The mayor of Ripoll is right. The controversy over the hiring of Sílvia Orriols’ daughter as an interim local police officer only aims to damage her image. And she is scrutinized in a way that others are not. Of course, placing family members, friends, and acquaintances is…
Not only is Saxony-Anhalt one of the federal states of Germany with low immigration (7%), but even in the areas of that territory where the least foreign population resides is precisely where an ultra party like the AfD has obtained the best results. That observation gives rise to multiple reflections about current social perceptions and how they spread. It is likely that in recent days many Germans have suddenly learned where Ceuta is. But it is also worth asking whether immigration is just one factor among a set of reasons that fuel votes for far-right parties and, in the German case, also ex-communists. While the undeniable rise of the AfD is notable, the collapse of the two main parties, the conservatives and Christian Democrats of the CDU and the Social Democrats of the SPD, who have supported the democratic system in recent decades, is even more significant. Could the same happen in Spain?
The Rolling Stones have reached their fifteenth number 1 on the official UK albums chart with their new album, Foreign Tongues, thus matching an old record held by the Beatles.
The Civil Guard arrested one person this Friday and is investigating another as the perpetrators of the Burgohondo forest fire (Ávila). The fire has already burned more than 9,000 hectares, and its origin is a serious imprudence due to the use of heavy machinery in this area where its use was totally prohibited.
Cuba wants to end what it calls an “energy siege” and the United States wants the adoption of far-reaching reforms. Havana maintains that there is no ultimatum, but U.S. officials assure that Washington gave a two-week deadline to release relevant political prisoners as a sign of goodwill. The two countries, separated by less than one hundred kilometers of sea and ideological enemies, speak different languages and seem far from any agreement, but they are dialoguing.
The spokesperson for the Vox parliamentary group in the Valencian Parliament, José María Llanos, emphasized this Thursday his party’s satisfaction with the first budgets that include national priority. The leader even clarified the statements made yesterday, at the end of the plenary session, by the Valencian president, Juanfran Pérez Llorca, who spoke of ‘roots’ instead of the concept defended by Vox. The head of the Consell pointed out that what the accounts do is “give that priority to those people who have been registered in a municipality for longer,” while adding: “They do not distinguish between skin color, they do not distinguish between immigrants and people born here. Of course not, I would never tolerate it.”
“Prison or death,” repeated over and over in his rallies Abelardo de la Espriella, a controversial 47-year-old lawyer, to refer to the fate that awaits criminals, drug traffickers, and guerrillas if he ends up being the next president of Colombia. It hardly matters that the far-right leader built a media career as a lawyer for celebrities, footballers, and paramilitaries, before having an epiphany in Italy and deciding that he should enter the electoral arena to save his country from the left, according to his words, in July 2025.
She no longer has her mother-in-law as a neighbor nor problems with the tax authorities. On the contrary, the tax authorities have a big problem with her, not to mention her ex-mother-in-law… Shakira has completely risen from her ashes. She faced all her problems, which came at the same time, and has come out victorious…
The first time a politician was convicted of influence peddling in Spain was 31 years ago. The historic socialist mayor of L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, Juan Ignacio Pujana, was sentenced to six years of disqualification, one month of arrest, and a fine. The Barcelona Court considered that he had facilitated an award for the construction and concession of several underground parking lots to a company that in turn had to subcontract the work to a construction company owned by a friend of his. The judges coined the term “chain influence peddling.” The mayor, using his position, pressured municipal technicians and officials. He did so, initially, out of friendship, since the sentence considered that he did not receive money in return, and he was acquitted of the charges of bribery and forgery. Evidently, Pujana disappeared from the public radar. Since then, it has been clear that the crime of influence peddling is one of the most difficult to discern, since it is necessary to prove pressure on an official or public officer and also to have the authority to carry out that coercion. Politicians who are already former, that is, who have left their positions in governments, often maintain a significant capacity for influence in those administrations, so they are often recruited by consultancies and companies to open the doors of the public sector for them. Is this the case of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero?
Barcelona dressed up this Saturday to celebrate an emotional wedding, that of Giulia Sagliocco, daughter of music producer Pino Sagliocco, and actor Chidi Ajufo, in one of the most solemn and emblematic settings of the city: the Basilica of Santa Maria del Mar. The ceremony faithfully reflected Sagliocco’s universe and music became the common thread of a day full of emotion.