The Spanish government has prepared to welcome a ship with people infected with hantavirus to the Canary Islands, and the baser passions of the right-wing parties have been unleashed. Without any contribution or information about a case that is in the hands of the health authorities, they have focused on the crude speculation with the memory of the incomparable and painful episode of covid. Anything goes to take advantage of the situation. But one thing is to play politics and another is to play politics by seeking to instill fear in citizens without any justification, only to weaken the adversary. A formula that demonstrates the poor awareness of politics and the scant consideration for people. A move that could backfire on them.

It was only a matter of time before the management of the hantavirus crisis spilled over into the political arena. This happened on Thursday, two days after the debate began on whether the Canary Islands should be a stop or not for the ship MV Hondius where the outbreak of the disease has been detected. The PP has already criticized the role of Pedro Sánchez's government, and Vox has insinuated that if the Minister of Health, Mónica García, has finally accepted the cruise ship's passage, it is because she expects a future position in the World Health Organization (WHO).

That the Popular Party has a patrimonial conception of justice (of institutions in general, but of justice in particular: let's remember Ignacio Cosidó in his stage as a senator, boasting that the party controlled —it's just an example— the second chamber of the Supreme Court “through the back door”) is a well-known fact. This week, however, the PP has taken, in its capacity as a popular accuser, a step on this hitherto unprecedented path: dictating what the prison sentence should be for an accused person in an ongoing trial. And accusing the Prosecutor's Office of being “subject to the government” when it refuses to comply with its dictate.This is what happened with the businessman (we accept businessman as a euphemism) Victor de Aldama. The PP made it known to the public that it considers the appropriate sentence for this character to be five years in prison, a sentence that would precisely allow him to avoid entering a penitentiary institution by resorting to a couple of technicalities (technicalities, and pardon the joke). The Prosecutor's Office immediately replied no, that it requests seven years, as it had already established in its brief. The PP's response, in the words of Feijóo himself, is that the Prosecutor's Office has thus dashed the right of any person who collaborates with justice to obtain penal benefits in exchange for this collaboration.The “collaboration” of this Aldama with justice has so far consisted of appearing before judges and operating a fan for seven hours that spread lies, fabrications, half-truths, and some true facts, all mixed in any way, with a whiff of a biased and prefabricated narrative that is astonishing, and verbalized with an unacceptable and barroom language. That Feijóo (and not someone of lower rank within the party) comes out in his defense means that Aldama is a VIP, a piece considered key within the strategy that the PP has designed to harass and bring down the hated Pedro Sánchez, and with him his government. Aldama, let's remember, is an accused person in an ongoing trial: that a political party goes to the extreme of indicating what sentence can be imposed on him is a serious attempt to interfere with justice.We must assume that it does not come from here: in the case for which Aldama is accused, the former minister and former organization secretary of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, faces a request for 24 years in prison for crimes very similar to those committed by Isabel Díaz Ayuso's partner, who not only did not go to prison but also caused the dismissal of the State Prosecutor General Álvaro García Ortiz and received compensation of ten thousand euros for damages to his honor. The conclusions are self-evident, and the socialists have no right to complain much, because the practice of judicial dirty warfare dates back a long way and the PSOE did very little to prevent it.Be that as it may, for a party to dare to say what sentences should be handed down in a judicial process that is still open, even as a popular accuser, is more than worrying. If this is a party that claims to be fit to govern (and it is), the ways of its future government can only be authoritarian.

Ten months ago, Borja Sémper announced that he had just been diagnosed with cancer. During this time, the illness has kept him away from political activity. This Tuesday, the popular spokesperson has officially returned. Sémper starred in a packed press breakfast in Madrid, where, amidst expressions of affection, he wanted to "bid farewell to this difficult stage" during which his "vital compass coordinates" have changed. The PP leader had already reappeared in some media outlets and this Monday rejoined the party's steering committee. Next week, he will be the one to appear at the weekly press conference in Génova. However, Sémper wanted to hold this event with the specific objective of speaking openly about his pancreatic cancer in order to stop talking about it.

The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, will attend the annual meeting of the Cercle d'Economia to be held from June 1 to 3 in Barcelona, the first meeting with Teresa Garcia-Milà as president of the institution. This year the central theme will be Europe's strategic autonomy in the context of the war in the Middle East, which adds to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and the difficult relations of the Old Continent with the administration of Donald Trump in the United States.

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.

In an era when international politics is at the forefront, Spanish leaders seek godfathers abroad to strengthen themselves internally and try to win the electoral game. The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, is the one who has the most blatant strategy in this regard, by establishing himself as one of the leaders of the world left this weekend in Barcelona, but also the rest of the political spaces go beyond borders to seek references. These days, the PP and Vox have made a demonstration with the reception of María Corina Machado – whom they use to attack the Spanish government – and a few days ago it was Viktor Orbán's defeat in Hungary that marked Spanish politics.

While Pedro Sánchez received Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, with military honors in Barcelona, at the PP headquarters in Madrid an alternative reception with honors was held for the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado. Dozens of popular affiliates, party officials, other anti-Chavista activists, and Alberto Núñez Feijóo himself gathered at the entrance of the headquarters on Génova street to applaud Machado's arrival. The new Nobel Peace laureate, in full European tour, has allowed herself to be courted by the PP – in the afternoon she also has a meeting with the leader of Vox, Santiago Abascal – while turning her back on the Spanish government, with whom she has preferred not to meet.

Adamantly defending Spain's traditional alliances while the military and dialectical escalation of Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu increases puts the PP in a complicated situation. Alberto Núñez Feijóo has so far avoided confrontation with the United States and Israel even when they have attacked one of the pillars of Spanish conservatives, such as Catholicism. The Popular Party remained on the sidelines when the Israeli government vetoed Palm Sunday mass in the Holy Land, and now that the President of the USA has targeted Pope Leo XIV, Feijóo has been caught between the two.

Political life in Madrid is currently unfolding between two scenarios. Firstly, the courts, due to the start of the trials for corruption cases involving the PP and the PSOE. And secondly, in the realm of international relations, concerning everything related to the situation in the Middle East, after a precarious two-week truce was announced, with very uncertain results. These are very diverse issues, which obviously have nothing to do with each other, but which, if followed closely, give a fairly accurate idea of the point at which political forces stand, particularly those of the Popular Party and the Socialists. The start of the trial of the Ábalos-Koldo-Aldama case scheme was, and will continue to be in the coming weeks, a great opportunity for the PP to take advantage of the exhibition of the reprehensible procedures employed by the former Minister of Public Works and former organization secretary of the PSOE, his advisor, and the businessman who did business with them, in relation to public contracts to acquire sanitary material, allegedly violating the law in a tragic context, that of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Pedro Sánchez and Alberto Núñez Feijóo have not seen each other, but they have been two of the protagonists in the meeting of numerous political leaders this Friday in Barcelona. They have not shared a stage, but the clash between the two Spanish leaders has once again become evident. While the Spanish president has argued that "the European Union must suspend the association agreement with Israel" after "flagrant violations of international law", the leader of the opposition in the State has clashed head-on, reproaching him for having "betrayed" allies in a staunch defense of NATO with criticism of Spain's approach to China.At the European Pulse Forum, organized by Politico and BeBartlet, Sánchez has argued that Europe must be "firm in the defense of a rules-based order": "We cannot be content with lamenting, we only have to look at Gaza to see the consequences of the violation of international order. Let us not allow a new Gaza in Lebanon", he warned, to defend the total veto of Israel. Precisely, he has presented Europe as a "hope for peace", especially in "times of wars in Gaza, the West Bank, Iran and Lebanon", all of them provoked by Israel and the United States, with whom he maintains a tough confrontation. With the will to guarantee European "autonomy" and not depend on Donald Trump –whom he did not name–, he has insisted on the idea of forming a European army "tomorrow", as well as a "common" foreign policy. But he has also defended ties with China that the PP criticizes and some signed trade agreements: "The government of Spain supports the Mercosur agreements", he said, and also "strengthening ties" with India, the US, and China, which he will visit again. "Sanchista" Europeanismsanchista has permeated his speech with the defense of the "capacity to dream" in European integration and he was encouraged by a phrase in English: "It feels good to be European" [Being European makes you feel good]. As an ally, he had already found the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, who said before his speech that "Sánchez's government will survive" and defended his "clear international leadership".Criticism from the PP

In turn, Feijóo has made a wholesale amendment to Sánchez's government and its international alliances. The PP leader has fully defended NATO, despite the twists and turns and the multiple conflicts initiated by the US president, Donald Trump. He even used the word "traitor" when reviewing Spain's position in Europe. "I know that many are worried that Spain has abandoned allies," he said, and warned that he has opted for "new allies" in recent conflicts that have clashed with traditional ones. "The European Union is not just a market, it is a commitment that is respected in good times and bad. As a minister told me, when one abandons Europe, one becomes a traitor to Europe," he snapped. In fact, he had specifically mentioned "technological alliances that contradict the principles of the EU," in reference to China. Is Pedro Sánchez the "traitor" Feijóo is talking about?

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The day before the trial of the Kitchen case began at the National Court, the PP announced that its strategy was to create a firewall. "Feijóo is not the Kitchen," party sources proclaimed. This has been the popular party's approach throughout the first and second days of the oral hearing. The argument that current PP leaders repeat both in public and in private is that it is a matter related to the past, which has absolutely nothing to do with Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the current popular president's team. The person in charge of verbalizing this on Tuesday was Alicia García, spokesperson in the Senate, in a press conference focused on attacking Pedro Sánchez for the alleged corruption surrounding him. "We are talking about a case from more than ten or fifteen years ago, but today a case from fifteen minutes ago from the PSOE is being judged. And those that remain," she defended.

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In the war for the digital narrative, the tug-of-war between the Spanish government and the PP has moved to the vertical format. The two main Spanish politicians opened accounts on TikTok almost simultaneously, although the impact they have is quite different. Alberto Núñez Feijóo was the first to land there in September 2025, just two days before the Spanish prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, did. It is the socialist leader, however, who has gotten the most out of it: Sánchez already has 764,400 followers and over nine million likes. The most striking data from the comparison is that the total number of followers of the popular leader is approximately equivalent to the volume of new users that the Spanish prime minister gains in just one week. A gap that becomes even more evident in the impact of the content: Sánchez's last ten videos have an average of 1.1 million views, thirty-six times more than Feijóo's 31,200.

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Alberto Núñez Feijóo's frustration at not being able to govern this legislature is palpable in the Senate. Given the impossibility of implementing his program, in the last two years the popular leader has used the upper house as a kind of showcase for what Spain governed by him would be like. Although the PP's absolute majority there is sterile because Congress blocks legislative initiatives, far from standing still and throwing in the towel, the popular parliamentary group has approved about forty laws in the upper house. For now, they cannot be applied, but from the Senate, the popular party members media-wise claim them as the alternative to Pedro Sánchez and propose the work done on these draft laws as a basis from which to start working when Feijóo arrives at Moncloa. A scenario in which they are confident from 2027 onwards. This is a portrait of what an eventual Spain governed by the PP would be like according to the initiatives they have proposed in the Senate:

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The course of events during the last weeks reinforces the idea that we still have a long way to go in the current legislature. It has been some time since the media spotlight has no longer been on negative judicial decisions for the government each day. Furthermore, Sánchez continues to gain traction with his policy of direct criticism of the actions of the United States and Israel, which has led to the burning of the Middle East. The changes in the Council of Ministers have also once again provided the socialists with a respite, with attention focused on Carlos Cuerpo, the new first vice-president, who has become a symbol for his calm and dialoguing nature. It's like saying that another type of political practice, different from what we are used to, is possible.

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When Pedro Sánchez dusted off the slogan “No to war”, he knew perfectly well what he was doing. The confusion it has caused in the PP is such that the best response Feijóo's spin doctors could come up with in Wednesday's session was: “No to war and no to you”.

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This morning something very interesting happened, a new strategic move by Pedro Sánchez in his long and well-known struggle to resist, to resist everything: his collaborators in prison, the indictment of his wife and brother, his party defeated in every election in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León. This morning Sánchez went to Congress to explain the social measures to alleviate the cost of the war in Iran. And he went on the attack. Seeing that Europe is no longer leaving him alone with the "No to war" movement, he said that the 2026 war in Iran is like the 2003 Iraq War, which had disastrous consequences in Iraq, in the world, and on our streets with Islamist terrorism. That if that war was illegal, this one is too. And that the People's Party (PP) was complicit. But to say that Iran is like Iraq, to ​​once again use the trump card of the "No to war" movement of 2003, is déjà vu. And then, Sánchez personalized it with a tremendous attack against José María Aznar. He said that Aznar, in 2003, wanted to feel important, that he supported a war in exchange for ego, for the power to influence George Bush. He recalled that the Madrid bombings were the fault of that war. And he recalled that Aznar shows no remorse. He even went so far as to question his morality.

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Alberto Núñez Feijóo clings to the good results for the PP in Castile and León to try to corner Vox. In an interview this Tuesday on EsRadio, the Popular Party leader called on the far right to abandon its "political myopia" and "read the ballot boxes correctly." Feijóo accused Santiago Abascal's party of taking an "adolescent approach" to negotiations with the Popular Party in Extremadura, Aragon, and Castile and León and demanded they finalize a pact now. "If the PP has twice as many votes as you, and in some regions, three times as many, it is undemocratic to prevent this party from governing," he went so far as to say.

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The big news from the elections in Castile and León is that, for the first time in a long time, the expectations predicting a surge for Vox have not materialized. Polls forecasting a drop for the People's Party (PP) and a Vox surge to 19 seats and over 20% of the vote have instead led to a scenario that reinforces the two-party system, with both the PP and the Socialists gaining more seats (+2) than Vox (+1). Therefore, it is legitimate to ask whether the far-right wave is reaching its peak, especially considering that the campaign coincided with Donald Trump's escalating involvement in the Iran-Contra affair. However, two points need to be clarified. Vox's rise hasn't been as significant because it was already starting from a strong position in 2022, when it obtained 17.6% of the vote and 13 seats. The electoral system, especially in a territory with many constituencies, benefits the two major parties and disadvantages third parties, as has been the case. The second point is that, while the far right is not growing as much, the hegemony of the right is consolidating.

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Pedro Sánchez has reaffirmed his "No to war" stance, which positions him as the antithesis of Donald Trump within the European Union, and has intensified his confrontation with the President of the United States. the publication of an article in 'The Economist' this FridayIn it, the Spanish Prime Minister explains the position that has led to his clash with the Trump administration and argues that he owes "blind obedience" to the US in the "reckless path" it has embarked upon in Iran, however much it may be an allied country. Sánchez insisted on this point in his appearance following the Spanish-Portuguese summit held in Huelva. "Among allied countries, it is good to help when one is right and also to point out when one is wrong or is making a mistake," he said.

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