Andalusia was the gateway for Vox into the institutions in 2018. Santiago Abascal’s party won 12 seats and was able to influence the Popular Party in its first contact with power in that community. It was the prelude to the far right’s breakthrough in the Congress of Deputies just a few months later. On this occasion, Spain’s most populous region puts the finishing touch on an electoral cycle designed by the PP, with an eye on the general elections – theoretically scheduled for next year – to wear down the PSOE and Pedro Sánchez’s government, from which the Populars, more dependent on Vox – a national priority – have come out worse off. They remain at the mercy of the ultranationalists; also in Andalusia, where since 2022 the firewall of Juanma Moreno Bonilla’s Andalusian path operated, who lost the absolute majority this Sunday.

The PP has reacted immediately to the ruling of the Court of Justice of the European Union on the Amnesty Law by showing “absolute respect.” “The PP does not interpret rulings based on whether they like them more or less,” sources from the Popular Party say. However, the PP leadership warns that this is not the “end of the debate” because now the Spanish courts have the power to directly apply the Amnesty Law. Additionally, the PP maintains its rejection of “criminal privileges” for the separatists.

The first true mass gathering of Leo XIV in Madrid took place at night, with the vigil organized in Lima square, in the shadow of the Santiago Bernabéu. The National Police estimated the attendance at around 500,000 people who arrived from different parts of Spain. Among them, chants echoed that seemed rescued from other eras: “This is the Pope’s youth!”