The same morning that her loyal aide from the start of the legislature –María Jesús Montero– handed over the baton to her successor –Carlos Cuerpo–, Pedro Sánchez met with Imanol Pradales to satisfy the demands that the PNB has been making for some time and to inject some oxygen into the legislature through advances in the Gernika Statute. "As you know, the Statute is still not fully complied with. There is a political agreement, and we have insisted on the need to do so quickly," the lehendakari stated upon leaving. The meeting, accompanied by a new meeting of the State-Euskadi Cooperation Bilateral Commission, comes exactly two months after the last meeting and fulfills the requirement to be held before Holy Week. On that occasion, despite having secured the transfer of five powers, Pradales left frustrated with the "non-compliance" of the Spanish government. But now he returns to Bilbao "reasonably satisfied" after having signed a "political agreement" for the transfer of seven new matters. The transfer of pensions, among other things, remains pending. The most significant thing is that the door has been opened for the Basque Country to participate in the management of airports "for the first time in history".

The Basque government, after securing the transfer of five powers to the Basque Country at the last minute two weeks ago (including Maritime Rescue and non-contributory family benefits), is now focusing, once and for all, on completing the implementation of the Statute of Autonomy. According to the Basque Statute, fifteen areas remain to be addressed. Of these, perhaps the most important, due to their significant economic and infrastructural implications, are the management of pension payments and the transfer of airports. The payment of contributory pensions would be the final step in the economic management of Social Security, a concept on which the central government has yet to take a position, following the transfer of the management of unemployment benefits and subsidies two weeks ago. This latter matter already met with strong reservations from senior technical experts in Madrid, but not from the political side, as they perceived a serious risk of disrupting the unitary model and the single fund of the Social Security system. In fact, the transfer agreement clearly establishes this as the red line. The "technical" aspects of pension payment management will reignite the debate.

The Basque President, Imanol Pradales, has said enough and will consider legal action against the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, for the "gross manipulation" of his words, which linked him to ETA and political violence in the Basque Country. The leader of the Madrid PP pointed this out. in an interview This Monday, when he claimed that Pradales sent him a "somewhat worrying" message during a rally this weekend: "Ayuso, entzun, pim, palmo, pum" ("Ayuso, listen, pim, pam, pum"). "That's what he came to say and that's what was said before," he said, referring to the time when the terrorist organization threatened and killed.