Fernando González Urbaneja | There are few doubts about the quality of democracy, which can clearly be improved and which is moving backwards like a crab. It is not irrelevant that in The Economist’s ranking of democracies, Spain’s is slipping backwards and dropping down the rankings. The reasons for this backwardness are to be found in the open crisis in the government of judges, which puts their independence at risk;…
J.P. Marín-Arrese | The centre-right party leader, Mr Casado, has been at odds for months with the president of the Madrid region, Ms Díaz Ayuso. He has not provided any convincing reasons for refusing her bid to head the PP in the Madrid region. Now, we know he feared a corruption scandal might spark off as the regional government, which she heads, granted a public procurement to a family friend…
The latent tension in the Partido Popular (PP) in recent months between the party’s national leadership and the president of the Community of Madrid exploded out of control yesterday. On Wednesday night two national media – El Mundo and El Confidencial – published that the party had spied on Ayuso. The alleged spying was allegedly intended to produce a dossier with evidence of the alleged corruption that has been touching…
Fernando González Urbaneja | It is a speculative but interesting question to take the political temperature of these liquid times. The Sánchez method in the face of government alliances is none other than to do what the mathematics indicate… apart from a German-style grand coalition. Sánchez made a pact with Unidos Podemos, with the addition of ERC, Bildu and others, contrary to all his repeated and emphatic statements of the…
Fernando González Urbaneja | Elections in Castilla y León: 31 seats for PP, 28 seats for PSOE, 13 for VOX, 3 for Unión del Pueblo Leonés, 3 for Soria Ya, 1 for Podemos Izquierda Unida, 1 seat for Ciudadanos and 1 seat for Por Ávila… The Castilla y León voters have not left any of the candidates happy, with the exception of VOX. It has consolidated its position as third…
A total of 2,500 orderlies in the Balearic Islands have filed a class action lawsuit against the local Government for having been excluded from a call for applications because they do not have a Catalan language qualification. Those affected, who make up approximately half of those eligible for the post, are also asking for the process to be suspended as a precautionary measure while the courts rule on the merits…
ABC | This past Tuesday, January 18, ABC was excluded from a briefing given by several high-ranking government officials on the management of European funds. Media such as Cadena Cope, Onda Cero, El Mundo, La Razón, The Objective, Libertad Digital, Agencia Servimedia and Agencia Colpisa were also not invited to the meeting, which was attended by more than a dozen media outlets whose representatives had the opportunity to listen and…
Clemente Polo | Living in Catalonia is becoming increasingly oppressive. Even for those of us who decided one day to pack our bags and move to an Autonomous Community that stood out from the rest for its social and cultural dynamism and its cosmopolitan vocation. When I was offered a place at the Autonomous University of Barcelona after giving a seminar in June 1984, nobody thought to ask me where…
J.P. Marín Arrese | Politicians coming into office usually trust the advice of professional and seasoned civil servants, thus preventing ill-judged decisions or blunders likely to ruin their careers. Top aides excel at dismissing fancy ideas while pretending to obey them. That is the case in Germany, the UK or France. Alas, in Spain, they seldom follow that pattern, preferring to surround themselves with friends and inexperienced party fellows. If…
The Valladolid municipality of Camporredondo, near Medina del Campo (Valladolid), is presided over by the mayor Javier Izquierdo García. He has signed a letter of response to the President of the Senate, María Pilar Llop Cuenca (*), defending his municipality against the request of the Upper House to remove the name of the street Calvo Sotelo from that municipality. The letter is as follows: PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE OF SPAIN…