The Spanish political landscape is always shifting, but the vibration is special these days. There are pieces that may fall to the ground. In this context, La Vanguardia interviews Arnaldo Otegi, leader of EH Bildu, the most stable and silent ally of President Pedro Sánchez.
One week after the judicial tsunami that ended a president’s prestige in minutes, I continue, like many Spaniards, wondering at what point José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero underwent such a transformation that those who knew him, we knew him, do not recognize him in the ruling…
Nineteen months of investigation into former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will presumably be revealed today. The judge of the National Court, in charge of the Plus Ultra case, has lifted the secrecy of the file once the most important procedure, the search of the former leader’s official office, has been carried out. From this Monday, the parties involved in the process, including popular accusations, will have access to the case and it will be inevitable that details of the investigation become known.
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero defined Julio Martínez Martínez as “a good friend” during his appearance in the Senate. The former president also acknowledged that he worked drafting reports for one of Martínez’s companies, Análisis Relevante. It has now emerged that the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) of the Police maintains that Martínez was also the alleged frontman for Zapatero: “He is the boss’s bank.”
In Catalonia, and during the board meeting in which the congress of the Catalan PP was formally convened, the secretary general of the popular party, Miguel Tellado, took advantage of the platform to unleash all the artillery against Sánchez’s partners, naming Junts, ERC, and the PNV one by one. After a week marked by the indictment of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the PP leader stated that the aforementioned parties “are as rotten as Pedro Sánchez’s Government.”
The warning has been measured, without fireworks or grand gestures, but it could hardly be more serious. The Basque Nationalist Party lit an amber light this Sunday in the midst of the political fog surrounding Pedro Sánchez after the indictment of former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “It would be irresponsible” for the Government to continue “beyond 2026,” warned the president of the PNV, Aitor Esteban, in a message as restrained in form as it was severe in substance.
Albert Dalmau (Barcelona, 1992) receives La Vanguardia after the Govern finally approved its first budgets. They still need to be validated by the Parliament, but for the conseller they represent a turning point after which he foresees a decade of stability for Catalonia.
Catalunya will be one of the few autonomous communities to approve budgets this year. Oriol Junqueras has just given the green light to the Generalitat’s accounts. The Comuns as well. Salvador Illa will thus be able to reach the end of the legislature in 2028, which will strengthen a period of stability in Catalunya at a very turbulent time in Spanish politics.
United States intelligence agents have likely played a decisive role in placing José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on the conveyor belt of major scandals, from which few, very few, come out unscathed. It is no secret. It is stated in the order of the…
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero has several faces. The first, that of the progressive politician committed to opposing the war and to social advances such as the Equality law, the right to abortion, or same-sex marriage. The second, that of a socialist Prime Minister who led a team without major scandals for seven years, but with the questionable management of the economic crisis that cost him the mandate. The third, that of a low-profile former head of government, with approaches to countries like Venezuela or China. And since last Tuesday: a fourth, that of the first former Spanish leader investigated for allegedly leading an “organized scheme” dedicated to enriching themselves in exchange for their influence in high places.