwards, he will have the detail of staying to chat and take photos with the young people who have come to listen to him, together with the former president of the Community of Madrid Esperanza Aguirre (PP) and the former spokesperson for Vox in Congress Iván Espinosa de los Monteros. The moderator of the event, a young admirer of Javier Milei born in Rosario who praises his fellow citizen Leo Messi and describes Che Guevara as a "murderer", warns that the event will last an hour because Real Madrid is playing afterwards. Seeing how, fleetingly, Espinosa de los Monteros leaves the space as soon as the talk ends, it is clear who has set these conditions.