It matters little that he is heard dealing with the then director of the Office of Anti-Fraud of Catalonia about the need to air dirty laundry about the main pro-independence leaders. Nor does it matter that conversations with former commissioner José Manuel Villarejo have transpired, speaking openly about Operation Catalonia ("I will deny, even under torture, that this meeting took place," he said in the audios). Not even that there are messages with his number 2, certified by a notary, in which they talk about Kitchen. For years, Jorge Fernández Díaz has played the role of the minister who knew nothing of what was happening around him. A defense strategy that he followed to the letter this Thursday when he testified as the main investigated party in the trial over the espionage of the former PP treasurer Luis Bárcenas.

Mariano Rajoy, former Spanish Prime Minister, declared this Thursday before the National Court for the Kitchen case. Almost a decade after testifying in the Gürtel case, he appeared today and, in an interrogation that lasted 35 minutes, he answered questions about the Popular Party's slush fund, about the operation to spy on and steal information from Luis Bárcenas, and about the use of reserved funds.

1. While here we are eating the 'mona' cake, in Madrid they are working. The third term of the school year begins with one of those news items that will have repercussions. This Monday, the trial for Operation Kitchen begins at the National Court. The case will once again place the Popular Party at the epicenter of the mire. And this is not just a case of corruption. It is much more than that. It is being investigated whether the party in power used the State to cover up its own corruption. The indications seem clear, but justice, in Spain, can always come out with a broken candle.