In the middle of a horribilis week for the PSOE due to the judicial agenda against Pedro Sánchez's circle, the socialists and Sumar have agreed to unblock one of the pending issues in Congress. The two formations that make up the Spanish government have announced the push for the reform of the Penal Code which includes, among others, the repeal of the crimes of insult and slander against the Crown and offenses against religious feelings. This modification proposal had been shelved in the lower house for more than two years. The pact recovers the bill presented by Sumar at the beginning of the legislature – it was taken into consideration by Congress at the end of 2023 – and plans to abolish fines and prison sentences of up to two years for insulting or slandering any member of the Spanish royal family or for using their image in a way that "could damage the prestige of the Crown", as currently established in the Penal Code.

Moviment Sumar –Yolanda Díaz's party– has set course for its third general assembly in three years to update its roadmap. The conclave, which will be held on July 11, will arrive at a time when the formation is immersed in an internal crisis that has erupted after two significant resignations from the executive that have highlighted a fratricidal war for power. One of the main missions of the extraordinary congress will be to choose the two people who are to lead the party. But the formation will also have to approve the political-organizational report. One of the issues to which the draft refers is the alliance policy that Sumar must weave, and it directly alludes to "the sovereignist left," which in Catalonia is led by Esquerra Republicana. "We will not build a common entity with forces that have different ideas of the State from ours, but we can build a common program and a conjunctural alliance," the document states.

Moviment Sumar is immersed in an earthquake. As a parenthesis, a first note: it is the party founded by Yolanda Díaz three years ago and which, together with Comuns, Esquerra Unida and Més Madrid, is designing a new alliance to run in coalition in the general elections scheduled for 2027. The formation was formally led by Yolanda Díaz until the current second vice-president of the Spanish government resigned the day after the blow in the European elections of June 2024 and distanced herself from the day-to-day organic work. "I have the feeling that in these months I have not done what I should have done," she acknowledged at the time. Last February, amid the reconfiguration movements to the left of the PSOE, Díaz announced that she would not run again as a candidate for Moncloa and left a clear path for the four parties in the platform to choose a new figurehead. But one of the actors, Sumar, is going through one of its weakest moments after the until now organization secretary, Laura Moreno, has resigned with a very harsh letter against the leadership. This is a departure that adds to the recent resignation of David Comas as communication secretary, which had not been made public. All this comes as Moviment Sumar is about to hold its General Assembly, the third in three years, to set the party's course. It began to be prepared three months ago and will finally be held in Madrid on Saturday, July 11. "We have an important assembly ahead of us for which we want to make an effort for serenity and care," defend sources from the formation. "We know that it has not been like that in recent days and for this reason we would like to apologize," they add.

The left-wing front that began to walk in February in Madrid made a stop this Saturday in Barcelona. Comuns, Més Madrid, Esquerra Unida and Moviment Sumar have once again shared a stage to defend a common project for the upcoming general elections at a time when Gabriel Rufián's proposal, which calls for uniting state and sovereignist left-wing forces, continues to resonate. Under the slogan A step forward, the promoters of this refoundation of what was Sumar in 2023 have presented themselves as the alternative to the PSOE at a time when cases of alleged corruption surround the socialists and, especially, the environment of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. In this regard, the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun, has demanded that the PSOE make a move: "Responsibilities must be assumed, faces must be shown, and brave decisions must be made".

Nobody questions that Gabriel Rufián has established himself as an undisputed benchmark for the left throughout the State: he is, after all, the fourth best-rated politician in Spain and the preferred by Catalans. ERC's spokesperson in Congress has long made an uninhibited call – and discredited by the leadership of their partyLast week, Gabriel Rufián took another step and

The conservative tsunami that seemed to point to the result of the 28-M elections in Spain –with the vast majority of autonomous communities and large cities dyed the blue of the PP and the green of Vox– could end up becoming a wave that dies on the coast this July 23rd. The push of the populars, who dream of surpassing 160 deputies, seems to have been diluted in recent weeks, and, according to the survey that the Opinòmetre Institute has done for ARA, despite winning the elections with between 125 and 140 deputies, Alberto Núñez Feijóo would have it very difficult to access Moncloa. Not even the sum with Vox (between 22 and 30 deputies) would be enough to surpass the 176 seats that mark the absolute majority in Congress. Even at the high end of the range, the two parties only add up to 170 parliamentarians.

Yesterday Junts played hard in Congress. It overturned the investment consortium and the rental decree.Regarding the extension of rents, Junts reproached Sumar for having a "systematic allergy to all landlords". And regarding the consortium, it said that Catalonia does not need more "side businesses" but rather to receive the money it is owed.There is no surprise in Junts' position, on either issue. Regarding rents, Junts relies on the fact that, in Catalonia, 90% of the apartment rental market is in the hands of small landlords, and only 10% in investment funds. It seeks to position itself as a defender of the interests of tenants who bear the pressure of the historic lack of public rental supply. However, voting against this extension has a social cost that yesterday Gabriel Rufián solemnized with two gestures: displaying a banknote and pointing out the Junts deputies one by one. Gabriel Rufián: "Do you know what your flag is? Do you know what it is? I have it here. It's small, but it's very effective. And besides, one of the ones you like... Fifty bucks. It could be more. I'll leave it here. This is your flag. The one you share with the PP and with Vox. To screw almost three million people. I want people to know them. They are Josep Maria Cervera, Josep Pagès, Pilar Calvo, Isidre Gavín, Marta Madrenas, Josep Maria Cruset and Miriam Nogueras”.

"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 purple ones, who have grudgingly 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 Andalucía, this Sunday the state pact was presented, which also brings together Comunes and Más Madrid.

"Racist and classist", this is how the Spanish vice president, Yolanda Díaz, of the Sumar space, has described Junts per Catalunya, with whom they agreed to the investiture of the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. Díaz has argued that she "knows very well" who Carles Puigdemont's party is and has asserted that "in her life she has never defined Junts as progressive". This accusation, made in an interview with Onda Cero, comes amid a clash with the Junts members over housing measures, as Sumar wants the group led by Miriam Nogueras to validate the decree-law approved by the Council of Ministers in the package of measures for the Iran war that extends rental contracts. Support that Puigdemont's party refuses to give them because they do not share the measure and becausethey have presented an alternative that involves lowering taxes (deductions for tenants and owners). The vote must take place in Congress on April 28 and Sumar has begun a round of contacts to achieve support, which has started off on the wrong foot.

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.

After the clash with the PSOE within the council of ministers On Friday, Sumar is now focusing all its pressure on Junts and the PP to ratify the extension of rental contracts and the limitation on price increases. This is the second decree approved in addition to the one on tax cuts: it has been in effect since Sunday, but it needs the approval of Congress—with the decisive vote of Junts—to remain valid. Early Monday morning, in an interview on RNE, the Second Vice President of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, made it clear that the vote will be "the last day" to extend the validity period as much as possible to validate the measure. Thus, Moncloa will have thirty working days to bring this decree-law to the lower house, which places the parliamentary review in the first week of May. "The three right-wing parties have to explain why they are harming the citizens of our country," Díaz said. Shortly afterwards, on TVE, the Minister of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, called for the "biggest pressure campaign" to get the lower house to give the green light.

The abilities that Pedro Sánchez's government has to take economic and political measures without the Parliament's consent in emergency cases have now been added, out of necessity, the ability to save in extremis, with similar agility, episodes of internal dissent. The last Council of Ministers has been one of the most memorable of this legislature, due to the curious situation caused by the prior negotiation between the socialist majority of the executive and the minority of Sumar. The formation of Vice-President Yolanda Díaz needed to include its own proposals in the package of aid measures for the sectors most affected by the consequences of the war in Iran. From an ideological perspective, it is logical that Sumar insisted on leaving its mark on the drafting of decisions of this type. But it makes little sense to turn the prologue of a Council of Ministers into an episode that the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, described as "salseig" (gossip), whether as a dance or as a spicy substance in certain dishes. The Solomon-like solution found —approving two decrees instead of one— served to unblock a situation that was more showy than serious.

The ministers from the Sumar coalition refused to begin the meeting until their demands were met: essentially, the inclusion of rental contract extensions in the measures to address the war in Iran. Their two-hour walkout before Friday's cabinet meeting was resolved with the enactment of two decrees, not just one as the PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) had intended, to include tax cuts for the most affected sectors. Sumar touted this resolution on Saturday, taking a swipe at their socialist partners. "Without Sumar, there is no government," the movement's coordinator, Lara Hernández, reiterated in a statement without taking questions. A threat to the socialists? The party, still led by Yolanda Díaz, has no intention of leaving the government or jeopardizing the coalition in the face of a potential PP (People's Party)-Vox majority. In fact, Hernández herself emphasized that it is precisely the influence Sumar can wield that makes "being in government worthwhile."

Politics shouldn't be all about pronouncements and grand gestures. Pragmatism is also essential. In short, it's about being practical so that citizens, those governed, feel they aren't being abandoned when times get tough. And this seems to be the path the Spanish government has taken with the package of measures designed to mitigate the effects of the war in the Middle East. The conflict, whose end appears far off, has driven up gas and oil prices and, consequently, the prices of everything related to them, such as fuel and electricity. That's why the measures announced by Pedro Sánchez will amount to around 5 billion euros, far less than the more than 20 billion mobilized in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine—but we are still in the early stages and don't know how long the war might last. The first decree focuses on reducing energy taxes, one of the services most affected by the impact of the Middle East crisis, and one that could have ripple effects throughout the economy. In addition to lowering the VAT on electricity and gas from the current 21% to 10%, as well as on biomass raw materials such as pellets and firewood, the energy production tax, currently at 7%, is temporarily eliminated and reduced from 5.5% to a special rate of 0.5%. Maximum retail prices for butane and propane are also frozen. The VAT on gasoline and diesel is also reduced, which, according to the Prime Minister's office, will result in a savings of approximately 30 cents per liter when filling up. Consumer organizations estimate that the reduction will be around 17 cents for diesel, which has seen the largest price increase. A key point, also included in the decree, is granting the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC) new supervisory and sanctioning powers to prevent operators from exploiting the tax cut to increase their profit margins and enrich themselves. This is essential to prevent the tax reduction from benefiting certain companies more than citizens and, therefore, taxpayers.

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."

Yolanda Díaz has renounced leading the space to the left of the PSOE without a clear successor. After the internal tensions generated by Sumar's personalism in 2023, the strategy for the elections scheduled for 2027 has been turned upside down. The priority is now alliances between parties, and ultimately, the name of the list leader will emerge. For now, Comuns, Més Madrid, Esquerra Unida, and Moviment Sumar have announced they will run in a coalition –without yet specifying how and with whom– with the aim of attracting other formations such as Podem, Compromís, Chunta Aragonesista, or Més per Mallorca. Díaz's step asideclears the way for new leaderships to emerge in a project presented as more of a collective effort. Who could replace her?

Before launching Sumar in 2023, Yolanda Díaz repeatedly emphasized that the project she wanted to lead wasn't about party labels or personalities, but rather a citizens' platform where political parties would play a secondary role, avoiding the partisan battles that have often characterized the left. In fact, the current Second Vice President of the Spanish government and Minister of Labor embarked on a nationwide tour—what she called a "listening process"—to present and connect her project with the public. Nothing went as planned: from the outset, Sumar became a platform centered around Yolanda Díaz, and the conflict with Podemos dominated the negotiations to form what ultimately became a traditional electoral coalition. Now, many of the key figures from Sumar three years ago have set out to revive a joint project—under the provisional title of Un Pas Endavant—and avoid repeating the mistakes of the past. Is it possible?

The debate about unity to the left of the PSOE has resurfaced strongly in recent days. Gabriel Rufián's call on Wednesday not to split the progressive vote The prospect of running together again in the upcoming general elections resonated this Saturday at another event in Madrid. Comunes, Más Madrid, Izquierda Unida, and Movimiento Sumar staged a demonstration that they will once again contest the elections scheduled for 2027, amid heightened anticipation. because of the Republican's proposalWhile these groups' approach differs from that of the ERC spokesperson in Congress, and there are no realistic expectations of bringing the pro-independence parties on board, the new electoral coalition—still in its very early stages—has emphasized the need to be as many actors as possible within a single candidacy. "We won't close the door to anyone," they stated. This appeal does reflect a desire—currently a pipe dream after the traumatic split at the beginning of the legislature—to attract Podemos. They have also included other parties with which they have previously joined forces, such as Compromís and Més per Mallorca. the Aragonese UnionOf these, only the Valencia fans attended the presentation, in which Yolanda Díaz was notably absent.