The Community of Madrid "is doing very well" and claims to be "the economic engine of Spain". However, according to Isabel Díaz Ayuso's government, this positive scenario occurs "despite" Pedro Sánchez's executive. Sources from the Madrid Ministry of Economy and Finance denounce "the asphyxiation" to which, in their opinion, the State has subjected them. Since 2019, when Ayuso took the reins of the regional government, the "consolidated debt" of the Spanish government with Madrid already amounts to 12,367 million euros, according to the calculation of Ayuso's team. "Mr. Sánchez's government is holding hostage the money of the people of Madrid that goes to issues as important as healthcare, dependency, or education," says the counselor Rocío Albert, in charge of Madrid's economic affairs, in statements to the press.

The first rule of authoritarian leaders is to delegitimize institutions and never recognize an electoral defeat. We are seeing this in the United States with Donald Trump, who six years later still has not recognized Joe Biden's victory in 2020. In Spain, it is Vox who applies the trumpism instruction manual to the letter, and it has been weeks since Santiago Abascal and his followers have been propagating on social media and through every means possible the idea that Pedro Sánchez's government is preparing a rigged election for the elections scheduled for next year. This breeding ground is fueled by fake news about Indra's power, about the manipulation of mail-in voting, or about the effects that the regularization of immigrants will have on the census, which is nil. The objective, however, is to create an unbreathable climate, close to insurrection, and to prepare the ground to challenge the results if they do not match their expectations. The risk, however, of provoking a social explosion with violence is very high, as already happened on January 6, 2021, in the Capitol or also in Brasília on January 8, 2023.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso does not seem overly concerned by the diplomatic headaches between Spain and Mexico. Beyond what the progressive meeting in Barcelona meant for the left, that summit was also relevant for another reason: the visit of Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, to the State. Her presence signified a resumption of diplomatic relations after years of clashes due to the Spanish refusal to apologize for the Conquest. The Spanish government recognized for the first time the "injustice" of the colonial past with Mexico, and then King Felipe VI acknowledged "abuses" with a gesture that was very well received by the Mexican authorities. However, amid this climate of reconciliation, the president of the Community of Madrid has intervened.

Of the 179 municipalities in the Community of Madrid, 114, almost 64% of the total, are governed by the PP. The percentage increases if we focus on the 37 with the largest populations. 70% of the municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants are tinged blue. The Isabel Díaz Ayuso effect caused the left to even lose some of its strongholds in southern Madrid, traditionally called the red belt, in the last local elections of 2023, as is the case with Móstoles and Leganés –second and fourth most populated cities–. The popular party also snatched Alcalá de Henares and Alcobendas from the PSOE –third and tenth, located to the east and north, respectively.

Alberto Núñez Feijóo has opened a rift in his own party with the adoption of the principle of "national priority", an emblem of the far-right Le Penist movement that has been spreading across the rest of Europe, but which the PP had never embraced. What's more, it had vehemently rejected it.

A poorly informed passerby wondered at five in the afternoon if the hundreds of Venezuelans gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol were celebrating a football triumph. Seeing children with Venezuela's colors painted on their faces, the sea of flags that flooded the square, and the festive atmosphere that hovered over the event could have suggested it. But no. "It's living what we always wanted there, freedom," summarizes Francisco, who has been living in Madrid for eight years and introduces María Corina Machado as a "bulwark of the fight for freedom." For Clara, who has also been in Spain for eight years, it is "the great hope for achieving a democratic country forever." They are two of the thousands of Venezuelans waiting for the leader of the Venezuelan opposition on the day she has been distinguished by Isabel Díaz Ayuso with the Gold Medal of the Community of Madrid. "She is our future president, the one who has liberated us and the one who has taken away the dictator," thanks Mariel, who left Venezuela 26 years ago and now lives in Seville. "Donald Trump is not the ideal president, but he has given us the encouragement and hope that we can indeed get out of this," acknowledges Frai, who has been living in Valencia for three years.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has used an advisor of hers in the Community of Madrid to search for and buy a new apartment in the Spanish capital, according to what Eldiario.es publishes this Thursday. The information from the digital outlet, which the popular leader's team has not denied, indicates that the head of office of the Madrid presidency secretariat, Álvaro Sanz, has been in charge of the arrangements for the search for Ayuso's new home: he has made contacts with representatives of at least one property, arranged visits to the property, and even participated in the negotiation of the purchase price.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has used an advisor of hers in the Community of Madrid to look for and buy a new apartment in the Spanish capital, according to what Eldiario.es publishes this Thursday. The information from the digital outlet, which the popular leader's team has not denied, indicates that the head of office of the Madrid presidency's secretariat, Álvaro Sanz, has been in charge of the arrangements for Ayuso's new home search: he has handled everything from contacts with representatives of at least one property to arranging visits to the property and even participated in the negotiation of the purchase price.

Although Ayuso is understood when she speaks, this time her new creation –“the culture is universal”– does need translation. What she is saying is that only Madrid is universal and, therefore, the Guernica cannot be lent for nine months to the Basque Country, as requested by the Basque government to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the bombing of civilian populations by Hitler's aviation, an ally of Franco. With the full sentence it becomes clearer: “I think it's provincial, and I think that culture is universal”.

This 2026 one of the most iconic buildings in the center of Madrid celebrates its centenary. It is the headquarters of the Círculo de Bellas Artes (CBA), a private, non-profit cultural institution that claims to be a "reference of freedom and independence" in the capital of the State. In recent years, it has focused on "opening up to citizens" with initiatives such as the climate shelter —they have set up a green and free space that last summer was used by 60,000 people to protect themselves from the heat; the Festival of Ideas, which brings philosophy to the streets, or the City and Science Biennial, organized in collaboration with the Barcelona City Council.

The cultural battle is a concept that in the last decade has been inherent to the rise of the global far-right. In Spain, Vox has been fighting it for years to try to change the debate framework on issues such as feminism, environmentalism or LGTBI rights and to normalize discourses that were not previously acceptable. An example of this is the media coverage that the euthanasia process of Noelia Castillo has had this week and, in this context, the statements of the Madrid Minister of Health, Fátima Matute, talking about the importance of institutions also focusing on "healing the soul" are striking. As the elections in the Community of Madrid, scheduled for 2027, approach, its president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and her executive are increasingly adopting elements of the cultural war against progressivism. Ayuso has recently asked her supporters to exercise extreme vigilance to avoid losing the absolute majority, with an eye on Vox.

When the euthanasia law was approved in June 2021, support for the initiative was very broad in Spanish society, which had experienced emblematic cases such as that of Ramon Sampedro (died in 1998), played by Javier Bardem in Alejandro Amenábar's film Mar adentro, or that of Ángel Hernández, the man who helped his wife, María José Carrasco, to die in 2019 and who was acquitted of the crime of aiding suicide once the law came into force. According to a CIS barometer from January 2021, 72% were in favor of the law and only 15% against.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Santiago Abascal sitting on a powerful motorcycle painted with the Spanish flag. It is not a real image – nor AI – but a Fallas puppet exhibited this week in Valencia. Although there is no alliance between them in real life – rather a dispute over the same electoral space in Madrid – their radical speeches and the sympathies shared by the Madrid president and the Vox leader in the international arena make the vision of this tandem not particularly jarring to the spectators of the Fallas monuments. Abascal's ties with the far-right world leaders are official and organic – through alliances in the Eurochamber or with foundations of this ideological space – while Ayuso has them from a more symbolic perspective. This is what happens with Donald Trump.

King Felipe VI's gesture toward Mexico—in which he acknowledged the "abuses" committed during the conquest of the Americas—has had an initial, palpable effect on thawing relations. According to the Royal Household, the monarch has received an invitation from Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum to attend the World Cup, which her country will host from July 11 to 19. In a letter, Sheinbaum expresses that this sporting event "provides the perfect opportunity to highlight the depth and unique character of the ties between Mexico and Spain, forged by a historical brotherhood." The invitation was welcomed at the Zarzuela Palace "within the framework of the fraternal relationship of friendship between the two countries." At a press conference this Tuesday, Sheinbaum indicated her willingness to accept the monarch's invitation and welcomed his remarks earlier in the week during a conversation with the Mexican ambassador to Spain while visiting the exhibition.Half the world. Women in indigenous Mexico. The Mexican government had been demanding for years an apology to Spainbecause of its colonial past. Although Felipe VI did not apologize, the Mexican president interpreted his words—in which he admitted that there are behaviors that, viewed through the lens of current values, are not something to be "proud of"—as "a gesture of rapprochement" within the framework of a process that "must continue to be worked on."

How much should presidents be paid? In Catalonia, it has historically been decided that the salary of the President of the Generalitat should be among the highest in the State. In fact, for years the President of the Generalitat has occupied the first position in the ranking. Carles Ramió, a professor of political science at Pompeu Fabra University, warns that the debate about politicians' salaries tends to be full of demagoguery and points to the need to have well-paid public servants to attract talent and avoid pernicious dynamics. Furthermore, he recalls that all figures are gross, meaning that tax withholdings make the net figure substantially lower.The draft budget for 2026 foresees that the salary of the head of the executive, Salvador Illa, will increase by 6,378.88 euros, rising from the 140,256.96 euros he received last year to 146,635.84 annually. To put this into perspective, the Basque Lehendakari, Imanol Pradales, second in the ranking, receives 117,243.14 euros, while the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, in third position, earns 103,090.32 euros. The gap is even wider when we look towards Moncloa: the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, has a salary of 95,943.96 euros, almost 51,000 euros less than Illa.This hierarchy is also maintained at the second tier. A minister of the Generalitat of Catalonia earns 130,049.36 euros, exceeding the 104,512.94 euros of a minister from the Basque Country or the 103,080.48 euros of their Madrid counterparts.Beyond the Government: where are the highest salaries found?If we look at the legislative chambers, the presidencies of the Cortes Generales and the Parliament of Catalonia represent the highest peaks. According to data from the remuneration registry, the president of the Parliament of Catalonia, Josep Rull, will receive 151,995.48 euros in 2026, while in Spain, the president of the Congress, Francina Armengol, earns 230,911.66 euros and the president of the Senate, Pedro Rollán, earns 191,240.42 euros.However, where are the highest salaries in the public sector? In Spain, public companies and regulatory bodies top the list. The three highest salaries are practically identical and correspond to the presidency of Loterías de l'Estat (252,474.97 euros), SEPI (251,242.18), and CESCE (251,530). In Catalonia, while the artistic director of the TNC, the general director, and the president of Ferrocarrils top the podium with 125,001.76 euros, these do not exceed the president's figures.Change of mind"I will make a commitment: I will lower the salary of the President of the Generalitat to the highest salary of a regional president other than Catalonia, which is that of the Lehendakari. It is a 30% reduction, to be close to the people." This was one of the proposals made by Salvador Illa during the 2021 election campaign. Although he was the most voted, he could not govern in that legislature, and in the following election campaign, that of 2024, he no longer repeated this commitment.In 2021, the president's remuneration was at its historical maximum, 153,236 euros, with Quim Torra at the head of the Generalitat. His successor, Pere Aragonès, , bringing it down to 130,251 euros. Since then, it has been revalued to maintain purchasing power.Faced with criticism for this change of opinion, Illa defended himself last Wednesday in Parliament, stating before the Plenary: "The increase [foreseen in the budgets] is what has been applied to all public servants in Catalonia, and I am a public servant of Catalonia." This increase is a result of the application of the legal framework that links the salaries of senior officials to the increases agreed for all civil servants.Paying little can be expensiveThe debate about public salaries is not just a matter of figures. Ramió warns that demagoguery about low salaries has a hidden cost: the difficulty in attracting competent managers. According to the political scientist, "for every two or three proposals they make for a minister, they often say no" because, fundamentally, "compared to the market and considering the responsibility, the salary is very low." If the public sector is not competitive, Ramió states, it risks being left in the hands of unprofessional profiles.Ramió also warns of two other risks associated with low salaries. When pressure and responsibility are extreme, but the remuneration is "ridiculous," it opens the door, in his opinion, to corruption. And, as a final reflection, he invites us to consider the model of the "rich politician" who doesn't need a salary, personified by Donald Trump. He ironically states that if the goal is to pay the minimum, "the best president in the world is Donald Trump, because he only earns a dollar a year." But the risk of this mirage is high: "What do we want? For politics to be done only by the rich?"

A war of the dimensions and transcendence of that initiated in the Middle East deserved from the outset a serious and documented debate on the background and possible repercussions of the conflict. The way this issue has taken shape in Spanish politics in general is already very disappointing, but if we move to another administrative level, that of the Community of Madrid, things worsen. It is not surprising, because during this legislature it has been common for the PP of Madrid, and especially its president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, to seek confrontation with the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez.

The High Court of Justice of Madrid has ordered the Community of Madrid to "immediately" begin the procedures for creating a registry of conscientious objectors to voluntary terminations of pregnancy, a list mandated by law and approved by the Interterritorial Council (comprised of representatives from all autonomous communities). The ruling by the eighth section of the court's administrative chamber is a further step in the ongoing dispute between the government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and the Ministry of Health, headed by Mónica García, which has resisted establishing a registry of professionals who refuse to perform abortions. In fact, the judges upheld the precautionary measures requested by the Ministry. The court specifies that although the precautionary measure does not require the Community of Madrid to create the registry immediately, it does impose the obligation to initiate the necessary administrative procedures to develop and approve it, in compliance with current regulations. However, she justifies the decision as a way to "combat the passivity" of the Madrid administration, since she believes there is a "risk of delay" and that the Ayuso government will try to "indefinitely prolong" the creation of the list.

The president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and the leader of the opposition, Manuela Bergerot, have engaged in a cheap, low-quality controversy, which is what political leaders do to serve up a daily dose of cheap entertainment. Ayuso says she "encourages" left-wing women—the verb is very well chosen—to "go out alone and drunk at night in Iran," and also to "take their gay friends along, to see when they get hung from cranes." She thus supports Donald Trump, embracing the amoral premise: if the leaders of a country are inhumane to the civilian population, the civilian population can be bombed under the pretext of bringing them down. Bergerot responded that "the first condition for a woman to be free is that her country not be bombed," and that she has a "mania" for "scolding women who like to go out partying," which is an idiotic statement, because it's a cynical "whataboutism." Speaking of women's freedom from being bombed, she downplays the freedom to walk down the street without rags covering you up like an Egyptian mummy.

Isabel Díaz Ayuso has once again positioned herself as Pedro Sánchez's antagonist in the wake of the Iran war. The Madrid president has attacked the Spanish prime minister for his clash with the United States, casting herself as his antithesis with a discourse aligned with Donald Trump. Just as she did with Gaza—with the controversial support he gave to Benjamin Netanyahu Amid Israel's offensive—or the unilateral US attack on Venezuela—Ayuso has escalated her rhetoric against the Spanish Prime Minister's "No to war" stance, labeling him a "rebellious teenage leader." "Of course, no to war, and may it end as soon as possible, but also no to the Spanish civil war that [the PSOE] fuels every day," the Madrid PP leader emphasized during the question period in the Madrid Assembly, responding to the PSOE. All the Socialist deputies wore stickers with the pacifist slogan, revived by their leader, superimposed on a Spanish flag. In this direct confrontation with Sánchez—which both the Moncloa Palace and Ayuso are stoking to the detriment of Alberto Núñez Feijóo's leadership—the Madrid PP leader's words have provoked widespread outrage on the left.

The internal crisis facing Isabel Díaz Ayuso is evident, although the Madrid president has tried to downplay it. During Thursday's question time in the Madrid Assembly, Ayuso had to address the controversial fall from grace of a sector within her regional government and the Popular Party's parliamentary group. "There is no distraction tactic that can cover up the infighting that has erupted with Viciana's dismissal," warned the leader of the opposition, spokesperson for Más Madrid, Manuela Bergerot. The departure earlier this week of the Minister of Education, Emilio Viciana, has triggered a trickle of resignations and dismissals of other officials linked to the now former minister. All of them fall under the influence of Antonio Castillo Algarra, a playwright considered an advisor to Ayuso in the educational and cultural spheres, and who is also one of those who resigned as director of the Spanish Ballet of the Community of Madrid.