The President of the Spanish government, Pedro Sánchez, has culminated this weekend in Barcelona the operation that began with his opposition to the Israeli occupation of Gaza and that today has made him a reference for the global left and, by opposition, the nemesis of Donald Trump. It must be admitted that Sánchez has known how to play his cards well internationally (perhaps better than domestically), and the success of this Saturday's summit of progressive leaders is the culmination of a strategy planned and executed from Moncloa to the millimeter.

Donald Trump is a millionaire, a real estate magnate, has direct interests in technology companies and... is Donald Trump. The President of the United States embodies in himself all the characteristics of the "enemy" that this weekend has been pointed out by the left gathered in Barcelona, with Pedro Sánchez as host, who has established himself as the reference of the international progressive movement. "When we socialists govern, states do not bow to elites, we put them in their place," he exclaimed to close the weekend summits before the 6,500 people who filled pavilion 8 of Fira de Barcelona. The commitment of the Spanish leader, but also of the heads of state and government who have met, is to "resist" the push of the far-right, but also to "build" together a new multilateral world. "We will twist the arm of those who believe themselves untouchable. Of the millionaires who exploit people and play with greed; of the speculators who play with people's savings and homes, and of the technologists who line their pockets at the expense of the health of democracies and the mental health of our youth," Sánchez ratified, intoning from the stage the "No to war" that the entire auditorium followed.

This weekend in Barcelona there were many photos, many summits, and a lot of media attention due to the presence of world leaders at the progressive meeting organized by the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez. But there was one that is especially relevant and signifies a before and after in the diplomatic relationship between two countries: Spain and Mexico. After eight years of tension, the Mexican president, Claudia Sheinbaum, visited Spain to participate in the multilateral forum in defense of democracy, but also to hold a one-hour bilateral meeting with Sánchez.

Pedro Sánchez has brought to Barcelona the Brazilian president, Lula; the Mexican president, Sheinbaum; the Colombian president, Petro, and the South African president, Ramaphosa, among other leaders of the global left and center-left, with whom he has already been meeting in recent years.Everyone has rushed to say that this is not an anti-Trump summit, but nowadays there is no more effective cement to unite the always individualist left than the current and egomaniacal president of the United States. So yes, it is a way of telling the world that the center-left is raising its voice against Trump. With the apparent endorsement, by the way, of Pope Leo, who is now openly speaking out against Trump. The choice of Barcelona is no coincidence. In socialist terms, it has it all: Collboni's mayoralty and Illa's Generalitat. In Madrid, this summit, with Ayuso and Almeida, could not take place. In Catalonia, the PP and Vox are minor, and at times, residual. In social terms, Barcelona was one of the capitals of the "No to war" against Iraq. And in national terms, Sánchez's message is twofold. To the world: "Do you see? The separatist problem in Catalonia has disappeared with me. There is no separatist problem in Catalonia." And in Catalonia: "Barcelona is a world capital when it passes through Spain." He already did it with the Spain-France summit, and now he has returned. In reality, Barcelona's capacity for attraction has often existed without the State and even against the State. Just one example: if the Pope comes to Barcelona in June (if there is fuel for planes then), it is because of the Sagrada Familia, a marvel of the modern world, in which the State has nothing to do. Barcelona always looks good.Speaking of all this, yesterday we were telling you that the new Minister of Finance had dismissed the possibility of Catalonia collecting income tax. Well, yesterday we heard that Aena –the airports– are also not touched.The company's president, Maurici Lucena, made a “serene call” to shareholders yesterday to remind everyone that the Constitution – no joke – prevents the State from ceding the governance of airports. At most, a bilateral consultative body can be created, but neither transfer nor co-management, at most coordination. In this way, he denied President Illa, who had said this week in Parliament that Catalonia would have immediate presence in governance. Well, what Aena has immediately responded with has been the exact opposite.Good morning.

Pedro Sánchez has inaugurated with Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, the weekend with which the Spanish government seeks to establish Barcelona as one of the reference cities against trumpism. The two leaders met this morning at the Palau de Pedralbes, where they held a meeting, and thus inaugurate two days in which up to three summits of international progressivism coincide in the Catalan capital, with the Spanish president acting as host.

The US Congress passed two formal resolutions in 2008 (the House of Representatives) and 2009 (the Senate) apologizing to African Americans for slavery and racial segregation. In 2022, Belgium also apologized in the Congo for colonial abuses. Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom have also made similar gestures. In contrast, in Spain, every step in that direction infuriates the right wing. This is precisely what happened after King Felipe VI said on Monday, at the opening of an exhibition on indigenous women in Mexico, that during colonization there was "much abuse" and "ethical controversies." In response to these words, the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, called it "nonsense" to pass judgment on what happened in the 15th century. And Vox spokesperson Pepa Millán asserted that the colonization of America is "the principal evangelizing and civilizing work in universal history" and that the rights of the "subjects" were always respected. Feijóo's words demonstrate a complete lack of empathy for the peoples of the American continent, where the legacy of colonialism is still visible today. And Millán's are simply false and lack the slightest historical rigor. However, both harbor the outdated vision of Spanish national Catholicism and an undisguised Western supremacism, which considers the indigenous peoples of America to have been culturally inferior and in need of being "civilized" by Europeans.

On November 4th, a drunken, clumsy man assaulted Claudia Sheinbaum, the president of Mexico, during a walk through the capital. The president filed a complaint with the Attorney General's Office to set an example that this type of behavior is more than unacceptable: "It's a crime, and if I don't file a complaint, what becomes of all Mexican women?" In a press conference, Sheinbaum proposed reviewing whether sexual harassment in public spaces should be considered a criminal offense. It seems that important women—and here she uses "important" to clarify that they not only wield power but also symbolically embody a series of shared values, such as freedom and mutual respect—must confront this type of violence far too often.

Spain's first significant shift in its narrative regarding its colonial past. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares acknowledged the "contrasts" in history this Friday, admitting that "there has been pain and injustice towards the indigenous peoples." He made these remarks in Madrid during the opening of an exhibition entitled Women in Indigenous MexicoThis allows us to read these words as an attempt to reach out to the president of Mexico, Claudia Sheinbaum, who since the beginning of her term He has repeatedly insisted that Spain must apologize for the excesses committed during colonization.Sheinbaum herself responded to the minister, assuring him that today's declaration is "very important" and calling it a "first step."

"Forgiveness magnifies both the one who offers it and the one who grants it." These were the words of Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in February of this year. She was referring to the pardon that Mexico has formally demanded from Spain since 2019 for its colonial past and for the excesses committed during the conquest of the Americas. This request for an apology sparked a clash with the Spanish royal family and government a year ago, when Sheinbaum failed to invite King Felipe VI to her inauguration after the monarch failed to respond. a letter from his predecessorAndrés Manuel López Obrador, asking for this pardon. The Spanish government dodged this request and, considering it "inexplicable" that the monarch was not invited, did not attend the event despite having been invited. A year later, and after the Mexican president reiterated several times that an apology was needed, the Spanish government, when questioned by the ARA on the matter, avoided commenting, and Sumar, the minority partner, limited itself to showing "the utmost respect and sensitivity to the demands for historical memory" of Latin American states.