The algorithm often suggests content that it itself labels as masculine, which, in the current state of culture wars, means I have direct contact with the most uninhibited expressions of the new right. And this week I had a good laugh with a meme of Ábalos that went viral following the court ruling. The montage consists of mixing a collection of statements by the former PSOE Secretary General and accompanying them with the sad music of Skyfall, the song from a James Bond movie. It alternates Ábalos's phrases expressing helplessness –"I have no one. I feel like I'm facing political power alone"– with the account of an extramarital affair –"She blocked me, and there I discovered the word ghosting, she explained to me what it meant. It hurts, because I had a real romantic relationship with that person. I lost everything, forgive my boldness, for someone I loved"–. The volume of the piano rises, we hear Adele singing "This is the end" and we read some variation of the text "If loving is a crime…" accompanied by the broken heart emoji. It is absolutely impossible not to laugh a little or feel a certain tenderness towards Ábalos.However, how is it that all this sympathy is flourishing in a right-wing cultural ecosystem? Naturally, part of the explanation has to do with the fact that, by humanizing Ábalos, the pressure can be redirected towards Pedro Sánchez, who is the real enemy. But the phenomenon is so organic and the meme spreads so much in apparently apolitical spheres, that I find it a perfect symptom of the left's cultural problem with the language of male desire.Traditionally, the right and the left have offered two complementary ways of channeling enjoyment, those tickles that go beyond reason and that are also an essential part of politics. Simply put, the right provided the pleasure of identifying with authority, and the left the pleasure of fighting it, which are two impulses present in the human soul that constantly compete and that may or may not make sense depending on the situation. However, the institutionalization of a form of progressive power, one of the most particular novelties of modernity, has opened a window for the revolutionary conservative, a new figure who is capable of appropriating both forms of enjoyment at the same time. Unlike the conservative we all have in mind, who calls people to repress excesses, the revolutionary conservative is capable of presenting the fight to return to traditional values as a risky and exciting crusade against progressive tyranny, a masterstroke that confers upon whoever knows how to execute it the monopoly of emotionality and leaves rivals in the burdensome position of the censor.

José Luis Ábalos does not resign in the face of the 24-year prison sentence for corruption and has denounced, from Soto del Real, that the Supreme Court's ruling was "predetermined". In an audio recording accessed by Cadena SER, the former Minister of Transport explains a version of events opposed to the one Pedro Sánchez presented this Wednesday in his appearance in Congress. Unlike the Spanish president, who described the one that was his right-hand man as a "flagrant and very serious case of corruption," Ábalos maintains that it is a "political" cause.

The Congress of Deputies once again experienced one of those disastrous days this Wednesday that cause citizens to distance themselves from politics. The exchange of recriminations between the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, and the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has brought no new developments and has only served to further tarnish the political climate, something that, as some spokespersons have rightly warned, primarily benefits the far-right. In a normal democracy, a verdict like the one in the Ábalos case, in a judicial process that has been suspiciously swift and with sentences that some jurists deem disproportionate, would be enough to bring down a government. But it is true that Spain has peculiarities that explain both Pedro Sánchez's resistance to throwing in the towel and why no partner is currently considering supporting a motion of no confidence alongside the PP and Vox.

I hear "Ábalos" and I feel an uncontrollable kind of amorous warmth. The passion is such that it compromises my role, until now immaculate, as wife and mother. Ábalos, light of my life, fire of my insides, etcetera. Á-ba-los: the tip of the tongue undertakes a three-step journey from the roof of the mouth to the teeth.Ábalos and Koldo, we read in ARA, they “agreed” on a “monthly remuneration” of 10,000 euros to cover the former minister's fixed expenses. “Fixed expenses,” what a sexy expression. But these fixed expenses did not include “other amounts” such as “paying for the former minister's ex-partner's apartment or the rent of two villas on the coast.” Ábalos paid the rent for his ex. That's being a proper man, you. And if we have the ex with her life sorted out, don't we have it all done, because the legend continues. What else did he prepare for her, the sexsymbol? We also read in the newspaper: "he exerted all his influence" so that she would be hired, with the aim that "she would receive a salary without having to work".

Let's call a spade a spade: if at any point it is justified to demand the resignation of President Pedro Sánchez, it would be now. The Supreme Court ruling that condemns Ábalos and Koldo leaves the president in a compromised situation. Ábalos was the head of a ministry as relevant as Public Works for three years, repeatedly endorsed by the president, he handled the internal plumbing of the socialist party and Sánchez himself had pointed him out as the person to whom he entrusted the day-to-day management. It seems clear that there has been no link between the president and the facts ruled upon. That, therefore, the corruption scheme grew without him receiving any news of what was happening, which opens up questions about the Moncloa control systems. But a head of government is responsible for their actions; for example, for the appointments they make. And even more so when they are of the highest level. Faced with such a scandal – a corruption scheme at the government's highest level orchestrated by someone from the president's immediate circle – Sánchez cannot act as if nothing has happened. Something is wrong when at the highest level of power there is a case of this magnitude and the president finds out when it's too late.

Brexit is a representative example of how a demagogic idea (less than an idea, barely a slogan) can come to condition an old, stable, and respected democracy like the British one, and by extension, international politics. More than anything else, Brexit was a huge, colossal stupidity, and as happens with stupidities, its effects were — and still are — devastating. Keir Starmer became prime minister with a striking Labour absolute majority as has not been seen for a long time, and now abandons power mid-term, with discredit earned through hard work: to implement neoliberal policies, the others were already there, there was no need for a Labour politician as right-wing — and as anti-European — as the Tories themselves. Starmer has had to experience from power the explosion of the far-right in the United Kingdom, represented by Reform UK, Nigel Farage's party, an old populist who had always played a residual role in British politics and who now has solid possibilities of gaining power.Starmer's resignation has coincided with the conviction of former minister and former organization secretary of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, and the Spanish right sighs: may Pedro Sánchez follow the example of his colleague Starmer, who after all is also one of them, they say. Starmer was made to step down, as he himself has acknowledged, by his own party. The Spanish right wants to play Pedro Sánchez the trick we already know from Lula da Silva in Brazil or António Costa in Portugal: to set up a judicial siege around a president and his government (with true and false causes, and with an arbitrary and discretionary use of the justice administration) until the president in question resigns or ends up in prison (this would be the most desired outcome with Sánchez).Those who will go to prison, with sentences that surely must be adjusted to their crimes, are Ábalos and Koldo. The exemplary nature of the sentence should be celebrated, as well as the speed of the process: let's hope the example also applies to the PP, a party that according to the Gürtel sentence has been organized to commit crimes at least since 1988 and occupies headquarters paid for with black money, without anything happening. The two speeds, the different yardsticks: Kitchen has reached trial thirteen years late, and it seems that justice is also in no hurry with the Montoro case, of structural gravity for the powers of the state. Nothing that we do not know, on the other hand, since the offensive of the robes against the Process. Finally, the one who will not go to prison will be Víctor de Aldama, one of those characters who seem to be taken from Santiago Segura's films and who abound and move at high speed among the high powers of Madrid. A hustler, a betrayer, a liar, and an almost confessed swindler who gets away with the laughter of the triumphant scoundrel. "Thanks to justice," says the subject, with all the cynicism, and encourages "those who come behind" to follow his example. Spanish democracy does not need any Brexit, it creates it every day.

From the sentence of 24 years in prison for Ábalos and 19 years for his assistant Koldo, it stands out that the corrupter of both, Aldama, has been given 4, will not go to prison and will keep the money he received in commissions.

The sentence of José Luis Ábalos is an exemplary conviction. Not only for the penalty of up to 24 years in prison imposed on the former minister and former right-hand man of Pedro Sánchez, but also for the prize that Víctor Aldama takes. The corrupt businessman in the case will not go to prison. The Supreme Court imposes a four-year deprivation of liberty that he can avoid thanks, among other things, to community work. It should be remembered that this is already the second benefit that Aldama obtains for allegedly collaborating with justice and talking about PSOE cases: he already left preventive detention to help in another case (that of hydrocarbons) and to provide information that could help with the ongoing investigations around the Koldo case.

"An organic, organized, and continuous corruption from the highest instances of political power." By unanimous decision, the seven judges of the Supreme Court have upheld the sentence requested by the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office and have sentenced José Luis Ábalos to 24 years and three months in prison in the first trial of the mask case. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez for three years in the PSOE and in Moncloa, and who has been in Soto del Real for seven months, has ended up convicted of belonging to a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement.

José Luis Ábalos, in preventive detention for the mask case, raises his voice after the imputation of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In an interview with TVE from Soto del Real prison, the former Minister of Transport has distanced himself from the Plus Ultra bailout and stated that it was the former Spanish president who, as the National High Court points out, allegedly pressured for the airline to receive the 53 million euros from the Spanish government in 2021, during the covid-19 pandemic. The former PSOE organization secretary, in fact, assures that he learned of the bailout when he arrived at the council of ministers. "Zapatero bypassed me and spoke directly with Pedro Saura [Secretary of State for Transport]," he states.

Seen for ruling. The trial of the mask case in the Supreme Court, which began a month ago, has come to an end. It has been the moment for the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Office, the PP – which leads the popular prosecutions – and the three defense teams to verbalize their conclusions. The first to speak was the prosecutor. "The number one was not the president of the Spanish government, as, to Aldama's notable relief, he attributes to him," he said in the initial part of his speech. It was the businessman's new accusation, and prosecutor Alejandro Luzón has distanced himself completely. That said, he has highlighted that José Luis Ábalos was at the "top" or in the "essential cog" of the organization. In his opinion, he, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama – along with other individuals – formed a "true criminal organization" that was born from a "corrupting pact that interested everyone" as a result of "insistence" and "little resistance" and that it did not "dissipate and exhaust itself" until Ábalos was dismissed as minister in July 2021.

José Luis Ábalos finally declares this morning in the trial for the mask case before the Supreme Court. The former Minister of Transport, who the judge has kept in preventive detention for almost half a year, appears as an investigated person after two morning sessions in which the court had to modify the initial schedule that set the interrogation of the former socialist leader for last Wednesday.

"A high-profile case judged a long time ago with a clear conviction." This is how José Luis Ábalos has summarized the face mask case, for which he faces a sentence of between 24 and 30 years in prison. The former Minister of Transport, who has been in Soto del Real for five months, has been the last of the accused to testify, after Víctor de Aldama and Koldo García did so last week. The former strongman of Pedro Sánchez in Moncloa and Ferraz testified for almost six hours and, exhibiting meticulous knowledge of the Civil Guard's reports, denied having received money from Aldama: "To say that it was handed to me in person seems gross. I understand why it's being done. I tell you no, and there is absolutely no evidence." He also criticized the Civil Guard's "permanent bias" and denounced a "certain intentionality" throughout the investigation: "I am struck by the eagerness to implicate me and to find something.

Day of revelations and denials at the Supreme Court. After Victor de Aldama's explosive statement, which shot left and right to try to splash Pedro Sánchez and question the PSOE's financing, it is now the turn of Koldo García, who was an advisor to José Luis Ábalos in the Ministry of Transport and for whom the Prosecutor's Office is seeking nineteen and a half years in prison. "Ask me absolutely everything to try to prove my innocence," the prosecutor urged right at the start. And, after five and a half hours, he has resolved one of the great questions of the trial: what are "chistorras"? A Guardia Civil report suspected that it was the code name to refer to 500 euro banknotes. And Koldo García, when questioned by his lawyer, confirmed it, despite the fact that last October, in a couple of television interviews, he stated that the chistorras were "sausages".

Key day in the mask case trial at the Supreme Court. After ten sessions, it is the turn of the declarations of the three defendants: José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García and Víctor de Aldama. The only one who could be interrogated this Wednesday was the businessman and alleged facilitator of the plot, who agreed to collaborate with justice a year and a half ago when he was in preventive detention –"what a invention", replied Pedro Sánchez– and for whom the Prosecutor's Office requests a much lower penalty than for the rest of the defendants. Just as he did at that initial moment of the investigation, he has decided to elaborate, stretch the blanket and point directly to Pedro Sánchez. Without providing evidence and relying solely on his word, he has given meticulous details to try to accredit his privileged access to the spheres of power, has detailed the roadmap of the alleged corruption and has expressed "remorse". "If there is a hierarchy of a criminal organization, Sánchez is in the first echelon", he said. "I was told that the president knew everything", he added in a statement that lasted more than six and a half hours.

One of the questions that the eighth day of the Ábalos case trial has tried to resolve is where the cash bills that José Luis Ábalos and Koldo García had came from. During the investigation, the Civil Guard detected more than 95,000 euros from the former Minister of Transport and former number three of the PSOE without bank tracing. This reinforced the thesis of "the existence of undeclared cash income" and triggered the opening of a separate piece in the National Court on the financing of the PSOE. The investigating judge raised the hypothesis that the PSOE helped Ábalos or Koldo to "launder" money. This Wednesday, in the Supreme Court, two lines of action have become apparent during the testimony of Mariano Moreno, who was the party's manager between 2017 and 2021. First, he assured that Ferraz "never" handed over 100, 200, and 500 euro bills, which are the ones the Civil Guard suspects Koldo and his circle managed – using code names. Later, the lawyer for Ábalos's former advisor, wanting to show that all the money he received was "of legal origin," wanted to highlight possible errors in the documentation that the socialists sent to the courts.

One of the missions of the Supreme Court in the first three days of the trial against José Luis Ábalos has been to reconstruct the alleged cronyism of two women close to the then Minister of Transport and former organization secretary of the PSOE. They are Jessica Rodríguez, who was his partner for a year and a half; and Claudia Montes, with whom he maintained a "virtual" relationship. The first has admitted that she was receiving payment without going to work – a total of 44,000 euros at Ineco and Tragsatec–. The second woman claims that she did fulfill her duties at Logirail, although others dispute this. Amidst contradictions and labor disputes, several witnesses have tried to shed light on this this week at the high court. "I had a contract, but I wasn't actively working," Jessica Rodríguez acknowledged on Tuesday. Marino Turiel, José Luis Ábalos' lawyer, suspects there is a hidden agreement between her and Víctor de Aldama: "It is very clear that there is a pact and an agreement".

The key witness in the third session of the trial against José Luis Ábalos was Carmen Pano. And her statement followed the script: as she said at the Audiencia Nacional, during the investigation at the Supreme Court and at the Senate's investigation committee, she reiterated and to the Senate's investigation committee, But there was a second delivery that raises more doubts. Carmen Pano first said that the "operation" was that Claudio Rivas made transfers to her accounts and she withdrew the money in cash. And it wasn't until half an hour later that she admitted that in the second case she didn't directly withdraw the money from the bank, but rather a certain Lolo, a "worker or friend" of Claudio Rivas, brought it to her home. She didn't get to count it, but – in theory – there were also 45,000 euros. She took it back to Aldama's office, but later he called her "quite angry" and told her that 10,000 euros were missing. "Therefore, I deduce that there were 35,000 euros," the businesswoman acknowledged. This is a point that only came to light at the end of her statement, after spending a long time equating the two deliveries and without having mentioned this unforeseen event.

“An agreement that had as its object the future commission of crimes as opportunities to commit them arose”. After a year and a half of investigation, 30 years in prison. On the table will be nine crimes, including membership in a criminal organization, bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement.

The Supreme Court has taken a decisive step and will try José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama within a month for the purchase of medical supplies during the pandemic. The high court unanimously rejected all preliminary motions filed by the former Minister of Transport and his former advisor, who will appear in court starting Tuesday, April 7, the day after the Kitchen case trial begins against Jorge Fernández Díaz and his top officials at the Ministry of the Interior during Mariano Rajoy's administration. Three weeks after the Preliminary view of the masks caseThe Supreme Court has closed the door on one of Ábalos and Koldo's main demands: that the case return to the National Court as a result of the Ábalos resigns from his position as a deputyThe 138-page interlocutory ruling reiterates that once a judge opens oral proceedings against a member of parliament—as happened in December, when Ábalos was still a member—the Supreme Court's jurisdiction is "immune to the loss of protected status" and argues that this is a moment that "cannot be left to chance or depend on the whim or will of the accused." It also maintains that the Supreme Court's 2014 ruling—which the defense teams of Ábalos and Koldo challenged—served to "establish a clear criterion in the face of the confusing legal framework." Koldo and Aldama, who have never held protected status, will also be tried by the Supreme Court due to their "inexplicable material connection" with the events under investigation. Furthermore, the seven Supreme Court justices challenge the defense's pride and warn them that granting their request would have "onerous consequences" for the two defendants, who "would see their case delayed." sine die"The trial. The prosecution." He is asking for 24 years in prison. Ábalos received a 19.5-year sentence, Koldo García a 19.5-year sentence, and Aldama a 7-year sentence. They are accused of five crimes: membership in a criminal organization, bribery, embezzlement, influence peddling, and insider trading.