Víctor de Aldama had to prove before the Supreme Court that he is telling the truth; it is his lifeline to have his collaboration with justice and repentance recognized and to achieve a considerable reduction of the sentence. To do this, he had to betray former minister José Luis Ábalos and his loyal squire Koldo García. And he did. Eight hours of testimony in which he recounted how he was paying them a kind of salary of 10,000 euros per month, in addition to other gifts including rents, vacations, apartments, motorcycles, cars, and even medical treatments, totaling between three and a half and four million. These amounts were qualified, but the estimate of what the former minister and his advisor received would be that, according to the commission agent’s version. The money did not all come out of his pocket. Aldama put in part, and other companies seeking contracts – with which he acted as a link – paid the rest. Part went to the minister and the advisor and another part to the PSOE, always according to his version.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has warned in its latest annual report that last year disinformation campaigns have established themselves as “a prominent vector” of instability for Spain. The body that advises the President of the Government on National Security matters has identified Russia as the main actor from which campaigns aimed at influencing political processes, eroding trust in institutions, shaping public opinion, and weakening international cooperation originated.

It is about “toppling a government, not at the polls but with other tricks,” warned Minister Óscar Puente yesterday, in the face of the flood of legal cases pressuring Pedro Sánchez. “The PSOE will not tolerate it, we will not bow to anyone’s attempts to disturb our democracy through methods that are not democratic,” warned the Minister of Transport from Congress.

Good morning,