The week begins under the shadow of two pieces of news, one good and one bad. The bad one? Train drivers' strikeThe good news? The AP-7 motorway reopened this morning after being closed for three weeks. All three lanes between Martorell and Gelida are now open in the direction of Tarragona.

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 This legislature has seen five repealed, the same number as in the previous 45 years.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.

Since the fortunate end of ETA terrorism, the Basque Country has lost the media prominence it enjoyed since the Transition, but this does not mean its political conflict with the Spanish State has ceased to exist. The political struggle for greater self-government has historically been led by the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), although in recent years the pragmatic shift of EH Bildu has also led the radical Basque nationalist left to join the fray. Basque society is so convinced that negotiation is the right path, after the trauma of political violence, and that to optimize this negotiation it is necessary to strengthen its own parties that the PNV and Bildu together hold 65% of the votes in the Basque Parliament and 54 of the 75 seats. On the 16th, the Basque and Spanish governments, within the framework of the Joint Transfer Commission, signed the transfer of five new powers to the Basque Country: Maritime Rescue, the management of the Barakaldo Machinery Verification Center, non-contributory family benefits, unemployment benefits, and school insurance. It was also approved that the Basque Country will manage unemployment benefits starting January 1, 2027, meaning that the SEPE (State Public Employment Service) offices will become part of the Basque Lanbide network (in Catalonia, there is a dual network of the SEPE and the Generalitat's OTGs for active employment policies). It is highly significant that all these powers have taken 45 years to be transferred, despite being enshrined in an organic law such as the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia.

Oriol Junqueras and Arnaldo Otegi met this Monday in San Sebastián. The meeting is not innocuous, but comes weeks after the debate about an understanding between the left-wing and pro-independence parties in the State has surfaced, especially in the wake of the proposal publicly defended by ERC spokesperson in Congress, Gabriel RufiánAn idea, that of forming a plurinational, left-wing coalition that could run in the next general elections, does not have the support of the Republicans' leadership nor that of EH Bildu. In a statement, both parties explain that in this morning's meeting they "analyzed the scenarios that could arise in the coming months" and that the objective was "to explore responses to the complicated and hopeless situation generated in the world and in Spain." However, they make no reference to the possibility of forming an electoral coalition as Rufián proposed and simply state that they will "always" collaborate so that their projects "are stronger and our countries are more just and free."

Antxon Alonso Egurrola is a businessman from Elgoibar who met Santos Cerdán almost twenty years ago in Milagro (Navarra), where the former secretary of organization of the PSOE was a councilor. Their first shared business did not work out, but the friendship and collaboration between the two was just beginning. A few years later, Santos and the Gipuzkoa, that is, the Guipuzcoan, meet again. If the UCO report is to be believed, the man currently imprisoned in Soto del Real joined two political powerhouses: María Chivite and Pedro Sánchez. At the same time, Antxon allegedly built up both of their businesses. Later, according to the police report, Koldo García, the traitor who recorded everything, would join them.

Less than a year ago, the Biscayan municipality of Plentzia approved a motion declaring itself an integral part of a Basque republic. It did so following an initiative by the Ehun association, which advocates a unilateral path to independence, with the vote in favor of EH Bildu, which governs with an absolute majority, and the abstention of the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party). The proponents of the proposal then highlighted its importance as it was the first time an institution had declared itself part of the Basque republic. "The people of Plentzia have self-determined," declared Ehun.

EH Bildu will save the Spanish government's law of democratic memory. The party announced yesterday an agreement to support the Socialists' bill, which they want to pass at the Spanish parliament's extraordinary plenary session on July 11. EH Bildu has agreed with the state executive to declare Francoist courts "illegal and illegitimate" and all their resolutions and sentences void. Their support will be sufficient for the law to be passed, since the PNV, the PDECat, Más País and Compromís have also announced they will vote in favour. The regulation, therefore, could go ahead without ERC's support.