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Dear God, not again

⛴️ A cruise ship, a deadly virus… and Spain is right in the middle of it

The world has been glued to its screens for the past two days following the news unfolding in real time of a luxury expedition cruise ship drifting across the Atlantic with a deadly virus onboard — and now heading straight for Spain.

• The MV Hondius is carrying around 150 passengers and crew. What started as a mysterious illness quickly escalated into something much more serious. Three people have died, and at least eight cases of hantavirus (a rodent-borne virus that can cause severe disease) have been confirmed or are under investigation.

• The situation has snowballed into a multi-country health concern, and Spain is now at the center of it, because the ship is expected to dock in Tenerife on Saturday.

Quick recap. The cruise began in southern Argentina and made stops in extremely remote locations. Early on, a passenger fell ill and later died — but the cause wasn’t immediately identified.

• The ship kept going. Passengers kept traveling. And crucially, dozens of people disembarked mid-journey and flew home before anyone realized what they might have been exposed to. At least one person who left the ship has already tested positive. Authorities are now trying to trace contacts across multiple countries

This isn’t The Last of Us. Hantavirus is not new (outbreaks in Argentina have been happening since, like, forever). It’s not easily transmissible (so please don’t say this is “just like COVID”).

• It’s typically spread through contact with infected rodents, not casual human interaction. (Good). The Andes strain — the one detected here — can, however, lead to severe respiratory illness with mortality rates of up to 40% and can be transmitted from person to person if there’s very close, prolonged contact. (Bad).

• There’s no vaccine, no specific treatment, and when symptoms worsen, things can deteriorate quickly.

• Keep calm and carry on. On the ship, passengers are isolating, wearing masks, and limiting contact — but also reading, watching movies, and drinking tea. “Our days have been close to normal,” one passenger said. At least there’s that.

Now enter Spain. After being denied disembarkation in Cape Verde, the ship is heading to Tenerife following a request from the WHO, which has sparked… tension.

• Why involve us? The Canary Islands government is openly questioning why passengers couldn’t be evacuated directly from Africa instead of bringing the situation to Spain.

• You're not good at this. Regional president Fernando Clavijo has also complained about a lack of transparency and coordination from Madrid. On the ground, the reaction is simpler: people are nervous. (Remember COVID?.)

Full steam ahead. The central government, however, is sticking to the plan. Spain has activated EU emergency protocols and will handle the operation once the ship arrives.

• Welcome to Spain. Passengers will be medically screened, foreigners repatriated, and the 14 Spanish nationals flown to Madrid for quarantine in a military hospital. Everything is being coordinated with European partners.

• Please don’t panic. Health Minister Mónica García insists the risk to the general population is very low, while Fernando Simón, the Ministry’s Director of the Health Alerts and Emergencies Coordination Center, has gone out of his way to stress that this is “very, very different from COVID.”

What happens now? All eyes are now on Saturday, when the ship is expected in Tenerife. Passengers will remain onboard until evacuation flights are ready, and authorities will begin an operation to disperse them safely. Or maybe cause the end of civilization!

More news below. 👇👇

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🇲🇽 Ayuso travels to Mexico and — surprise! — pisses off her hosts

Guess who’s in town. Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) landed in Mexico on Sunday for what was supposed to be a 10-day official visit. Instead, it’s turned into a transatlantic controversy almost from day one — centered (surprise!) on history.

• If you’re going to go controversial, go big. Things started to unravel when Ayuso backed a tribute to Hernán Cortés in Mexico City — you know, that Cortés. The one who overthrew the Aztec empire (with the help of other indigenous groups) and, in the process, massacred 3,000–6,000 unarmed people at Cholula, either to avoid an ambush or just because he wanted to.

• Heck of a guy. Ayuso praised Cortés as “a key figure in the creation of modern Mexico,” argued Spain’s legacy is one of mestizaje (cultural/racial mixture) rather than something to apologize for, and warned against the “death of democracy under socialism,” naming both Spain and Mexico as examples. So: a light agenda.

Bad timing. Spain–Mexico relations have been shaky for years after former president López Obrador demanded an apology for colonial abuses, which Spain rejected. Recently, though, things were starting to thaw: King Felipe VI offered some conciliatory words, and Mexico’s president Claudia Sheinbaum lowered the temperature in a visit to Barcelona.

• Then Ayuso shows up… and 💥.

Not amused — then amused. Sheinbaum fired back hard, saying anyone trying to reframe the conquest as something positive is “destined to fail.” But the next day, she walked it back, insisting Ayuso has “the right to speak” and this won’t derail bilateral relations.

• Back in Spain. Digital Transformation Minister Óscar López called the trip “irresponsible” — no surprise, given that Sánchez is setting him up as the PSOE candidate to run against Ayuso in the next election.

Presidenta non grata? At a Mexican airport, a local woman confronted Ayuso directly, criticizing her conquest comments and pointedly reminding her that México is spelled with an “x,” not a “j” — something Ayuso loves to do because it provokes people. The video went viral almost instantly.

• Wealthy Mexicans, who have been moving to Madrid in significant numbers, drawn for stability, lifestyle, and tax reasons, seem less stressed by Ayuso’s heroes, or her spelling.

Next stops? Monterrey and the Riviera Maya. We’re sure it’ll be calm. 🤣

2. 🇺🇸 Ceuta and Melilla are framed as ‘Moroccan’ in Washington

More surprises! Buried in a U.S. congressional budget document, a House committee has (for the first time) echoed Morocco’s long-standing claim over Spain’s Ceuta and Melilla.

• The wording is doing a lot of heavy lifting. The two cities are described as being “in Moroccan territory” but “under Spanish administration”.

• Um, like what “future”? The document encourages Secretary of State Marco Rubio (aka Mark Blondy) to help mediate their “future status.” (Translation: they are not quite Spanish, and are potentially negotiable). For the local government in these areas, this is a 🚩 (or a 🇲🇦, if you know what we mean).

Reality check. Ceuta and Melilla are not some ambiguous leftovers of the empire. They are Spanish cities, full stop, and have been for centuries.

• Heap long time. Melilla has been Spanish since 1497. Ceuta since 1668. Their residents are Spanish citizens, they vote, they’re part of the EU, and Madrid treats them the same way it treats Barcelona or Seville. For Spain, they’re not colonies, not disputed territories, and definitely not up for negotiation.

Why this now? Because of who pushed it. The language was introduced by Republican congressman Mario Díaz-Balart, a close Rubio ally and member of the pro-Morocco caucus.

• Freelance geography lessons. He’s been openly saying for weeks that Ceuta and Melilla are “in Morocco,” and that their status should be discussed “between allies.” That framing is exactly what Rabat has been arguing for years.

• Not law (yet). This is all part of an explanatory report attached to a budget bill. It still needs to pass the full House, then the Senate. But politically, it matters.

Great timing, too. Spain and the U.S. are not in their best moment. There’s been friction over Spain not doing its NATO spending, telling the U.S. it can’t use Spanish bases to attack Iran, and fighting with U.S. BFF Israel.

• Two great tastes that taste great together. At the same time, the U.S. has been doubling down on its alliance with Morocco (which signed a normalization agreement with Israel during Trump I).

Do not escalate. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares brushed it off with a line that says everything: the Spanishness of Ceuta and Melilla is “as unquestionable as that of Santiago de Compostela.”

• Don’t forget us! PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo is heading to Ceuta this Saturday to mark Europe Day there and use the visit to “reaffirm the Spanishness” of both cities (and push for stronger EU backing).

Temperature rising. A few years ago, a comment like this would have been dismissed as noise. Now, during the “We’d like Greenland” presidency, it sounds sounds considerably less implausible.

3. 🎇 The trial of the century month is all over (except for the crying)

We hardly knew you, ‘Caso Koldo’. After 14 sessions, 70+ witnesses, and more salacious accusations than any single courtroom deserves, Caso Koldo — a case that was ostensibly about corruption in COVID mask contracts, but was really about whether the PSOE is a corrupt multi-headed hydra or just extremely unlucky in its staffing choices — has gone to the judges.

• The verdict may be months away. But memories last forever. Let’s get into what happened — and what’s next

The cast. This was a simple show, with three men sharing one stage (and trying to bring down the rest of the world with them). (A note: all the claims below are alleged, not proven.)

• The Lusty Boss Man 🤵. Ex-Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos allegedly ran a parallel economy from his ministry. In this telling, his bag man delivered cash in a Montblanc backpack — up to €250,000 per run — to his home and office; mask contracts were steered to his associates; one of his mistresses had her Madrid flat paid by his bag man’s partner; his advisor arranged prostitutes for him on a Mexico trip; and he got use of a beach house in Cádiz via a businessman seeking a hydrocarbon license. Prosecution asks: 24 years.

• The Furry Advisor (with a money habit) 🐻. Koldo García, Ábalos’s right-hand man and alleged operational hub. Known in the bag man’s notes as “grandu,” he allegedly told the bag man that Sánchez “knew everything.” His €400,000+ of spending in two years caught the police’s major crimes unit’s eye. Also maintained that his infamous “million in chistorras” text had nothing to do with money. Sure. Prosecution asks: 19.5 years.

• The Big-Mouthed Bag Man 💰. Víctor de Aldama — fixer, cooperating witness, and the man who made this trial considerably more entertaining than it had any right to be. Having admitted to everything, he used his testimony to go further — he named Sánchez “#1” of the criminal organization, roped in Sánchez’s wife Begoña Gómez and former Finance Minister María Jesús Montero, and tossed in Venezuela for flavor. The prosecution said his Sánchez claims lacked proof. Prosecution asks: 7 years (the cooperation discount).

The greatest hits? The prostitutes in Mexico, a paid-for mistress flat, cash in a Montblanc backpack, and Aldama’s blockbuster claim that €1.8 million in illegal donations flowed to PSOE through construction kickbacks — with the president allegedly aware of every peseta.

Their swan songs. In their final statements, Ábalos called the trial a “daily torture” (he comes in handcuffs) and an “inquisitorial process.” Koldo said he was “destroyed,” had lost his friends, and wasn’t “that bad.” Aldama said nothing. Probably wisely.

What’s next. A sentence will come eventually. Aldama and Koldo are also due at the Audiencia Nacional on May 14 in a parallel investigation. For now, Ábalos and Koldo will stay locked up pending the verdict because, not surprisingly, the prosecution says they are flight risks.

We’ll miss you, Caso Koldo. Don’t call us.

4. 🤐 You’ll love this apartment — the owners are about to die

Want more proof that the Spanish real estate market has gone mad? A real estate agency on the outskirts of Madrid caused major drama this week when it promoted a property on Idealista as a great buy because — wait for it — the current owners were on death’s door. ☠️

• Excuse me? Troya Servicios Inmobiliarios, an agency in Leganés on the outskirts of Madrid, listed a flat for €90,000 (😱), calling it a “unique opportunity” because both owners — aged 56 and 59 — “have delicate health conditions such as scoliosis, dialysis, and diabetes that could accelerate the future availability of the property, and they have no offspring.” That’s agency-speak for “one foot in the grave, no one to inherit”.

Some context: Spain has a real estate model called nuda propiedad, in which owners — typically elderly, often sick — sell their home while retaining the right to live in it until they die. The buyer gets a below-market price and… waits.

• Not exactly uplifting. The sellers are usually retirees desperate to avoid poverty, not people optimizing their real estate portfolio. Which makes the incentive structure, let’s say, awkward: as in, the buyer is quietly (or not) rooting for the seller to die. Preferably soon. Troya just forgot to keep that part quiet.

• It gets worse. Buyers circulate jokes about nudging sellers toward extreme sports or crowded places (hi, COVID). We couldn’t document actual foul play — but a movie exists, and French notaries recently faced charges for buying a property from a woman with Alzheimer's symptoms who died 28 days after signing. Just saying.

Anthropologist Jaime Palomera put it well, talking to El País: “The more the life expectancy of those living in the property is shortened, the greater the expected return for the investor. It’s a profoundly predatory logic.” Idealista took the listing down and blamed the agency for, like, maybe revealing confidential health info. The agency said its salespeople were “busy.”

• Troya’s real crime wasn’t doing anything especially wrong. It got caught saying the quiet part out loud.

5. 🎤 Screw Eurovision… We have our own musical show!

We’re not backing down. For the first time in 65 years, Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE will not show Eurovision (aka the Gay Super Bowl), following the country’s withdrawal from the contest over Israel’s participation.

• But don't cry! Instead, that same night, RTVE is rolling out a full-scale alternative: a prime-time musical special designed to fill the Eurovision-shaped void.

Friendly reminder. Spain joined Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland, and the Netherlands in declining to participate, turning what started as controversy into a coordinated boycott. But Spain’s absence hits differently.

• Eurovision here is more than popular. It’s one of the biggest TV events of the year, regularly pulling massive audiences and dominating the cultural conversation (last year’s final pulled over 50% share).

A worthy replacement? Enter La Casa de la Música, a 2.5-hour special hosted by zaddy Jesús Vázquez and packed with big musical names that you probably don’t know (including many with only one name): Raphael, Chanel, Manuel Carrasco, Chenoa, Mónica Naranjo, Ana Belén, Guitarricadelafuente (OK, you may know him), and more.

• Look over here! Officially, RTVE is framing the night around music and “coexistence for peace,” carefully avoiding direct references to Eurovision. Unofficially, it’s a one-to-one replacement, a concert that showcases sSpanish talent and makes a political statement.

Keeping it diplomatic. Eurovision's director said he “misses” the countries that pulled out and wants them back. And the RTVE feels him: TVE director Sergio Calderón said he “understands” the concern and left the door open to a return.

• Awww…But not yet. RTVE marked May 17 (the day after the final) as when they’ll reassess, depending on how the contest unfolds and, crucially, what happens with Israel’s participation. So, not this year.

• Sneaky! The Eurovision organization also tried to lure back some Spanish presence by inviting Jorge González (a Benidorm Fest finalist) to perform at an official event in Vienna. He declined, saying that if his country ain’t going, neither is he.

You can still watch Eurovision. The contest will be available via the official YouTube broadcast, and you can even vote from Spain. But the shared national experience? Gone. No Spanish entry, no coverage, no collective meltdown over televote points.

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@thebubblecomFrom tapas to Krispy Kreme 🇺🇸 #spain #lifeinspain #madrid #expatlife

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🇪🇸 The Bubble is Spain's #1 English-language, best-selling newsletter. We offer paid subscriptions, and we’d be thrilled to have your support!

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Party pooper

😥 The economy fiesta might be coming to an end

The economy of Spain in general and Madrid in particular has been “killing it” (technical term) in recent years, as we’ve noted again and again. It’s been leading the big EU countries and, seriously, everyone is moving here (like, even Walton Goggins 🥳).

• But now it looks like there may be clouds on the horizon. Or flies in the ointment. Or ketchup on the tortilla. And we’re beginning to worry that we — and the PSOE-led government that rules us — may be facing a paradigm shift. Let us count the ways.

Three letters: GDP. Spain’s economy has boomed since the COVID pandemic, buoyed by tourism and EU funds, but the air is bleeding out of that balloon. After outpacing the EU’s biggest economies with 2.8% growth last year, it was already expected to slow to 2.2% this year and 2.0% in 2027. Then the Orange Menace started to bomb Iran, f’ing up those growth projections by sending oil prices up ⏫.

• The problem with rising fuel prices? Economy Minister Carlos Cuerpo (a.k.a. Carl Body) says inflation will shoot up to 3.1% (previous expectation: 2.1%), and when things are expensive, people buy less. Even so, Cuerpo is still claiming that 2.2% growth is on for this year despite the fact that the IMF cut its own projection to 2.0% (and 1.7% for 2027). But he admitted that if this war continues, they could cut the number by up to 0.8 percentage points (that would be to 1.4%, for those who don’t like math).

Getting a J-O-B isn’t as easy as it used to be. Employment numbers always sag after the holiday rush, but this year’s drop was crazy bad. The unemployment rate — which briefly dropped below Spain’s (embarrassing) 10% “good news” line at the end of 2025 — shot up to 10.8% in the first quarter with 231,500 new unemployed people, the biggest jump in that time period since 2013 (not including COVID, natch).

• Not great timing. The jump slump arrived just as the government is regularizing a guestimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants — a group that is especially exposed to the shop, restaurant, and domestic jobs that were lost. From exploitation to unemployment…

Finding a place to live? Also (even) harder. If you thought it was hard to find an affordable place to live, well, you might soon be nostalgic for the current situation. The average price per m² of a home in Spain was 14.3% higher in early 2026 compared to a year earlier (in Madrid and Valencia, it was worse: up 19%). Nuts.

• You may not be able to find a place to rent either. The Housing Law of 2023, which allows regional governments to cap rent in “stressed” areas in order to make housing more affordable and accessible, appears to be having the exact opposite effect.

• Less, not more. In Barcelona, which the Catalan government declared “stressed” in March 2024, the number of long-term rentals on offer fell from 132,259 to 79,456 — about 40% — between 2023 and 2026 as landlords took properties off the long-term market and converted them into short-term rentals, according to Observatorio del Alquiler, a think tank. (Fotocasa says more than a third of landlords plan to get out of the long-term market when their current rental contract is done.)

The real problem? Friend-of-The-Bubble (FOTB) Kiko Llaneras of El País has a fascinating deep dive into Spain’s economic state this week. Tl;dr? The average Spanish salary, taking inflation into account, has only risen 5% in the last 30 years — and because of constant tax increases, has actually fallen since 2015.

• Add in housing, and 💥. Take stagnant wages, rising taxes, and housing prices that have risen on average 47.7% since 2015 (and 95.6% in Madrid and Barcelona), according to Caixabank Research, and are you at all surprised that broke youth living with their parents seemingly forever are unhappy — and getting angrier (and moving to the right)?

More news below. 👇👇

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🇪🇸 Vox’s ‘national priority’ comes to life

Going national. Remember that whole “national priority” thing that sounded like a new discriminatory far-right talking point last week? Yeah, it’s now everywhere.

• Going big. What started as a chapter in regional deals between the center-right PP and far-right Vox in places like Extremadura and Aragón has officially taken over Spanish politics. Vox is pushing it hard across regional parliaments (and even town halls), and making it very clear that this is not a suggestion, it’s the line.

• More than a slogan. “Prioridad nacional” means giving preferential access to public aid, housing, and services to people with stronger ties to Spain, which, in practice, critics say opens the door to discrimination against immigrants and creates a two-tier system.

Come at us, bro. Vox, for its part, isn’t backing down. The party has warned the PP it won’t accept any attempt to “water down” the concept with softer language about “arraigo” (attachment) or legal nuance.

• The real deal. Internally, Vox sees “national priority” as a simple, emotionally charged idea that resonates broadly among working-class voters. Their strategy now is to force the PP to fully embrace it or publicly reject it.

Under pressure. In Aragón, regional president Jorge Azcón defended the measure during his investiture, insisting it’s “legal” (just in case) and based on rewarding those with long-term ties to the region.

• Everywhere! Vox is pushing similar proposals in Valencia and also warns they’ll ask for it in Andalucía if the PP needs their votes to govern there.

Quick backlash. PM Sánchez says this is about creating “first and second-class citizens” and has warned the government will step in if any measure crosses legal lines.

• Church, too. The secretary general of the Spanish Catholic bishops’ group has also rejected the idea.

Can’t stop, won’t stop. Vox, unsurprisingly, is emboldened by all of this. Party leader Santiago Abascal lashed out at Sánchez — calling him, among other things, “a piece of shit” during a rally.

• Hitting the church. He also lashed out at bishops who criticized his policies, accusing them of hypocrisy and siding with what he calls a system that “betrays Spaniards.”

Playin’ it cool. The center-right PP is trying not to alienate moderate voters while they face constant pressure from Vox to go further.

• That balancing act might actually be working. According to a poll conducted by the PP, a surprisingly large chunk of socialist voters (around 40%) are receptive to the PP’s softer version of the idea.

Assuming the PP's polling isn't just telling them what they want to hear, this may explain why they aren't slamming the brakes.

2.🐿️ The party might really be over for Alvise Pérez

Speaking about fiestas that are coming to an end, remember Alvise Pérez? The Telegram firebrand who, in 2024, shocked Spain by winning 3 European Parliament seats for his catchily-named party Se acabó la fiesta (”The Party’s Over,” or SALF) — riding 800,000 votes harvested from a brew of far-right messaging, anti-establishment grievance, conspiracy theories, and selectively-deployed online “exposés.”

• Well, his party may indeed be over.

Stripped. The European Parliament has officially stripped him of immunity, clearing the way for Spain’s Supreme Court to put him on trial over the alleged harassment of a Valencia prosecutor. The MEP shield doesn’t apply here because what he’s accused of has nothing to do with his job as a legislator.

• A mess from day one. Since arriving in Brussels, Alvise’s tenure has been an unbroken parade of public feuds with his own party members and constant controversy — culminating now in legal trouble back home.

The case. Prosecutors call it a targeted harassment campaign. In early 2024, Alvise posted messages and photos of a Valencia prosecutor on his Telegram channel, accusing her of persecuting Spaniards.

• The result: around 1,500 abusive messages from his followers, including threats and calls to harass her IRL. The Supreme Court believes there may have been a deliberate attempt to mobilize his audience against her.

Not the only one! This is one of five open legal investigations.

• The greatest hits. Illegal campaign financing — a €100,000 payment from a crypto bro “businessman” Alvise has openly acknowledged receiving; spreading a fake COVID test about a high-profile politician, admitted in court; allegedly harassing his own former SALF colleagues; and a separate Supreme Court probe into alleged threats against the mayor of Algeciras.

What now? With immunity gone, the Supreme Court can finally proceed with the first trial — and potentially others, depending on whether further immunity requests are lifted. None of this means he’s guilty. But the heat shield is off.

• Witch hunt! Alvise has already framed it all as part of a “corrupt system” targeting him — a narrative that plays well with his base. (Sounds familiar?)

Make Spain great again. Fret not, anti-establishment readers: he’s already announced he’s running in the 2027 general election.

3. 🌑 A year ago, all the lights went out — and we still don’t know who to blame

On April 28, 2025, a historic blackout plunged Spain into darkness, unleashing societal collapse of a profundity never seen outside of The Last of Us 🧟. Widespread looting, radioactive panthers, zombie hordes, paella made with chorizo…it was madness.

• Actually, none of that happened. Some 35,000 people were stranded in trains, and a team of window cleaners got stuck on one of Madrid’s Cuatro Cinco Torres skyscrapers. But at least judging from The Bubble’s “on the ground reporting” at the time, a big chunk of Spain’s population took it upon themselves to rescue warming beer and dance the Macarena (literally).

But it was a big f-up that cost us all a 💩-ton of 💰 — and a year on, no one’s saying whose fault it was.

• The reports. Four official investigations and one parliamentary inquiry have produced an impressive paper trail and exactly zero resignations. Beatriz Corredor, the former PSOE Housing Minister who Sánchez’s government appointed chair of partially state-owned grid operator Red Eléctrica — a €546k-a-year job — is still there. Energy Secretary Sara Aagesen still has her job. Sánchez himself has very pointedly not apologized.

What happened (allegedly). The technical consensus — to the extent there is one — points to a voltage surge cascading through a grid running on 55.5% renewables, causing every energy producer to go offline lest they suffer damage.

• Green fail? Not quite. The cause, experts say, wasn’t “excessive” renewables but a grid increasingly reliant on them and not yet fully adapted — meaning, in plain terms, more batteries and more gas/nuclear backup to absorb sudden clouds or a drop in the breeze. Spain has been early out of the gate on this; it’s uncharted ground.

The blame game. Red Eléctrica blames the utilities. The utilities blame Red Eléctrica. Iberdrola is suing. The Senate’s PP-majority report demanded dismissals — Corredor’s, Aagesen’s, the lot — which the government received with the seriousness it reserves for things it intends to ignore. Feijóo, predictably, called for resignations. Sánchez, equally predictably, has not delivered.

• Fines? Maybe. The CNMC (Spain’s competition authority and über-regulator), meanwhile, has opened 55 sanction investigations. Resolutions will arrive after an 18-month investigation — putting the actual reckoning in late 2027 or early 2028, by which point we will all surely have moved on to a fresh catastrophe (and past the next elections).

The money. Direct losses topped €1 billion. The extra cost of preventing a repeat (by topping up with conventional power)? €666m — a number whose biblical vibe is, we assume, conveniente. Consumers have absorbed it via a 10% rise in their electricity bills, because of course they did.

• Nobody else pays? Unlikely. Repsol is suing for €175m. The OCU may push households to sue. But CNMC’s maximum fine tops out at €60m — roughly a tenth of what consumers are paying to fix the problem.

The takeaway. 86.7% of Spaniards think it could happen again. They are, statistically speaking, probably right. As for who’s to blame — well, that’s what the next 18 months are for. For now, the lights are on. 🕯️

4. ✈️ Ryanair tells Spain it prefers Morocco and Italy

The war between Ryanair and Spain has gotten so bad that the cheap bastards discount airline is using a cake to mock the government. (See above.)

• Just wanted to say “hi.” Ryanair CEO Eddie Wilson flew into Madrid on Monday — exactly the day state-controlled airport operator AENA was distributing its annual dividends (€834m of which went straight to the state) — to announce that AENA’s fees are too damn high, so Ryanair will cut 1.2m seats in Spain this summer. (He says this year will be the first Ryanair hasn’t grown in Spain since it entered the market.)

The argument. Ryanair is annoying colorful (more on the cake below), but its grievances always reduce to money. AENA wants to raise fees 21% (plus inflation) over 2027-2031. Wilson’s take: AENA runs “excessive” 60% margins, has paid €5bn in dividends to the government over the past four years, and plowed €800m into airports in Brazil and the U.K. in the last 12 months alone — even as regional Spanish airports run 70% empty.

• Wilson’s verdict: “It is extraordinary that the Spanish government prioritizes dividends and sending money generated at Spanish airports overseas, at the expense of areas losing routes, tourists, and jobs.” Ouch. 🔥

Promises made, promises kept. None of this is new — Ryanair told us back in October it would do exactly this. The 1.2m cut is the third wave in a year, following last summer’s 800k-seat reduction and last winter’s 1m cut. Total damage since summer 2024: 3m seats

• So few seats. Asturias, Valladolid, Jerez, Tenerife Norte, and Vigo lose 100% of Ryanair service. Santiago drops 79%, Zaragoza 45%, Santander 41%. Girona and the Canaries take smaller hits.

• Ryan’s new friends. Meanwhile, Ryanair will grow 11% in Morocco and 9% in Italy — “significantly more competitive countries than Spain,” per Wilson. In other words, Ryanair to España Profunda: Screw you.

So much love. Ryanair’s other Spain grievances are still simmering: the €107m fine for charging for hand luggage (under appeal), the European Commission’s case against Spain over the hand-luggage sanctions, and the never-ending Bustinduy feud — group CEO Michael O’Leary’s nickname for the consumer minister, you’ll recall, was “crazy communist.”

And the cake? Pure Ryanair. The PR shop knows newspaper business desks need a single arresting image, so Wilson rolled out a frosted prop for AENA’s dividend day, showing most of its money reserved for dividends and investments abroad, with a tiny sliver for Spain’s regions.

• Petty? Yes. Effective? Also yes — exhibit A: this newsletter.

5. 🐾 Spain’s wildest ‘influencer’ lynx is hunting street cats

Uh-oh! A wild Iberian lynx nicknamed Veneno has basically moved into the small town of Cabañas de Yepes (in Toledo) and is regularly terrorizing hunting the local street cat colony.

• Viral cat. What would normally be a quiet ecological situation has exploded because neighbors started filming it, and now the media (get this) is calling it an “influencer lynx” thanks to how viral it’s become.

Here, kitty. According to very serious reporting, Veneno shows up almost daily, walking through streets, jumping walls, even sleeping in roundabouts like it owns the place. Veneno, who was born in 2024 in the Montes de Toledo, lives in a nearby valley (an ideal lynx habitat full of rabbits) and has learned a route straight into town.

• Once there, it targets the local cats — not out of cruelty, but instinct. For a lynx, other small mammals are either prey or competition.

• To locals, though, those are their cats. Some of them are even cared for by a community association. According to residents, 20 may already be gone.

Don’t pspspsps it. That’s where the tension kicks in. On one hand, many locals are fascinated (it’s not every day you see a critically endangered species strolling past your house!). On the other hand, there’s real concern for the cats, for the lynx itself (it could get hit by a car!), and for public safety if people start, like, crowding or chasing it.

• That’s already happening (shocker). People from nearby towns are literally showing up to take selfies with the murderous wild predator (don’t worry, according to experts, they won’t attack you). At one point, a town meeting about the lynx basically emptied because Veneno walked past outside.

Time to move on. Now, authorities are trying to gently push Veneno back out of town by removing food sources for cats, limiting human interaction, and discouraging people from feeding or approaching it.

• More followers than you. As for the “influencer” label, it’s because Veneno has become a viral star. Videos of it hunting or roaming are all over social media, turning it into an accidental celebrity (and even a potential tourist attraction).

Back with a vengeance. This is happening because the Iberian lynx is making a comeback. Just a couple of decades ago, it was on the brink of extinction, with fewer than 100 individuals left.

• Thanks to conservation efforts, the species has recovered. So Veneno wandering into town is actually a side effect of success. Can Madrid get one too?

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Crossed wires

🇻🇪 Venezuela's opposition leader ghosts Sánchez government

Guess who was in town? María Corina Machado, leader of the Venezuelan opposition and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, spent the weekend in Madrid and was welcomed like a head of state… just not by the Spanish government.

• ¡La Presidenta! Machado, who is widely seen as the real winner of the country’s last elections (even though she was disqualified from running), landed in Spain to a reception that felt closer to a victory tour than a diplomatic visit.

• Tighty righties. She met center-right PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo at party headquarters — where she was greeted with applause and chants of “libertad” — and then far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal for good measure.

But wait, there’s more! Machado also held high-profile meetings with Madrid’s regional president, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, and Madrid mayor José Luis Martínez-Almeida.

• Want something shiny? Ayuso awarded Machado the Gold Medal of the Community of Madrid, and Almeida handed her the symbolic keys to the city, a gesture usually reserved for heads of state or major historical figures.

The optics mattered. Madrid is home to one of the largest Venezuelan diaspora communities in Europe. Some 200,000 people who fled the crisis back home came to the city.

• Many of them see Machado as their political representative, so her appearance at the Puerta del Sol, where she addressed a crowd of supporters waving Venezuelan flags and chanting her name, felt like a campaign rally (albeit in exile).

Where’s Pedro? Despite being invited, Machado did not meet with Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez nor anyone else from the Spanish government. Eeeeenteresting… 🤔

The water simmers. The awkwardness of not meeting started politely, through clenched smiles. Sánchez said he was “delighted to meet Señora Machado whenever she has the opportunity” — the doors of Moncloa, he added, are always open. Machado had said that meeting him simply “no es conveniente” (“It is not advisable.") right now. Nothing personal, you understand.

• But really, what's up? Machado nodded at one reason she didn't meet Mr Handsome —the progressive summit he was hosting in Barcelona, which featured left-wing leaders of countries like Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico who'd been kinda friendly with her nemesis, now-jailed Nicolás Maduro.

• Now we get it. She added some spice in an interview with El Mundo: “Meeting with Pedro Sánchez would have sent the wrong message; our cause is about truth and about the people.” Ouch.

The water boils. Then Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares started punching back on RNE. Machado, he noted, had managed to meet Feijóo, Ayuso, Almeida and Abascal: “She has acted as an ideological leader meeting with her political spectrum, which is the Spanish far right.”

• A little gratitude, please. Albares reminded everyone that this government flew Machado’s proxy Edmundo González out on a military plane and just rushed Spanish citizenship to fellow opposition leader Leopoldo López (who previously found asylum in Spain’s Caracas embassy). “Is it necessary to hide what Spain does for Venezuela in order to please others?” (Who are those others? Just wait…)

The pot explodes. Albares dropped a bombshell: Machado herself, he claimed, had once asked for refuge inside Spain’s Caracas embassy, and he’d granted it.

• Calling bull💩. Machado’s team called that “false.” Diplomatic sources told El Mundo the offer went the other way. And Machado fired back… obliquely: “There are opaque episodes” around Spain’s dealings in Venezuela, she told El Español, and “I have information others don’t” — that will be deployed once verified, we presume. 🤔

So what’s going on here? Two things, probably.

• First, of all European governments, Sánchez’s has been friendliest to Maduro — which doesn’t exactly build trust with the Venezuelan opposition.

• But more importantly, Sánchez and Trump are at each other’s throats, and Trump is the one who might actually install Machado in Caracas — having, in January, ordered the Fuerte Tiuna raid that dragged Maduro off to a New York cell. ”The only head of state who put his citizens’ lives on the line for our freedom,” she gushed in El Español. A bit thick, but she knows which side her arepa is buttered on.

P.S. Watching Leopoldo López try to avoid getting involved in the Machado/Sánchez spat in this interview is hilaaaaaarious. Dude will say anything to say nothing. Deer in headlights total.

More news below. 👇👇

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🧑🏻‍💼 Pedro Sánchez has an international fan club, but…

The Prime Minister’s moves to take on Trump and Netanyahu, as well as his recent confab of the international left in Barcelona, have brought him a sizable fan club abroad. And that fandom went up 11 on Monday, when the CIS public research institute’s April poll showed Sánchez’s PSOE extending its lead over the center-right PP to 12.8 points, 36.4% to 23.6%.

• Overseas praise flooded social media, like the post above from DemsMight, a pro-Democratic party (U.S.) messaging group: “Looks like being anti-war and having cojones is popular. Spain is taking notice.”

But there’s a data problem. The CIS has a certain cachet — publicly funded, historically respected — but in recent years, well, not so much. After taking office in 2018, Sánchez appointed sociologist José Félix Tezanos — then a sitting PSOE executive committee member — as chair. Since then, the rosy poll numbers the CIS hands the PSOE have been wrong so often that they mostly qualify as wish fulfillment.

Seriously, that bad. As friend-of-Bubble Kiko Llaneras of El País has documented, the CIS under Tezanos has overestimated the left in 41 of the 42 elections analyzed since 2018. (Another analysis finds that the CIS underweights support for the right — PP + the far-right Vox — by 11 percentage points on average.)

• Plenty better ones. Private pollsters like 40dB. and the El País poll-of-polls have been consistently more accurate, while the CIS lives in a parallel (inaccurate) universe where the left almost always does a bit better than in real life.

• It’s not just the numbers. Former members of the CIS advisory council — including old friends and heavyweight sociologists — have filed formal complaints and quietly walked away, decrying the “CIS de Tezanos” brand that now clings to the center like bad cologne. One described it bluntly as “the least neutral institution in Spain right now.”

But has Sánchez’s Trump pushback helped? Yes — just not as much as the CIS suggests. Polls by SocioMétrica for El Español have found that the PSOE would win 110 seats (out of 350) if elections were held today, up 12 from two months ago, just before Sánchez took his stand against the war. That growth has come at the expense of the PSOE’s far-left allies and Vox; the PP held steady with 140, and could still form a majority with Vox.

• Does playing with the numbers help your side? Doubtful — and Sánchez may not trust the CIS polls himself. As the commentariat often notes, if he actually believed he had a 13-point lead, he’d call elections tomorrow.

Our take. Sánchez’s pushback on Trump is paying dividends (and is eminently justifiable). But Spanish voters are tired of him for many other reasons, and won’t switch to him en masse for heckling the Orange Menace. Indeed, Sánchez may be turning into Southern Europe’s Mikhail Gorbachev — popular abroad and unloved at home. Maybe the UN has a job for him?

2. 🤝 PP and Vox finally strike a deal in Extremadura (and it’s… complicated)

Cue the Imperial March from Star Wars. More than 100 days after the regional elections, regional president María Guardiola’s PP and Vox have reached an agreement to form a government in Extremadura.

• The deal secures a four-year coalition. Vox will form part of the government with a vice presidency, two ministries, and a regional senate seat.

• This is big news because it wasn’t supposed to be this easy, or even happen. Guardiola openly clashed with Vox leader Santiago Abascal during the campaign, even accusing him of “machismo,” and initially resisted governing with his party.

Agree to disagree. The deal itself is broad (61 points and 74 measures), but it’s the content that’s raising eyebrows. Among (many) other things, the coalition is pushing for lower taxes; a tougher stance on immigration; a ban on burqas and similar garments in public spaces; and a clear rejection of parts of the EU’s Green Deal and the UN’s 2030 Agenda. It also includes measures to “protect” the agricultural sector from Brussels and to extend the life of the Almaraz nuclear plant.

• The most controversial part? The so-called “national priority” principle. On paper, it prioritizes access to public aid, like housing and social benefits, for those with a “real, durable connection” to Extremadura.

• But, but, but… In practice, critics say it’s a backdoor way of discriminating against immigrants. The policy would favor long-term residents regardless of nationality, but it also explicitly seeks to limit access for people in irregular situations and calls for reforming Spain’s immigration law to make this possible.

Slight problem. Under current Spanish and EU law, this kind of discrimination is likely illegal, and the backlash was immediate. The PSOE labeled the pact “racist” and warned that it would challenge any discriminatory measures in the Constitutional Court.

• Surprise! Even within the PP, there’s discomfort: Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso publicly questioned the legality of “national priority,” arguing that “you can’t exclude people who have rights and contribute.”

• Another surprise! Yesterday afternoon, emboldened by what was happening in Extremadura, Vox went on a series of, ahem, “controversial” statements about non-Spaniards in Parliament and insisted on the need to reform Spain’s immigration law. The PP chose not to confront them on the floor but then low-key sided with PSOE and voted against their motion, effectively killing it. Sad!

Business as usual. Guardiola, for her part, is trying to walk a fine line. On Tuesday, she insisted the government will “never break the law” while doubling down on the message that Extremadura won’t “pay the price of a broken migration model.”

• She said this isn’t exclusion, but fairness for those who “have been contributing for years.” Then, after being officially voted in as the new regional boss yesterday (see video above), she said "she wouldn’t apologize” for governing with Vox.

Other unholy alliances. While Vox and the PP are still trying to reach a deal in Castilla y León, the parties announced yesterday that they had also reached a deal in Aragón. Expect the debate over immigration to get a lot louder.

3. 🛂 The mass regularization of immigrants has begun — and everyone’s fighting about it

No one could have predicted this. Okay, everyone predicted this. Ram through a mass regularization via a questionable decreto real during peak culture war, and you’d expect just a little chaos and fighting. And we got it — in spades. Let us count the ways.

First, shambles. “The queues we see are only for getting the documents,” government workers deadpanned to La Voz de Galicia, after NGOs and municipal offices found scores of applicants asleep on cardboard outside their offices, waiting for Monday’s first in-person slots.

• So many people. Madrid’s daily applications leapt from 1,500 to 5,500 in a week. Outside Aculco, a Madrid NGO that handles 300 a day, hundreds queued from the night before. “We’re overwhelmed — we didn’t expect this,” director Álvaro Zuleta told CNN. The government’s own prep? A Friday-at-5:38pm email begging the Federation of Spanish Municipalities to pitch in.

• The biggest confusion. Municipal offices and NGOs have been slammed by applicants seeking a “certificate of vulnerability” — except no one quite knows how to certify it. Madrid’s social-policy chief (of the PP, so not a government fan) says functionaries are working practically blind. Valencia mayor María José Catalá (also PP) was blunter: “If the Minister of Inclusion, Elma Saiz, says that any undocumented person is vulnerable [which she kinda did], then the question is: why is a certificate required to prove it?“ Catalá is also asking Madrid to pay her city’s €1 million paperwork tab.

Second, prisoners. The Ministry of Interior quietly instructed Spain’s 80 state-run prisons to help inmates in preventive custody — some 3,500 foreigners without convictions — apply. The opposition? Not happy. “A preventive prisoner is someone a judge has sent to jail over the risk of flight or recidivism,” PP’s Alma Ezcurra tweeted.

• The worry? Paperwork moves faster inside prison than for migrants on sidewalks — and once regularized, deportation gets much harder. The move is probably fair — innocent until proven guilty and all — but not a great look.

Third, scams. Appointments for empadronamiento (residence registration) or to file paperwork at Correos are both free. A black market has sprung up anyway.

• Nayeli, a Mexican student, paid €150 for a padrón that never materialized; others report quotes of €400 for padrón and €600 for a single Correos slot. Police say mafias use bots to hoover up appointments and resell them in locutorios. The government delegate in Catalonia has had to beg consuls to tell their citizens: “Nobody has to pay a single euro.”

This probably isn’t making the whole regularization any more popular. SocioMétrica’s poll for El Español finds 66.7% of Spaniards against it — rising to 80.5% among 17-to-25-year-olds. Polls are famously imperfect, but those aren’t great numbers. “Spain is the daughter of immigration and will not be the mother of xenophobia,” Sánchez said. Fine sentiments. But Spaniards, it seems, are unconvinced.

4. 🦠 A Valencia med school gave anatomy students cadavers infected with Hep C and COVID

Whoopsie. According to investigations by El País and Eldiario.es, a private medical school in Valencia’s CEU Cardenal Herrera University has been using cadavers with infectious diseases in anatomy classes, including a body infected with hepatitis C, which is gross considered a high risk.

• Threepeat. According to El País, at least three bodies used between 2022 and 2024 carried infections: hepatitis C, flu (H1N1), and COVID-19.

Here’s why that’s a problem. Across Spain (and internationally), universities routinely exclude bodies with infectious diseases like hepatitis B/C or HIV from teaching use. Not necessarily because contagion is likely (experts say embalming and time reduce viral activity significantly), but because basic safety standards demand it. Even Spain’s own academic bodies stress this is “common sense.” (And this university’s own internal rules banned accepting those bodies.)

Who? Me? The university admitted there had been an “error” with the hepatitis C case, essentially acknowledging that the body should never have been accepted.

• We tried! Then they spoke to Las Provincias and explained that all bodies underwent serological testing and that the results came back negative for COVID and flu.

Another whoopsie. The university was already sanctioned by the regional government after a whistleblower revealed that, for years, cadavers had been embalmed by someone without legally required medical qualifications.

• Authorities confirmed the violation, which could have justified shutting down the facility, but ultimately issued a relatively small fine (€15,100).

Fortunately, no infections were reported among students, but this raises serious questions about how casually protocols may have been treated. Next, zombies! 🧟

5. 🫣 Bullfighting’s biggest star receives a brutal ‘rectal’ goring in Sevilla

Hurts to see it. One of Spain’s most famous matadors, Morante de la Puebla (whose retirement we covered last October), was left “very seriously” injured after being gored during a bullfight at the iconic Plaza de la Maestranza, in Seville.

• The bull caught him from behind, driving its horn into his glute and causing a 10 cm wound that perforated his rectum 😱 (one of the most serious injuries in bullfighting — and gross!).

Wait, who? Knowing our readers, you’re probably not into bullfighting. But Morante isn’t just any torero.

• A living legend. He’s like the Elvis of bullfighters and a cultural icon who has transcended the bullring to become a mass phenomenon in Spain. His post-retirement return this season had fans super excited, making the incident even more shocking.

Behind you! The moment itself was sudden and brutal. The bull ignored the cape, turned unexpectedly, and struck him from behind before he could react. Morante collapsed in the arena, visibly searching for the wound as assistants rushed in.

• The audience went silent while they carried him out “like a Christ figure” to the infirmary (yes, the bullring has its own operating room in case it’s needed). There, he was operated on before being transferred to the hospital.

A real pain in the ass. Doctors later confirmed the severity: damage to the anal sphincter and a perforation of the rectum, requiring complex reconstructive surgery (they promise to make his rectum Hollywood pretty). Surgeon Octavio Mulet said the real danger wasn’t just the injury itself, but the high risk of infection due to the location.

• Morante told El Mundo that it was “the most painful goring of my life” and that he feared the horn had reached “his guts”. Despite that, he’s already left the ICU, and he is stable and even “in good spirits.”

Hurts donut? The incident has reignited the usual debate around bullfighting. Animal rights party PACMA responded sharply, asking: “Does it hurt? For the bull, always.”

• They criticized the attention given to the matador’s injury while the bull's suffering “remains normalized”. (The bull, by the way, is now dead.)

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Grab the popcorn

🇨🇳 Sánchez visits China again. And again.

Back in town. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez is back in Beijing. Again. But this time, the context couldn’t be more, ahem, loaded. As Spain’s relationship with the U.S. continues to sour over the war in Iran and broader geopolitical tensions, the PM has doubled down on a different strategy: strengthening ties with China and positioning Spain as a key player in a rapidly shifting global order.

• Hold on to your butts. This is Sánchez’s fourth trip to China in just over three years, a pace of diplomatic courtship that would be eyebrow-raising in normal times. Over a packed few days, he delivered a major speech at the “Harvard of the Communist Party”, met with President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People, signed cooperation agreements with Prime Minister Li Qiang, and toured tech giant Xiaomi (because apparently no trip to China is complete without touring a tech campus and pretending you understand the supply chain).

A busy agenda. Officially, Sánchez’s visit was about strengthening economic ties, attracting Chinese investment, and boosting Spanish exports, especially in sectors like agriculture, infrastructure, and green technology.

• Spain, like much of Europe, depends on China for key materials and renewable tech. But politically, this trip is about something bigger: positioning Spain as a “middle power” that can operate beyond the traditional U.S.-EU axis, especially at a time when Washington is increasingly unpredictable.

Not a one-off. Spain has quietly become one of the most China-friendly countries in the EU. While others in Europe flirt with a tougher stance, Sánchez has leaned into engagement, even as critics warn the relationship is deeply unbalanced, with China dominating trade. However, Madrid sees Beijing as both an economic opportunity and a geopolitical necessity.

• In Beijing, Sánchez didn’t hold back — well, at least not entirely. He called on Beijing to “do more” to uphold international law and help end conflicts from Gaza to Ukraine.

• He also delivered a message on trade: Europe has opened up, and now it’s China’s turn. “We need China to open up so Europe doesn’t have to close itself,” he said, calling the current trade deficit “unsustainable.”

• Really, Spain needs a trade upgrade. Spain’s trade deficit with China jumped to €42bn last year — accounting for 74% of Spain's total deficit. A central aim of the visit was to sign a High Quality Investment Agreement that, Bloomberg notes, aims to ensure that Chinese investments in Spain involve technology transfers to local companies, contracts for local suppliers, and jobs for locals. (🤞 on that.)

BFFs 4 ever. The real headline came in his meeting with Xi. Without naming Trump, both leaders took aim at what they see as a world drifting toward unilateralism, or, as Xi put it, “the law of the jungle.”

• Sánchez echoed that language, pushing for a stronger multilateral system where the EU and China cooperate to ease global tensions.

• Sánchez’s outspoken “No to war” stance, especially his refusal to support U.S. military operations in Iran, has made him something of an unlikely hero in China.

• Chinese officials and media have praised his position, portraying him as a leader willing to stand up to Washington and as being on the “right side of history”. More importantly, Beijing increasingly sees him as a bridge between China and Brussels (a role that, notably, parts of the EU now seem to support).

Sánchez is trying to redefine Spain’s place in the world, somewhere between Brussels, Washington, and Beijing — and a lot closer to the latter. Whether this is visionary or reckless probably depends on how the next six months of global trade politics (and the Orange Menace's whims) unfold.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🛂 The government fired the starting gun on its massive immigrant regularization — and it’s already got troubles

Spain’s “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses” moment is finally here. On Tuesday, the PSOE-led coalition approved a royal decree that will regularize an estimated 500,000 undocumented immigrants.

• We covered the mechanics in depth when the first draft dropped, so here’s the short version. Think tank Funcas estimates there are 840,000 undocumented immigrants in Spain; to qualify, you need to have lived here for at least five months as of Dec. 31, 2025, and have a clean record; and the application window runs until June 30. (Read this if you want more.)

Now, the fun part. The decree was pushed through as a real decreto rather than a real decreto-ley — a crucial distinction, because the latter requires congressional ratification within 30 days, while the former bypasses parliament entirely. No debate, no opposition input, no vote. It’s essentially payment to hard-left Podemos for support on other issues — and the reason the opposition is heading straight to the Supreme Court.

Politics first. You will not be shocked to learn that Vox hates it, and that the PP feels obliged to perform outrage lest Vox hoover up its voters.

• PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo said “immigration in bulk” (as opposed to case-by-case) “has no precedent in any European country” and could become “the gateway for illegality.”

• Madrid’s Isabel Díaz Ayuso announced she’d appeal to the Supreme Court over the supposedly catastrophic effects on public services. (Worth noting: both PP and PSOE governments have done big regularizations before, with no sudden service collapse to speak of.)

• Vox’s Santiago Abascal went ominous on X, writing, “The people won’t forgive you. Sooner or later you’ll have to pay for it.” His party also said it would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Then there’s the fine print. El Consejo de Estado — the advisory body that checks legislation for constitutional compliance — found plenty to complain about.

• The most eyebrow-raising problem with the original draft? It let applicants self-certify that they had no criminal record. As in, “Trust me.” (A bit of an oversight!) The government has since amended this to require a police report; if an applicant’s home country is slow to provide one, Spain will follow up through diplomatic channels. Problem solved, technically.

And pity the poor bureaucrats. Half a million new applications are incoming, with no meaningful increase in the number of people to process them. Immigration officers across Spain have threatened to strike starting April 21 — the day after in-person appointments open — arguing the system simply isn’t ready for the flood.

• Our take? It’s a messy law, rushed through with minimal debate. But getting half a million people out of the shadows — where they are routinely exploited — is a good thing. (Sánchez’s own defense of the decree is here.)

2. ⚖️ PM Sánchez’s wife faces four charges and is on the brink of trial

Here we go. The investigation into PM Sánchez’s wife, Begoña Gómez, has taken a decisive turn. After two years of legal drama, Judge Juan Carlos Peinado has formally proposed sending her to trial — in Spanish legal terms, the step right before oral proceedings begin.

• 4 crimes. In a 39-page ruling, he argues there are sufficient indications to charge her with four crimes: influence peddling, corruption in business, embezzlement of public funds, and misappropriation of a trademark. (One earlier accusation, professional misconduct, has been dropped).

Wait… how did we get here? The case dates back to April 2024, when a complaint was filed by the pseudo-union Manos Limpias, a far-right organization known for filing politically charged lawsuits that usually end in nothing.

• That initial complaint snowballed, with additional accusations from hard-right groups like Hazte Oír and Vox turning what started as a fringe legal move into a full-blown political and judicial saga.

At the center of it all is Judge Peinado himself, who has become almost as controversial as the case. His investigation has been repeatedly corrected by higher courts, including the Audiencia Provincial, which has overturned several of his decisions and limited the scope of the case.

• He has attempted to expand the investigation in multiple directions — from Air Europa’s bailout to implicating ministers — mostly without success. Add unusually political language in his rulings (including comparisons of the Sánchez government to “absolutist regimes”), and you get a judge who has become part of the story.

The substance of the case. Peinado argues that Gómez used her position as the PM’s wife to advance her professional activities.

• The alleged influence peddling centers on her role as a university chair at the Complutense and her relationships with companies that later secured public contracts.

• The corruption in business charge relates to how she allegedly negotiated sponsorships with major firms.

• The embezzlement angle focuses on a Moncloa-funded adviser who, according to the judge, worked partly on Gómez’s private projects.

• The misappropriation claim revolves around a software project developed with public and private resources that was later registered under her name.

But wait, Gómez is not on trial yet. For that to happen, the accusers must formally request a trial within five days. If they do, Peinado can issue an order to open oral proceedings.

• From there, the case would still face scrutiny from the Audiencia Provincial, which has already shown it is willing to rein in parts of this investigation.

The government, unsurprisingly, is not buying any of this. Government sources speak of “indignation,” accusing the judge of timing his decisions to coincide with Sánchez’s international trips (this one dropped while the PM was in China).

• Justice Minister Félix Bolaños went further, saying the investigation has “embarrassed many judges” and caused “irreparable damage” to the justice system.

• Sánchez himself has stuck to a more measured line: “I ask the justice system to deliver justice,” while insisting his wife is innocent.

So what happens next? After the five-day window closes, expect appeals, procedural fights, and, if the trial moves forward, a media circus.

• Realistically, we won’t know whether Gómez actually faces trial for months, and possibly not before Peinado himself retires in September. We’ll keep you posted.

3. ✝️ We’re fighting about the Pope’s visit because… reasons

Unlike a certain Orange Menace, Spain isn’t fighting with the pope. That wouldn’t be original and, plus, we’re classy. But that doesn’t mean we’re above fighting about the pope. Oh no, we’re getting all hot and bothered before the holy fella’s June 6-12 visit to Spain.

• Shocker, we know. You will be surprised, we’re sure, to learn that the throwdown over Pope Leo XIV’s visit is all sorts of political and reflects the usual left/right fault lines in Spanish society (which are deep but no, not as deep as the onion/no onion in the tortilla thing).

Leo’s coming at a time of religious change. The power in Spain’s church has begun to shift away from the conservative clergy who’ve run it for, like, ever.

• The influence of the Conferencia Episcopal Española (CEE) — the administrative institution in Spain — over the PP has faded; its relationship with the government has soured during negotiations over reparations for the church’s massive child sex abuse scandal; and a new generation of TikTok Catholic influencers — and not, you know, priests — have become the voice of the youth.

• Plus, church leaders have faced fire from far-right Catholics (in Vox and beyond) for being okay with renaming the Valley of the Fallen during the time of Leo's predecessor, Francis. And Leo himself has taken many firm stands on the need to treat illegal immigrants with respect (not exactly a right-wing talking point).

So there have been plenty of dustups before Leo’s arrival. Let us count the ways.

• His arrival. El País reports that the conservative side of the church would like him to arrive down the Calle de Alcalá in an alabaster chariot drawn by a team of angels (the chariot is a joke!), and pass through the Puerta de Alcalá in Barrio Salamanca (aka the rich neighborhood). Left-leaning clergy say it’s clear he should arrive through Carabanchel (aka the not-so-rich neighborhood), where he would presumably wash the feet of the poor and marginalized of the zone (plus the hipsters who’ve recently colonized the area). Okay, the hipster feet thing is our idea.

• Sponsors? Clergy and others not aligned with the CEE are asking why the group is raising sponsorship money to finance the €15 million trip — for a donation of €500,000 to €1m, you get a private audience with Leo — when the Spanish church’s income was €1.4bn in 2024. (We’re just happy to see that Mahou has already signed up as a sponsor, so there will be plenty of beer.)

• Addressing parliament. There are discussions about having Pope Leo speak to parliament, which would be a first for a pope. But there are worries that Vox might stand him up — not only has he spoken out in defense of immigrants, but he has also warned of far-right groups trying to use the church to further their aims.

Whether you’re a believer or not, this visit will be interesting. Just remember to refer to him in Spanish as el Papa, not la Papa, which would be a female pope — unlikely — or a South American potato.

4. 💉 The ‘Caretaker of Olot’ will now be a she — but still in jail

You know how sometimes bad memories return when you least expect or want them? Well, that happened this week when the Catalan newspaper El Punt Avui reported that Joan Vila, a serial killer serving a 127-year sentence at Puig de les Basses prison, is transitioning to a woman and henceforth will be known as Aida.

• Excuse me? Yes, really. Vila — a nursing assistant nicknamed “The Caretaker of Olot” for murdering 11 elderly patients at the Fundació La Caritat nursing home in Olot, making him Spain’s #1 serial killer of the 21st century — is already undergoing hormone treatment, has moved to the women’s block, and is awaiting surgery.

So who is the “Caretaker of Olot”? Between August 2009 and October 2010, Vila killed 11 patients aged 80 to 96, using methods that escalated in cruelty: first a cocktail of barbiturates dissolved in water, then insulin injections for diabetic patients, and finally — in the last five days of his killing spree — forcing victims to drink bleach or injecting corrosive substances directly into their mouths.

• Caught by chance. Vila was arrested almost by accident, after a coroner refused to certify one death as natural because the victim couldn’t have ingested that much cleaning fluid by herself. Vila confessed almost immediately — eventually to all 11 murders — saying the deaths made him feel “as if he were God.” In 2013, he was sentenced to 127 years, with a maximum of 40 to be served. He has been inside since October 2010 and has not had a single day’s leave.

Worth noting: During the investigation, Vila told authorities he had always felt like “a woman trapped in a man’s body” — so this is not exactly a bolt from the blue.

• The transition began over a year ago with psychological support and, according to El País, with input from feminist organizations (though El País insists Joan will become Aura, not Aida, so take that as you will).

And no, this is not a get-out-of-jail scheme. Legal experts and the victims’ families’ lawyers are unanimous that the transition has zero effect on the sentence. The court that convicted Vila and the Supreme Court that confirmed the verdict remain unmoved.

• Not going anywhere. Previous attempts by Vila’s defense to ease his prison regime — seeking “third-degree” status and day passes — were already rejected by the courts, which noted that Vila can appear charming but has a capacity for manipulation. The only procedural step required is to notify the court of the name change. That’s it.

Inspiration. Two books have already been published about Joan/Aida. Maybe this will inspire a third.

5. 🇫🇷 Spain takes Cannes: 3 films, 1 Palme d’Or dream

Spanish cinema has decided to show up at the Cannes Film Festival this year and not just politely wave from the sidelines. For the first time ever, three Spanish films are competing for the Palme d’Or, the festival’s top prize and basically the World Cup of auteur cinema.

• We’re talking about Pedro Almodóvar (obvi), Rodrigo Sorogoyen, and the duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi (aka the Javis, who recently broke up their personal relationship but remain business partners), all in the main competition. That’s right, the main event.

Yes, this is a big deal. The Palme d’Or competition usually includes around 20 films, and it’s historically dominated by French and American cinema. Getting one film in is already a win. Getting three? That’s borderline suspicious.

• Spain has never pulled this off before, which makes 2026 feel like a full-blown moment. Even Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux admitted as much: the selection comes from over 2,500 films. So this is quite the statement.

The lineup reads like a generational handover. Almodóvar returns with Amarga Navidad, his most intimate film yet; a story about grief, depression, and the blurred line between fiction and personal truth.

• He himself admitted he’s been losing his usual “pudor,” leaning more into autofiction: “There’s a lot of fiction, but nothing is invented.” Translation: this one is about him.

Then there’s Sorogoyen with El ser querido, making his official competition debut after years of climbing the Cannes ladder. The film follows a troubled reunion between a celebrated film director (played by Javier Bardem) and his estranged daughter, an actress stuck in a dead-end career.

• What starts as a professional opportunity turns into an emotional minefield. Sorogoyen called the moment “historic” and pointed out what everyone is thinking: that Spanish cinema has been building toward this for years.

And finally, the wildcard: the Javis with La Bola Negra. It’s their first time in the Cannes competition, and they’ve gone straight to the top tier, which almost never happens.

• The film, starring Penélope Cruz and Glenn Close, and inspired by an unfinished work by Federico García Lorca, follows three interconnected stories of gay men across different periods in Spanish history. It’s ambitious, emotional, and very them.

Three directors, three styles, three generations. Even Almodóvar framed it as a “day of celebration” for Spanish cinema, especially at a time when auteur filmmaking needs visibility.

• The Javis, meanwhile, summed it up more bluntly. They’re just happy to be there, alongside filmmakers they grew up learning from.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Grab the popcorn

⚖️ Spain’s two biggest corruption cases hit court at the same time

It’s time for “Kolditchen”! That’s right, Spain’s peculiar judicial version of the 2023 double feature hit “Barbenheimer” just arrived in a theater courtroom near you, and we couldn’t be more thrilled.

• Party x2. Both the Kitchen case (corruption in the PP!) and the Koldo case (corruption in the PSOE!) trials are starting in the same week by complete coincidence (or so we hear).

And really, how often do you get to watch Spain’s two main political parties get breaded in corruption and dunked in hot oil like the croquetas we wish they were?

• It’s still early days in these trials. So we’re far from ready to put a bet prediction on Polymarket on who will go to jail. But a few things seem to be coming clear so far: everything politicians say is being recorded, pretty much nobody works in Spain, and women get the short end of the stick. So let’s get to it!

But first, a brief legal history lesson. Here's why each case is so relevant.

Caso Kitchen revolves around an alleged covert operation launched in 2013 by Spain’s Interior Ministry under PP PM Mariano Rajoy, which (allegedly) used police resources and secret state funds to spy on former PP party treasurer Luis Bárcenas. The goal? To obtain and potentially destroy documents linked to the party’s illegal financing.

• Why the name? It’s called “Kitchen” because the operation referred to Bárcenas' driver, who was allegedly recruited as an informant, as “the cook” (apparently he looked like a famous Spanish chef).

• Best costume: One of the strangest episodes involved a man disguised as a priest who stormed Bárcenas’ home at gunpoint in an apparent attempt to steal incriminating documents.

Caso Koldo revolves around an alleged corruption scheme during the pandemic, in which former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos (PSOE), his advisor Koldo García, and businessman Víctor de Aldama are accused of taking commissions in exchange for awarding public contracts for medical masks. We’ve covered this case in excruciating depth.

• Ye olde kickbacks. Prosecutors say they used privileged information and emergency procurement rules to steer contracts to companies linked to Aldama. They face charges including bribery, influence peddling, and embezzlement.

First, Koldo. You might think that a major trial about kickbacks on public contracts would focus on, well, kickbacks on public contracts. But you’d be wrong. The first two days of the Case Koldo dove deep into ex-Transport Minister Ábalos’s (extramarital) lovers, and how they were plugged into apartments and government jobs by Koldo and Aldama. 🤦

• Doesn’t anybody work around here? One former Ábalos lover, Jésica Rodríguez, who lived in a €2,700/month apartment paid for by an associate of Aldama, earned €44,000 from two public administrative assistant jobs she was given but never worked at. When asked why she didn’t work, she said she was waiting for Koldo or his brother to tell her what to do 😂.

• Staring at a wall. Another Ábalos lady was former Miss Asturias Claudia Montes (no, he is not that attractive; it’s just that politics is Hollywood for ugly people). After being plugged into a state rail industry job, she was placed in an office corner facing the wall. Feeling that her services weren’t being used, she said she reported the situation to Ábalos and Koldo García and, in the meantime, spent her work hours reading books in Oviedo’s library. Pressed by the presiding judge, she clarified that they were always “books about trains.”

• Not nice. Jésica definitely got it worse. Ábalos’s lawyer went on a smear campaign to suggest that she and the ex-transport minister had never been actual partners, asking her if she was a prostitute — a move that caused conternation in court and in the press room. Her (well played) answer? “No. I’m a registered dentist.”

Ooooh, we’re gonna watch this one! There’s clearly more fun to come.

And now the Kitchen. More than a decade after the alleged espionage took place, former Interior Minister Jorge Fernández Díaz, his deputy Francisco Martínez, and several senior police officials are finally set to face trial. That said, so far the trial’s big moments have been mostly procedural.

• No more delays. Judges rejected attempts by the defense to annul the proceedings or move them out of Spain’s High Court, arguing that it was time to finally examine what happened.

• Can we expand? Piling on, the PSOE asked the court to expand the investigation and bring back former PP secretary general María Dolores de Cospedal, arguing that new audio recordings suggest she may have played a more significant role than previously established.

• Well, no. The court and the prosecution ruled that Cospedal had already been cleared during the investigation phase and that reopening that line of inquiry would only delay the trial further.

Expect to hear more about this. Did parts of the state apparatus act illegally to protect a political party from a corruption scandal? So far, this trial has been the less spicy of the two, but that could change.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🇮🇷 Spain: No to war, yes to NATO, Orange Man bad

Now that WW3 has been postponed for two more weeks, here’s a roundup of Iran news as it relates to Spain (we'll leave the world press to tell you the rest). The tl; dr version? Whatever is happening in the Middle East, Spain doesn’t want to be dragged into it.

We’re busy, sorry. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said this week that Spain turned down an invitation to join a high-level international meeting on the Strait of Hormuz, convened by the U.K. and attended by more than 30 countries.

• For what? The meeting was meant to coordinate a response to the crisis and guarantee freedom of navigation in one of the world’s most strategic waterways.

• No to war. According to Albares, Madrid refused to participate because it would not be part of “any discussion that could involve military intervention or escalate the war.”

Guess who’s applauding. China praised Spain’s position, with its ambassador in Madrid going as far as saying that Pedro Sánchez is seen as a “hero” in Chinese public discourse (maybe a bit much). Beijing has framed Spain as a responsible, peace-oriented actor, essentially saying Madrid is in line with its own stance. But don't get too excited about this; it's probably just another way for Beijing to troll Trump.

• Not exactly neutral praise. At a time when the U.S. is pushing allies to do what it says and contribute to its war security efforts, Spain is taking a more ambiguous route: maintaining ties with Washington, but also strengthening its ties with China and positioning itself closer to what Beijing calls the “Global South.” (It is rather warm in Spain, after all.)

President non grata. A new 40dB./El País poll shows that Donald Trump is viewed by Spaniards as the biggest threat to global peace, slightly ahead of Vladimir Putin. The Orange Menace, always ready to collect a prize, will probably be happy about this.

• Worry all around. Yes, El País is a left-leaning, pro-PSOE publication. But you should know that even conservative voters ranked Trump as a major risk, though they place Putin slightly higher. The only voters who are relatively comfortable with Trump (and Netanyahu) are those of Vox (shocker). And the only ones good with Putin? Podemos (also shocker).

• But here’s a twist. Despite the anti-war mood and an ambiguous take on increasing defense spending, support for NATO remains strong across the board. Nearly two-thirds of Spaniards want to stay in the alliance (with only Podemos voters clearly backing an exit; again, shocker).

Official Iranian trolling. Remember how the PP was timid about criticizing Trump when he started bombing Iran? Well, it looks like Trump’s Easter message about destroying Iranian civilization may have been a bit too much, so PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo took to X to call for “sensibility, not brutality”.

• His tweet prompted the Iranian Embassy in Spain to reply somewhat cheekily “better late than never.” Iranian embassies around the world have launched a global trolling campaign against Trump — and people have noticed.

2.🎨 Spain is fighting over Guernica. Yes, the painting.

Put up your dukes! The Holy Week is over, so Spain can go back to its regular political drama. This time it’s not about housing or inflation, but a painting. Specifically, Pablo Picasso's iconic Guernica and whether it should leave Madrid.

• Never simple. What started as a relatively predictable institutional request has turned into a political clash between the Basque government and Madrid, with regional presidents Imanol Pradales (from the Basque nationalist PNV) on one side and Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) on the other.

Art history lesson. Painted in 1937, Guernica is not just another famous artwork; It’s one of the world’s most powerful political paintings of the 20th century.

• Civil War bombing. Picasso created it to illustrate the horror of the bombing of the Basque town of Gernika (Basque spelling, fyi) during the Spanish Civil War, when Nazi German and Fascist Italian planes flattened it in support of Franco’s forces.

• Back home. After spending decades at the MoMA in New York (Picasso didn’t want it in Spain because… dictatorship), it returned in 1981 once the country transitioned to democracy. It’s been at the Reina Sofía Museum since 1992.

• No more moves. The painting has been moved more than 30 times in its history, often rolled up and transported under far less controlled conditions than today. As a result, it is now extremely fragile, and experts have said for years that it should not be moved again. Not under any circumstances.

Enter the Basque Country. A couple of weeks ago, Pradales formally asked PM Sánchez to allow the painting to be temporarily moved to Bilbao. (Btw, this isn’t the first time they’ve asked.)

• Anniversary show. The idea is to exhibit it at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao between October 2026 and June 2027, to mark the 90th anniversary of both the bombing of Gernika and the creation of the first Basque government.

Computer says no. The response from Madrid was quick and (at least initially) quite technical.

• Maybe? No. The Culture Ministry, led by Ernest Urtasun, asked the Reina Sofía to evaluate the request. The museum came back with a clear answer: no. The vibrations alone, they said, could seriously damage it.

Enter Madrid’s presi. Speaking on Monday, Díaz Ayuso dismissed the proposal as a “catetada,” (essentially calling it provincial nonsense), and argued that culture should not be treated as something to be divided territorially.

• Slippery slope. She also said if you start relocating masterpieces based on origin, you might as well send all of Picasso’s work to Málaga (where he’s from).

• No, you! Her comments did not go down well in the Basque Country. Aitor Esteban, head of the PNV, accused Ayuso of being just as provincial for comments she made last year praising the concept of “having a beer on a terrace”.

Please stop. At the Senate this Tuesday, Urtasun tried to shut the debate down for good, making it clear that the government would simply follow expert advice and leave the painting where it is.

• The conservation reports, he said, are unequivocal. End of story.

Here we are again. In our political happy place.

3. 🤑 The Tax Man is back — and he wants your 💶

It’s the most wonderful time of the year 🥳! (Wait for it.) Tax season! But yes, all sarcasm aside, the filing season for Spain’s IRPF (income) taxes began yesterday. Because we love you, we thought we’d do as much as we could (in a few hundred words) to walk you through what to expect from Spain’s convoluted tax system this year.

• First: the calendar. You can file online from April 8 to June 30. If you want Hacienda to help by phone, you can request an appointment starting April 29, with phone assistance starting May 6. For in-person help at tax offices, you can request appointments starting May 29. One key gotcha: if you end up owing The Man and want to pay by direct debit, the deadline is June 25, not June 30. Miss that and, well...don’t.

• One big tip. Don’t just click through the prefilled draft that Hacienda provides and pray. The borrador is a helpful starting point, not a divine truth. Check your address, income, deductions, family info, rental income, and anything involving multiple employers, freelance work, investments, or side hustles. Spain’s tax agency is especially interested this year in crypto, tourist rentals, neobanks, changes of residence, and digital payments received by freelancers via Bizum. If it’s modern, they will pay extra attention. Because tax man no like modern 🦍.

What’s new this year? The headline change is a new deduction of up to €340 for lower earners, designed so workers on or around the 2025 minimum wage (€16,576) don’t lose the benefit of that pay rise to tax.

• More new-ish. Unemployed people are not automatically required to file just because they received benefits, unless they cross the normal income thresholds. Self-employed people still generally have to file regardless.

• There are also more regional deductions than you can shake a stick at (who does that, anyway?). You’ve got celiac food costs in some regions, gym deductions in others, vet bills, glasses, EV purchases, rent breaks, and more. Figuring them out is fun, in the same way that reading Facebook’s T&Cs is.

• Green & Rich. Deductions remain in place for green investments (EVs, charging points, certain energy-efficiency home improvements), as well as for subsidies to pay for damage from floods and forest fires. High earners, meanwhile, will pay more on savings income above €300,000, with the top rate rising from 28% to 30%.

One thing that’s almost inevitable? You’ll pay more this year. Not because you did anything wrong, but because Spain has again not adjusted IRPF brackets for inflation. So as salaries rise nominally, more of your income gets pushed into higher tax bands even if your real purchasing power hasn’t actually improved. Economists call it bracket creep. We call it 💩.

• The estimates are not tiny. According to Spain’s economists’ council, someone earning €25,000 may be paying around €250 more a year because of this. At €30,000, it’s roughly €352. At €45,000, about €533. And up it goes. So, yeah, there may be new deductions and even the thrilling possibility of paying by Bizum. But the general vibe is the same. Hacienda wants your money, a little more every year.

4. 🛬 Qatar Airways’ new big airport hub is in…Teruel?

Yeah, yeah, we know the joke: Teruel también existe. That snide reference to the largely empty desert-ish Aragonese province — as in, it exists, but not much more. But don’t tell that to the Qataris or the Emiratis or pretty much anyone else in the no-fly zone that is the Persian Gulf these days. Because for them, Teruel does a lot more than exist — it serves as their new home.

• Is that parking space free? National flag carriers from the area have been looking for a safe place to store idled planes since the beginning of the U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran. Enter Teruel’s airport. Ten planes arrived from the Middle East over one weekend early in the war, and now there are 23 parked there, mostly behemoth Airbus 330s or Boeing 787s from Qatar Airways.

Don’t think I’ve ever been there. There’s a reason: you haven’t. The Aeropuerto de Teruel, built in 2013 on the site of an old military aerodrome that was used in the civil war, doesn’t do passengers. It does something far more niche and increasingly lucrative: parking, maintaining, and recycling planes.

• Why here? Climate, dude. More than 250 days of sun a year, low humidity, and plenty of empty space (basically, the same that’s good for solar installations). What looks like a disadvantage — i.e., emptiness — is, in aviation terms, gold.

• High points for Teruel. Basically, every time the world poops itself, Teruel’s airport cashes in. COVID? With planes grounded for, you know, global plague — Teruel filled up (to 140 planes at one point). The Ukraine war? Aircraft linked to Russian companies in receivership are parked in limbo. Middle East conflict? You know the story. As one regional official put it, when airlines need to “protect their investments,” this is where they come, “and we are open to many more.”

• More good business from bad news. Today, rising fuel prices are already forcing airlines to cut routes and ground less efficient aircraft. That means more planes need somewhere to sit, be serviced, or be scrapped. Teruel today hosts around 90 aircraft overall, works with 100 clients, and supports roughly 1,000 jobs.

And it’s only getting bigger. The airport is on its fourth expansion, adding more hangars (including a blimp facility — because who doesn’t miss the Hindenburg). There’s a new aerospace engineering degree launching locally, and Spain’s Defense Ministry is adding a €42m training center. Keep on existing, Teruel!

5. ⚽ FIFA is investigating Spain for racist chants

Not every joke is funny. The world football body FIFA announced this week it was opening disciplinary proceedings against Spain over “Islamophobic and xenophobic” chants during a friendly national team game between Spain and Egypt. Which, when you’re preparing to host a World Cup in partnership with Morocco (checks notes — a Muslim country), is not a great look.

• What happened? During a recent “friendly” between Spain and Egypt in Barcelona, a part of the crowd was heard chanting, “Bote, bote, bote… Musulmán el que no bote” (“Jump, jump, jump! Whoever doesn’t jump is a Muslim”). The chant was repeated multiple times — before and after halftime — even as stadium announcements and on-screen warnings urged fans to stop discriminatory behavior. Those warnings? They were whistled.

The Spanish football federation condemned the chants. So did Egypt’s, calling them “loathsome.” And Spain coach Luis de la Fuente weighed in, voicing his “total and absolute disgust.”

• Enter The Kid. Then came Lamine Yamal, Spain’s teenage star — who is, not incidentally, a practicing Muslim.

• His take. “Yesterday in the stadium, we heard the chant ‘whoever does not jump is a Muslim,’” he wrote on Instagram. “I know it was directed to the opposing team and nothing towards myself as a person, but as a Muslim myself, this does not stop being a lack of respect, and something we can’t tolerate… Using religion as something to mock people in a football stadium shows you to be ignorant and racist.” (Amen).

Not a first for Spain. The incident is part of a history of racist behavior in European football. Spain has struggled with fan chants targeting players for their race. Example? In May 2023, Real Madrid star Vinícius Jr. faced racist insults from Valencia fans during a La Liga match.

• The chant itself. If this feels familiar, it is. The structure — “He who doesn’t jump is a…” — is one of football’s most portable bits of diss culture. It can be traced back to Argentina, where it reached heights after the Malvinas/Falklands War, when Argentine fans would chant “He who doesn’t jump is English.” It’s simple and totally customizable: Insert rival here.

The issue this time? It wasn’t a nationality or a team nickname. It was race or religion. Which is, um, less than cool. Or, really, just ugly.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Ready, steady, vote

✉️ Andalucía fires the starting gun on Spain’s electoral season

Remember Spain’s one, two, three recent regional elections? Well, they were just the warmup to the one in Andalucía. The biggest “autonomous community” (how lacking in poetry that term is!), and a former stronghold of PM Pedro Sánchez’s PSOE center-lefties that for the last eight years has gone for the center-right PP, Andalucía is the big kahuna of regional votes. It’s Spain’s Texas! Or Florida! Or…both?

• And now Andalucía is officially going to the polls. Consider this the kickoff the the election season that will only end when Sánchez cries uncle makes the considered decision to call national elections. Folks, the starting pistol has been fired! 🔫

Moreno brings down the hammer. On Monday evening, the president of Andalucía, PP’s Juanma Moreno, called surprise regional elections for May 17, sending 6.5 million people (around 20% of Spain’s voters) to the polls two weeks earlier than expected. (He apparently only told PP boss Alberto Nuñez Feijóo two hours earlier and his own team 30 minutes before, so we know this was a Top Secret move to catch someone off guard — more on that in a moment).

On paper, the explanation is straightforward. Moreno wants a new government up and running before the summer. But the real logic behind the timing is more strategic.

• Busy times. June was complicated. The Pope’s visit to Spain between June 6 and 12 would have disrupted the campaign (many people in Andalucía will travel to Madrid and Barcelona to see him), and Andalucía’s packed spring calendar, from Feria de Abril to El Rocío, risks depressing turnout in unpredictable ways.

• Even the chosen date isn’t perfect, as it clashes with the Feria de Córdoba, something that quietly worries the PP. Still, May 17 is the least bad option.

• And then there was the bigger, unspoken reason: Pedro Sánchez. As speculation grew that the PM would try to capitalize on the momentum he'd garnered from his "No a la guerra” stance on the Iran war by calling snap national elections on May 31 (the day the chattering classes expected Moreno to choose), Moreno may have decided it was best not to risk being overshadowed.

Who’s ahead? As things stand, Moreno enters the race as the clear favorite. Polls suggest he could win 55 seats in the Andalusian parliament — a majority of the 109 seats, barely. That's down from his current 58, but still a remarkable position in a region that was a PSOE stronghold for decades until the PP’s breakthrough in 2018.

• His biggest concern is not losing, but how much he wins. The rise of far-right Vox could force him into a scenario he is keen to avoid. That is, falling short of a majority and needing a pact with the far-right to govern, as has already happened in regional elections in Extremadura, Aragón, and Castilla y León.

• Open the door. Vox, which now holds 14 seats, is expected to grow slightly and could become kingmaker if Moreno falls short of a majority. And unlike in 2019, Vox has already made clear it would seek to be part of the government this time, not just support it from the outside.

• Moreno has built his brand on stability and moderation (and his namesake"fachaleco"), and being forced into a pact with Vox would undermine that carefully crafted image.

The socialists are not giving up. Facing him is María Jesús Montero, Spain’s (admittedly charmless) Finance Minister and Sánchez’s right-hand woman, who is leaving the government to focus entirely on the campaign.

• Lukewarm enthusiasm. The PSOE is polling poorly (polls suggest Montero could get even less than the 30 seats the PSOE has now). Her strategy is to turn the election into a referendum on public services like healthcare, which has become one of the main concerns for Andaluces amid long waiting lists and scandals like the recent failures in breast cancer screening programs.

• This strategy may not land as cleanly as expected. Moreno’s government has just reached an agreement with healthcare unions that improves conditions for 130,000 workers.

• The further left won't help much. To the left of the PSOE, there are up to three competing forces: the Por Andalucía coalition, far-left Podemos (which still hasn’t decided whether to run alone or in coalition), and Adelante Andalucía, a regionalist left-wing party. Their fragmentation does not augur success.

Bottom line. Andalucía is the most symbolic test ahead of the next general elections, which are officially scheduled for 2027 but increasingly feel closer. Whether Sánchez actually calls them early or not, what happens on May 17 will shape expectations across the country.

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 But first, check out this job opportunity at 2btube

Looking for a career move in Spain? Two big opportunities just landed.

Our friends at 2btube are hiring a senior international Content Head (fluent in Spanish & English, French is a plus) to help shape the future of digital content in Spain, leading YouTube content strategy and viral IP creation. Think MrBeast, but make it Spanish (Yes, this is one of those jobs people humblebrag about later). They are also looking for a CTO who focuses on AI and tech strategy, powering it all.

If this sounds like you — or someone you know — check out the job descriptions here.

How to apply

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🛐 Sagunto’s confraternity says no women allowed (again)

You can’t seat procession with us. Spain’s most controversial confraternity just said “no” to women. Again. Over the weekend, the confraternity of Sagunto, one of the oldest in the country, voted against allowing women to take part in its main procession.

• Wait, what the hell is a confraternity (or cofradía)? Cofradías are Catholic brotherhoods that organize religious processions during Semana Santa (i.e., next week).

• The one in Sagunto, Valencia, dates back more than 500 years (founded: 1492) and has around 1,600 members. It’s the backbone of a celebration that has held the status of Festival of National Tourist Interest since 2004.

• There’s just one problem: it’s still men-only. Women can help behind the scenes, preparing robes, organizing logistics, basically keeping the whole thing running, but they’re not allowed to actually walk in the procession.

That’s what this vote was about. The proposal was as simple as it gets — change one word in the statutes, replacing “men” with “people.”

• But in a closed-door assembly where only male members could vote (hmm…), the result wasn’t even close: 267 votes against, 114 in favor.

• The reasoning? Tradition. Some members even went further: if women want to participate, “they can just create their own confraternity”. (Which, in their case, would be a consorority; an actual word).

• And the weight! Others worried about what would happen if women joined. Like, longer waiting lists, changes to internal rules, even questions about who carries the heavy floats.

The same debate has been going on for decades. It was rejected in 1999 and again in 2022. Activists have been protesting since at least 2021, calling it outright discrimination. But no dice. Not even a recent Constitutional Court ruling in a similar case that sided with a woman in the Canary Islands who had been excluded moved the needle.

• For the women pushing for change, it’s not about blowing up the tradition but about finally being part of it. “We don’t want to destroy Semana Santa, we want to participate equally,” one said.

Keeping the peace. The clavario, the young organizer of this year’s festivities (he’s 23), tried to strike a middle ground. He admitted that, in the 21st century, it makes sense to ask for inclusion, but insisted the environment isn’t “machista” and that many members are simply trying to preserve a deeply rooted tradition.

Not buying it. The Spanish government had warned that excluding women could cost Sagunto its “National Tourist Interest” status, which brings visibility and funding.

• Now, after the negative vote, the PSOE-led government confirmed they’ll move to revoke it, arguing that you can’t claim broad public participation while excluding half the population.

• Even Valencia’s regional president Juanfran Pérez Llorca, from the center-right PP, had called for dialogue and inclusion and was hoping for a different outcome. (He acknowledged that the cofradía is a private entity.)

Not our fight. The Church isn’t stepping in here. The Archbishop of Valencia has made it clear there will be no top-down intervention to force change, arguing that any reform should come from within the cofradía itself.

• This could take 500 more years. Just saying.

2. ✅ The IMF grades Spain’s economy — and warns about the war

Remember the Men in Black? No, not the movie with the murderous cute aliens and the guy who slapped Chris Rock, but the economists from the IMF — the guys in suits who swooped in after the 2008 financial crisis and told countries like Ireland and Spain to spend less and screw the poor.

• Well, they’re back. Not to impose austerity this time (thanks, guys), but to issue their latest report card on Spain’s economy (officially called an “Article IV Mission” because the IMF is nothing if not poetic). So, how are we doing?

The Good 😇. Spain remains one of the fastest-growing economies in Europe, outpacing most of its eurozone peers. Growth is still expected to lead big EU countries this year, driven by strong domestic demand, solid job creation, rising wages, EU funds, and — wait for it — lots of immigration.

• Even the energy shock from the war hasn’t hit as hard as it could have. Why? Renewables. Spain’s massive investment in solar and wind over the past decade is now paying off, cushioning the blow from soaring gas prices. So the lights stay on, and the economy keeps humming. Which is nice, right?

The Bad ⚠️. Now comes the warning label. The IMF has cut its growth forecast for Spain for this year from 2.3% to 2.1%, and expects a gradual slowdown — to around 1.7% in 2027 — as some of our recent tailwinds fade.

• The biggest risk? The war. Energy prices have already surged — oil is up more than 50%, and gas has nearly doubled — and if the conflict drags on, the IMF warns it could hit investment, consumption, and growth, while keeping inflation stubbornly above 3%. So, like, if this turns into a long war, not even all the solar panels in Extremadura can let Spain escape it.

• There are also political risks at home. The IMF politely notes that Spain’s fragmented parliament raises “questions” about whether the government can actually pass the reforms it needs. (If you need that translated, they mean, “Good luck with that.”)

The Ugly 😬. This is where the long-term scaries begin.

• First, there’s housing. The IMF is blunt here (and they agree with what we’ve been saying). Spain needs more housing. And unless someone proves otherwise, rent controls appear to be making the situation worse by pushing landlords to take homes off the market. Their advice? If the evidence holds, scrap the rent caps when their three-year trial ends next year. And build more — lots more.

• And then, Spain is getting old. From 2030 onward, Spain faces a huge rise in spending on pensions, healthcare, and long-term care — like, one of the biggest increases in Europe. Because so many more olds! Public debt, which is currently under control, is expected to start climbing again. Fun! The IMF suggestion (hidden in economist speak)? Maybe be less generous. (That seems unlikely.)

Our take. Spain is doing a lot right in terms of growth, jobs, and renewables. But the IMF’s message is pretty clear — enjoy it while it lasts. Because between war abroad, housing at home, and a tidal wave of Spaniards heading into retirement, it’s not gonna get a lot easier.

3. 💥 The Iran war takes over parliament

And it was a hot one! PM Pedro Sánchez’s appearance in the Spanish Parliament’s regular oversight session/fight club yesterday focused on the upcoming elections in Andalucía, the Iran war, and a batch of emergency decrees meant to ease the economic pain caused by the conflict (read: high oil prices).

• Oh, and lots of insults. We’ll get to that. But first, your vegetables: the decrees.

Two decrees enter, one decree leaves. Of the two packages of emergency measures, the PSOE-led government has the votes to pass the first, and basically zero chance of passing the second.

• The winner. A €5bn plan with 80 measures aimed at pretty much everyone (20 million households, 3 million businesses). The highlights: cheaper energy (electricity taxes slashed 60%, a gas tax cut of up to €0.30/liter), protections for vulnerable households (no cutting off utilities), and aid for industry, farmers, and transport. Plus more love for renewables, because Spain is all-in on the whole energy independence thing.

• The loser. An obligatory two-year extension of rental contracts and a temporary 2% cap on annual rent rises. Landlords (and many normal people are landlords) were not having this.

• And the surprise! In exchange for backing decree #1, Catalan separatists got Sánchez to agree to adopt an EU rule exempting autónomos earning under €85,000 from charging VAT. As autónomos ourselves, we have never felt more pro-separatist.

Now, the fun part. Highlights of the fighting.

• Worst ever. The PP’s parliamentary spokeswoman, Ester Muñoz, called departing Finance Minister María Jesús Montero, “the most arrogant person in history and the worst Finance minister our country has ever had.” Montero fired back, “They bark, as we ride on.”

• Nice sticker. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo mocked an Iranian propaganda clip showing a missile tagged with Sánchez’s face and “Thank you, Prime Minister” in reference to his opposition to the war: “Hard to defend peace when Iranian propaganda puts you on a missile.”

And then… everyone said ‘No to war.’ Sánchez revived the Iraq-era slogan, and parliament promptly remixed it:

• Alberto Nuñez Feijoo (PP): “No to war, and no to you [to Sánchez].”

• Santiago Abascal (Vox): “No to the war of one brave man with everyone else’s balls.” (Whatever that means❓)

• Verónica Martínez Barbero (Sumar): “No to war, yes to renewables.”

• Maribel Vaquero (PNV): “No to war like a Game of Thrones.”

• Néstor Rego (BNG): “No to war, but with actions, not words.”

Aw, look, they’re all against the war. They just disagree on literally everything else.

4. 🚔 Potential terrorist attack in Mallorca stopped and jihadist arrested

The 2000’s are back. A potential jihadist attack in Spain may have just been stopped before it even began. Yesterday, Spanish police, working with Moroccan intelligence, said they dismantled a suspected jihadist cell that was allegedly planning an attack.

• Three people were arrested, one in Palma de Mallorca, no less, right in the center of one of Spain’s biggest tourist hotspots, and two more in Tangier, Morocco.

• The operation was carried out by Spain’s Policía Nacional and Morocco’s DGST, in a coordinated cross-border investigation led by Spain’s Audiencia Nacional.

The man arrested in Mallorca is believed to be the leader of the cell and was allegedly already moving beyond radicalization into actual planning.

• Investigators say he was preparing an attack in the country inspired by “lone-wolf” terrorism (i.e., the kind that’s designed to be harder to detect and prevent).

• The two suspects arrested in Tangier, were reportedly involved in financing and logistical support for jihadist groups linked to ISIS, particularly in regions like the Sahel and Somalia that have become global terrorism hotspots in recent years.

Yikes. What do we actually know? Not much beyond that. The investigation is still ongoing, officially under secrecy, and police haven’t disclosed targets, timelines, or how advanced the alleged plan really was.

This didn’t turn into an attack, but it’s a reminder of something Spain knows all too well.

• Spain has long been on the radar of jihadist terrorism, most notably with the Madrid train bombings in 2004, the deadliest attack in the country’s recent history, and the 2017 attack at La Rambla in Barcelona.

Spanish security forces since then have focused on prevention, monitoring networks, tracking radicalization, and working closely with partners, especially Morocco.

5. 🪦 Another American tourist died on vacation in Barcelona. Is Spain dangerous?

The tragic death last week of American tourist James Gracey has drawn massive attention in both the U.S. and Spain, after new details emerged about his final hours in Barcelona.

• Spring breaker. Gracey, a University of Alabama student, was in the city for spring break when he was reported missing on March 17, sparking a search by friends and family.

• Tragic finale. Two days later, his body was found in shallow water near the beachfront nightclub he had visited the night before. A local thief had his phone, but authorities say the death appears accidental. Surveillance footage reportedly shows him falling into the water, where he drowned.

Gracey was not the first. Over recent years, several American visitors have died in Spain under tragic circumstances — usually involving risk, bad luck, or both.

Murder on the Camino. In 2015, Denise Thiem, 40, disappeared while walking the Camino de Santiago. She was last seen on April 5 in the town of Astorga, after attending Easter celebrations and continuing her journey along the trail.

• No worries at first. Pilgrims often go off-grid. But as days turned into weeks, fears grew. Months later, her body was discovered in a rural area, and Spanish authorities arrested a local man who later confessed to killing her.

Deadly mountain adventure. Another case is that of Cole Henderson, 27, who disappeared while hiking in the Pyrenees. Five days after putting his cell phone into airplane mode to begin hiking in the Ordesa y Monte Perdido National Park (Huesca), and two days after missing a flight to the Netherlands, a search was launched.

• Sad discovery. The next month, Henderson’s body was found on the north face of Monte Perdido, the third-highest peak in the Pyrenees. The route to the top is rated as “Peu Difficile” (PD), meaning “somewhat difficult”, but that route — the level sometimes requires ice axes or crampons — was still covered in snow in early July,

Dangerous tides. A young American student, Alan Patrick, died in early 2026 while visiting the Canary Island of Lanzarote. Patrick, just days short of 21, was swimming with friends in the natural rock pools of Los Charcones, an area known for its dramatic volcanic landscape.

• Weather warnings. Strong Atlantic swells had already prompted warnings, and parts of the area had been closed. Despite this, Patrick and his group were swimming in one of the rock pools, and a powerful wave swept them into the ocean. While his friends were able to escape, Patrick was carried out to sea. His body was recovered two days later by a Guardia Civil dive team.

So, is Spain dangerous for tourists? Members of the commentariat have suggested that it is (because that’s what they do). But the data says otherwise.

• The real danger in Spain isn’t human. Thiem’s death is the exception, not the rule. Spain’s homicide rate, at 0.7 per 100,000 people, is one of the lowest in the world (and ⅛ that of the U.S.). The danger here is nature and bad decisions. So maybe pay attention to the sea and mountains — and ease off the tinto de verano.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Coming to America

🇲🇽 King Felipe VI almost says sorry for that conquest thing

Surprise! King Felipe VI (aka F6) raised a few eyebrows this week after casually acknowledging that there was “a lot of abuse” and “ethical controversy” during the Spanish conquest of the Americas.

• Audible gasp. He made the comments in passing during a low-key visit to an exhibition on pre-Hispanic cultures at Madrid’s National Archaeological Museum, alongside Mexico’s ambassador, an appearance that wasn’t even on his official agenda but carried very clear political weight.

• That's reasonable. On paper, it sounded like a fairly balanced, almost academic reflection. As in, yes, there were abuses, but historic acts should be judged “in their proper context, not with modern moral lenses, but with an objective and rigorous analysis.” In practice, it worked like a diplomatic flare sent over Mexico.

• Tough times. Relations between Spain and Mexico have been tense for a few years, ever since former Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) formally asked the King in 2019 to apologize for the conquest (and, not surprisingly, got radio silence in return). Things escalated when current president Claudia Sheinbaum didn’t invite F6 to her inauguration. ☹️

King knew what he was doing. By publicly acknowledging “abuse” this week, the King is inching closer to the kind of recognition Mexican leaders have been demanding, without actually issuing an apology. Like, “We're sorry that you're upset.”

• Why now? Some believe this isn’t just about revising history, it’s actually about saving the Iberoamerican Summit taking place in Madrid later this year, which is supposed to bring together leaders from across LatAm and Spain — and there was a risk that Sheinbaum might skip it. (Ah, now we understand.)

Better than nothing. Sheinbaum, commented that she “recognizes and values” the King’s gesture, and added that, “It wasn’t everything we would have liked, but the truth is that it’s a gesture of rapprochement.” So, coming to the Summit, Claudia?

• In the loop. Spain's PSOE-led government said it “fully endorsed” the King’s remarks and that it was aware of what he was going to say.

But not everybody was so happy. In case you don’t know the Leyenda Negra (“Black Legend”), it’s the idea that Spain’s imperial history has been unfairly portrayed as cruel and oppressive. So for many in Spain, criticism of the conquest isn’t just about history — it’s accepting a centuries-old misrepresentation of the country. (Many of those same people are not fans of PM Pedro Sánchez, you will be shocked to hear.)

• Absurd time shift. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, talked up his pride in the Spanish legacy in the Americas. Plus, like, timeline? “To examine events that occurred in the 15th century in the 21st century is absurd,” he said.

• No, you. Madrid’s regional presi and troll artist Isabel Díaz Ayuso let it all hang out, suggesting Sheinbaum might look closer to home: “Abuses are what were committed against the native population by the Aztecs and Mayans, who used sacrifices as part of their rituals.”

• Far-right Vox got even puffier with Spain pride. Its parliamentary spokeswoman argued that the Spanish Crown carried out “the greatest evangelizing and civilizing work in history.” No apologies here!

This will probably blow over quickly, and there's a good chance that Mexico's president will attend Spain's summit. But the big winner of this whole kerfuffle is probably the King: after his non-apology apology, Sheinbaum invited F6 to attend this summer's World Cup in Mexico.

• Considering how hard it is to get those tickets, we suspect that might have been F6's angle all along. 🤔

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 But first, check out this job opportunity at 2btube

Looking for a career move in Spain? Two big opportunities just landed.

Our friends at 2btube are hiring a senior international Content Head (fluent in Spanish & English, French is a plus) to help shape the future of digital content in Spain, leading YouTube content strategy and viral IP creation. Think MrBeast, but make it Spanish (Yes, this is one of those jobs people humblebrag about later). They are also looking for a CTO who focuses on AI and tech strategy, powering it all.

If this sounds like you — or someone you know — check out the job descriptions here.

How to apply

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1.🗳️ Castilla y León votes, the PP wins, little changes

Oh, look. More elections. Castilla y León voted this weekend and, spoiler alert, nothing really changed, but also everything did. The PP (currently in power there) won the election with 33 seats, improving its result but still far from the 42 needed for a majority, which means regional president Alfonso Fernández Mañueco is back where he started — needing Vox to govern.

• This is beginning to become the PP’s theme song. This also happened to them in the last three regional elections — Extremadura, Aragón, and now Castilla y León.

• Booby prizes. The PSOE came second with 30 seats (gaining two in a small recovery after recent defeats), while Vox got 14, gaining just one seat and failing to break the symbolic barrier of 20% of the vote. Regional parties held their ground (ish), and the farther left basically died disappeared from the map.

Half full, half empty. Sure, the PP is still dependent on Vox despite their victory. But Vox’s growth was smaller than expected. In fact, the PP almost doubled Vox in votes, effectively clamping down on the far-right party in a region where they expected to surge.

• Mañueco wasted no time reading the room. He’s already calling for a “four-year parliamentary agreement” with Vox, but with a twist: he’d prefer they support him without joining the government.

• Meanwhile, the PSOE has made it clear it won’t play along. Candidate Carlos Martínez flat-out rejected facilitating Mañueco’s investiture, essentially hoping for a repeat election rather than helping the PP govern.

It’s bleak for the left. The right dominates in Castilla y León and has been in power since 1987. Governing from the left would require something close to a political miracle.

Next stop. The next big regional elections are in Andalucía in three months, although they may bring elections forward to May 31 to avoid the Pope’s visit in June hijacking the campaign. Get ready, that one is going to be a shitshow fun.

2. 🏘️ Is the new rent-control system working, 2 years in?

On March 16, 2024, Catalonia instituted the first rent controls under a new law allowing regions to cap prices in “stressed areas,” passed by the PSOE-led government after years of fast price increases (rents in Catalonia had risen 60% in a decade). So now we ask, with two years of data, did they actually work?

• Caveat emptor. Like with everything in Spain, whether you think they worked tracks closely with whether you like the party that passed them. But hey, that’s why we’re here!

Top line: prices cooled. In Catalonia’s “stressed zones,” rents rose just 0.8% over 18 months, well below inflation (3.1%), while unregulated areas saw a 5.7% increase.

• In Barcelona, prices actually fell 3.3%. As urban researcher Jaime Palomera says, the caps “broke the previous trend” of runaway increases and helped stabilize prices. In Navarra, prices fell 8.8% between the second and fourth quarter of 2025. Even critics concede some downward movement.

But, but, but… Don’t pop the cava yet.

• Lies, damned lies, and statistics. Prices spiked right before the caps came in (landlords raised their prices while they could), making the subsequent “drop” look bigger than it really was. Adjust for that, and a study from the Instituto Juan de Mariana (a libertarian-leaning think tank) says the decline is basically a rounding error.

• What you get has shrunk. Average apartment sizes are down (in Barcelona, from 75m² to 71m²), while the price per square meter has stayed high or even hit records. In other words, you’re paying more for less space. Which is cozy!

• And then there’s the supply (or lack thereof). Across regulated cities, rental listings have dropped sharply — about 26% in Pamplona, 21% in A Coruña, and 15% in Barcelona, according to Idealista data. In some places, registered rental contracts have fallen by as much as 50%.

So where did those rental apartments go? 🔎 Well, they escaped. Seasonal rentals (which do not have price caps) have exploded — in Barcelona, they jumped from about 7% of contracts to over 23% in two years.

• Others have been sold off, with institutional landlords fleeing the “stressed” markets.

Our take? Rent caps are a sugar fix. They feel great at first — prices stop rising, politicians take a bow — but they don’t solve the underlying problem.

• Spain is short some 800,000 homes (and growing). If renting stops being profitable, fewer homes get built or offered for rent. Which means even less supply in the places that need it most.

• And allies of the governing coalition are talking about new limits. “We see that the supply is decreasing, but prices are not falling,” says Montserrat Junyent, who runs the real estate agents’ lobby of Catalonia. “And all that is being adopted are new regulations that exacerbate the housing problem.”

So yes, prices stabilized (ish). But at the cost of fewer homes, more loopholes, and a market that’s increasingly weird. Short term? We’re all a bit screwed. Long term? Maybe we can build our way out. Maybe.

• And if you already own a place? Smile. Quietly. And for the love of God, don’t brag about it. Angry Gen Zers stuck at home forevs may show up with pitchforks.

3.🎬 Spain has a new “president” (and it’s Torrente)

The Spanish box office has a new (and deeply horrible) president, and his name is Torrente. After more than a decade away, Torrente presidente (“Torrente for President”), the sixth installment of Santiago Segura’s legendary saga about the worst person imaginable, hit cinemas this weekend and absolutely blew up the box office, pulling in around €7m in just a few days.

• That makes it the fourth biggest opening in Spanish film history, and, because this is Spain, three of the top four are Torrente movies. At this point, Segura is competing with his own past self.

Wait, who? For the uninitiated (shame on you), Torrente is one of the most iconic and controversial characters in Spanish pop culture.

• Think of a deeply corrupt, outdated, ex-police officer who embodies every bad stereotype imaginable. Like, sexist, racist, homophobic, islamophobic, lazy, loud, and proudly wrong about everything. In other words, the ultimate “cuñao.”

• The more you know. A cuñao (a mispronunciation of brother-in-law) is Spain’s version of the crazy, racist uncle. He is that guy at the bar who talks bullfighting, soccer, and sevillanas, and has an opinion on absolutely everything that he delivers loudly, confidently, and usually incorrectly over a chupito.

A pretty topical movie. In Torrente presidente, the titular character joins a fictional ultra-nationalist far-right party called Nox (subtle, we know) and climbs his way into power, exposing corruption, incompetence, and hypocrisy along the way.

• The film makes fun of everyone (left, right, and center) and clearly has fun skewering populism, media spectacle, and the general circus that politics has become. The uncomfortable part? A lot of the jokes feel a little too close to reality, which is exactly why they land.

• It’s filled with cameos from real-life political figures and guest appearances such as former PM Mariano Rajoy (we’re not kidding), Alec Baldwin, and Kevin Spacey (again, we’re not kidding).

Numbers as ridiculous as the premise. The film has already passed 1 million viewers in record time, is dominating more than 70% of the total box office, and has become the highest-grossing Spanish film of 2026 in a single weekend.

4.😳 It’s Spanish culture shaming week!

Maybe it was war stress? Or Oscar nerves? Whatever the cause, it’s been a cranky week in Spanish culture. Let us count the ways…

We’re going to start on the fútbol pitch. Because if you don’t think fútbol is culture here, you don’t know Spain.

• Spain v Argentina. The continental champions were supposed to play a Finalissima on March 27 for ‘Best in the World’ bragging rights. Great. In Doha. Less great (the war and all.)

• They needed a new location. So they negotiated. And then on Sunday, the European soccer federation, the UEFA, announced that the game was off.

• What? The UEFA blamed Argentina — loudly — laying out all the offers they made that were rejected, and how a last minute change by the Argentine federation made the cancellation inevitable.

• The conspiracies went wild. Clarín suggested that the Argentine coach, Luis Scaloni, didn’t want to play and risk a loss that could break the team’s confidence ahead of the World Cup. Or maybe it was because Argentine federation boss Claudio Tapia, who is facing a fraud investigation with links to Spain, was afraid of being arrested in Europe? 🤔

And then there’s poor Rosalia. Rosi probably thought she was doing her fans a solid when she sat for a chat with Argentine writer Mariana Enriquez for Spotify Presents.

• Rosi said some things. While discussing Pablo Picasso, Rosalía said that while she might not have liked Pablo had she met him, “I’ve never had a problem with differentiating between the artist and the work,” and that, unless she’d had a real experience with him, “Who am I to judge?”

• The interwebs attack. The social media commentariat was not amused and noted that biographers had documented Picasso’s psychological violence and emotional manipulation, and two of the painter’s partners later committed suicide.

• Modern self-flagellation. A chastened Rosalía set herself on fire on stage recorded a contrite TikTok in which she apologized to her fans and said they were right that she should have known more about Picasso, and please don’t cancel her.

Finally, Yolanda Díaz. You’d think the retiring leader of a party of small and decreasing importance could be ignored on a nice work trip on the government’s dime. But you’d be wrong.

• Gallegos of the world unite. Díaz grabbed a commercial flight to Los Angeles for the Oscar ceremony Sunday, apparently at the invitation of a fellow gallego, Óliver Laxe, who directed the Spanish film Sirāt that was nominated for best international picture (and lost).

• But that ticket! Spanish media dug up that her business class ticket and that of her assistant each cost €7,700, and they stayed at a hotel where rooms cost about €500. So, you know, scandal.

• Fashion press piles on. Trade journal Fashion United noted that Díaz attended the Oscars in a dress from Purificación García, whose stores in Galicia are being picketed by striking members of the union that makes the clothing. Which maybe is a bad look for a leftish Labor Minister.

Feeling superior yet? Good. Next story.

5.🏰 Spain just lost a piece of a medieval castle

Boom. The surreal moments in the footage above look as if they belong in a disaster movie rather than in a sleepy town in Castilla-La Mancha. What happened? On Saturday, the Albarrana tower, part of the Escalona castle, in the province of Toledo, suddenly collapsed.

• Thank god for social media. Tourists standing nearby captured the whole thing on video as the tower collapsed in a very dramatic cloud of dust. The good news is that no one was injured, though a few unlucky cars parked nearby ended up taking some stone souvenirs home.

Sad face. The Castillo de Escalona is not just another crumbling ruin in rural Spain; it’s one of the most historically significant fortifications in the Toledo region.

• Old… Parts of the complex date back to the 11th century, when the original tower was built during the Islamic period, while later expansions in the 15th century turned it into the imposing medieval stronghold locals know today.

• And new again! The castle remained closed for decades and was largely neglected until 2024, when the town council bought the site and began reopening it to visitors, allowing people back inside for the first time in more than 50 years.

The culprit. According to local authorities and heritage experts, the collapse was caused by water damage. Spain has experienced intense storms recently, and the rainfall appears to have seeped into the tower’s interior walls.

• Oh, the irony. The collapsed tower was slated for restoration, but the works hadn’t started yet. One small piece of good news in this architectural tragedy is that the original 11th-century core of the tower remains standing, which means part of the structure may still be preserved.

Not an isolated incident. Spain has one of the largest concentrations of castles in the world, with more than 10,000 fortifications scattered across the country.

• In theory, they’ve been safe since 1949, when Franco issued a decree to protect them. In practice, this often meant little more than good intentions.

• Historians of Spain’s fortifications are blunt about the situation. Miguel Sobrino, author of Castillos y murallas, describes the overall condition of many castles as “calamitous, catastrophic.”

Many were destroyed during the Napoleonic wars in the 1800s, and later, in the 20th century, others were literally sold off stone by stone, before modern heritage protections existed.

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European beef

🥊 Spain goes after the EU (and wins-ish)

You know what they say: When you’re on the moral high ground…start shooting! Okay, fine — nobody actually says that. But politicians seem to believe it. And it certainly seems to be the rule allies of Spain’s government have followed since PM Pedro Sánchez climbed atop the Moral High Ground last week — telling the U.S. it couldn’t use Spanish airbases to hit Iran (though the ’mericans might be doing it anyway), declaring “No to war,” and getting all mano-a-mano with the Orange Menace himself 😡.

• It's been Spain's Week of Beef with Europe. And honestly, it hasn’t gone badly (at least for now). Let us count the ways…

It all began on Monday. That's when Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz (has a job title ever sounded so much like both a promotion and an insult?) unloaded on German Chancellor Friedrich Merz for sitting silent like a scared niño in the Oval Office while Donald Trump called the Sánchez government “terrible” and threatened to cut trade ties with Spain over the airbase drama.

• “What Europe needs today is leadership, not vassals who pay homage to Trump,” she said. Ouch! 🔥

• Not good enough. Earlier, Merz had tried to explain that he stayed quiet to avoid “aggravating” the Orange Menace. Nobody was buying it. Foreign Minister José Luis Albares bashed him, and pro-Sánchez media labeled him a "coward.”

• "Funny” moment. Merz apparently tried to call Sánchez to explain his silence. But Mr. Handsome never responded. The Moncloa later said Sánchez had simply changed his phone number. We prefer to imagine him whispering: “Talk to the hand.” ✋

And then the beef escalated. Spanish pols from one end of Iberia to another slammed European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen for declaring in a speech that Europe “can no longer be a custodian for the old world order”, which many Spaniards heard as international law is for weenies.

• Díaz again. Yolanda told off Ursula, saying, “We must demand respect for international law. Anything else is barbarity. That’s why what Ursula von der Leyen just said falls short.”

• “No to war, yes to international law,” said Iratxe García, the Spanish leader of the Socialists & Democrats group in the European Parliament. “You, Mrs. von der Leyen, have said Europe cannot be a custodian of the old world order. But the problem is not whether the world order is old or new, the problem is who you allow to violate this order.”

• And then there was Teresa Ribera. Spain’s former deputy prime minister and now a vice-president of the European Commission, was also not thrilled with Von der Leyen’s tone: “I think that it is fair to say that maybe it was not the most adequate manner to express herself.” Ouch. Round 2.

Now, part of this may be personal. Von der Leyen has reportedly been telling people she has two big problems in Europe: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and Spain's Sánchez, both of whom, in her view, are being pains in the ass butt internationally in order to boost their own local electoral chances. 🤔

But hey — Spain suddenly has a new BFF. And that BFF is (wait for it) Turkey. Over the past week, Iran launched ballistic missiles toward Turkish territory, and those missiles were intercepted twice, thanks in part to Spanish support.

• Spain has had a Patriot missile battery in southern Turkey since 2015 to help protect the region’s airspace. In both incidents, Spanish radar systems tracked the missiles and fed the data into NATO’s command network, helping allied defenses destroy them before they could do damage; the brains of that system sit in Torrejón de Ardoz, near Madrid.

Turkish social media has exploded with memes celebrating the unlikely alliance. Users posted Spanish and Turkish flags side by side with captions like “Brother country Spain.” Others leaned into absurdity: AI images of bald Spanish celebrities like Andrés Iniesta suddenly sporting luxurious Turkish hair transplants, accompanied by jokes like “No Spaniard will be bald ever again.” 🧑‍🦲

The usual frenemy. You know who still doesn’t love Spain? U.S. Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who has spent the past week publicly fuming about Madrid’s refusal to let American forces take off from the Rota and Morón bases.

• There were complaints. Graham went on Fox News to argue that Washington shouldn’t keep “our air bases in a country that won’t let us use them”. Translation: if Spain won’t help bomb Iran, the U.S. should pack up its toys and go home. Waaaaah. 🙄

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 But first, check out our sponsor — Bureaucracy.es

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• If you’d like their help with the paperwork to apply for these visas, or need someone to guide you through the Spanish citizenship application process, you can hire them using this link (and, in the spirit of full transparency with our subscribers, The Bubble will receive a small commission).

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🗣️ Sánchez unveils Spain's new online hate shamer

Pedro Sánchez just unleashed the latest salvo in his war on tech bros, online hate, and people who say things he disagrees with. Yesterday he announced a new digital tool that will “systematically measure the presence, evolution and scope” of hate speech on online platforms used in Spain and publish reports naming the baddies. Oh, and its name is an acronym!

• The acronym is HODIO. That stands for Huella del Odio y la Polarización — Hate and Polarization Footprint. But we feel bad that polarization is being left out, so we’re going to call it HODYPO, which is definitely more fun than just saying “hate” in Spanish with a silent H in front of it.

One more step. The announcement, made at the Cumbre contra el Odio (Antihate Summit) in Madrid, follows Sánchez’s speech last month in Dubai, where he laid out a package of five measures to regulate social media, including a ban on minors and a plan to subject tech bros executives to criminal liability if illegal or hateful content isn’t removed.

• Not totally clear how it works. The HODIO tool hasn’t been released yet, but when it’s live it will apparently be used to generate a “public and transparent” ranking that will allow users to see which platforms — Instagram, TikTok, X, YouTube and Facebook will be measured — contain the most hate-inciting content, so that people know “who is blocking this content, ⁠who ​is looking the other way, ​and who is profiting from it.”

• Smart people. Oh, and academics and experts will be involved to make it “rigorous.”

The trust in Sánchez issue. The interwebs, as we know, can be super-toxic these days, and we would be thrilled to face less angry garbage online. But if you think HODIO sounds eerily censorship-adjacent (like, what's "hate", and what's "disagreeable"?), you’re not alone. Some experts weren’t happy when Sánchez mentioned it in Dubai, calling it “dangerous” because it could be used to clamp down on political dissidence. And critics (largely on the right, obvi) are not happy now either.

• And then there’s that EU thing. EU representatives told El Mundo last month that under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, Spain cannot impose extra obligations or criminal liability that go beyond EU law — like jailing Elon Musk for allowing hate speech to flourish. (Though it would be hilarz to see Elon in Soto de Real.)

Proof in pudding. For now, the new HODYPO tool (we’re sticking with it) is 💯 theoretical, so we can’t judge. Though it stands a better chance of coming to fruition than Sánchez’s more “vaporware” announcements — remember the 100% tax on foreign real estate buyers? — because it doesn’t require a parliamentary vote.

2. 😨 The “House of Horrors” trial begins

A trial began Tuesday that will remind us all that green and mountainous Asturias — the Spanish Ireland — is not just home to (literally) mind-blowing Cabrales cheese and gobs of cider-drinking implements. There are also weirdos. Which brings us to the Casa de los Horrores — a chalet in the village of Fitoria outside Oviedo — and the discovery in it that blew Spain’s collective mind (even more than Cabrales cheese).

• The House of Horrors. The story begins in April 2025 when a suspicious neighbor alerted police that there might be, you know, kids being hidden in the house. When officers entered the chalet, they discovered three children — two eight-year-old twins and a 10-year-old sibling — who, according to prosecutors, had barely stepped outside since (drumroll, please) December 2021. 🤯

What they found inside sounds less like a family home and more like a very bleak pandemic bunker.

• Gross. The kids were reportedly wearing masks and living among piles of garbage and animal waste 🤮. They slept in cribs and on a mattress without legs, wore diapers, and had shoes that hadn’t been replaced since 2019. The windows were kept closed, and air barely circulated. The kids had no schooling, no medical checkups, and almost no contact with the outside world — not even TikTok.

Extreme disease fear. When police removed the kids from the house, investigators concluded the parents — a 53-year-old German man and a 48-year-old woman with joint U.S.-German nationality — had kept them isolated out of an “insurmountable fear” of disease outbreak after contracting coronavirus. (Yes, COVID panic rides again.)

Enter the trial. The proceedings opened Tuesday at the provincial court in Oviedo — behind closed doors, given that the victims are minors and the allegations are f’ing grim. (The parents have been in preventive custody since their arrest.)

• Prosecutors accuse the couple of habitual psychological abuse within the family and three counts of illegal detention, with the aggravating factor that the victims were their own children.

• If convicted, the parents could face more than 25 years in prison.

And the children? The kids, meanwhile, are now under the care of the regional government of Asturias, receiving intensive psychological support and — in what must be a very strange adjustment — attending school and learning Spanish.

But the defense says: hold your horses. The parents’ lawyers claim there was no “house of horrors” at all. Instead, they say this was simply a family that chose to isolate itself from the world — perhaps in a way that was “extravagant or heterodox,” but not criminal. You know, just weirdos.

• Their argument? What prosecutors describe as unlawful imprisonment, the defense describes as, um, very committed homeschooling. 🤔

3. 🤳 More beef: Spanish cinema vs. influencers

It’s the fight we didn’t know we needed (but love anyway). The Spanish film world is once again asking a question that feels both ancient and extremely 2026: why are people who don’t seem to know, like, or even vaguely follow Spanish cinema showing up at its biggest events just to flutter their eyelashes and giggle for the cameras?

• The scandal exploded at the Goyas and the Málaga Film Festival, where actors, directors, and film people found themselves watching skin care and travel influencers glide down the red carpet with the serene confidence of people who know they absolutely do not need to name a single nominated film to be there.

• The whole thing caught fire thanks to influencer Ona Gonfaus (1.8m followers on TikTok), who was asked on the red carpet in Málaga to recommend a Spanish film and, after buffering for a few secs, came up with “the latest Ocho apellidos movie”, a film from 2023 that is very much not the hot festival pick of the moment.

Cue the outrage. The reaction from actors and people in the film industry was not great.

• Actress Yolanda Ramos (whom you may know from Paquita Salas!) noted, while cooking and doing the laundry in her pyjamas, that she was at home while influencers were at the Goyas. And the legendary Carmen Maura cut straight to the point: influencers “don’t make cinema.”

• Norma Ruiz reminded everyone that the Goyas are supposed to be the party of Spanish film, not a general gala for people with ring lights. Director Isabel Coixet said that “we’ve built a world where creating something lasting matters less than accumulating followers”. and added that influencers don’t move people to cinemas so much as they move them to buy acne serums. Ouch.

The influencers, naturally, defended themselves. Their argument is simple: they bring reach, visibility, younger audiences, and free publicity to Spanish cinema.

• Influence Inés Hernand took the broader view and argued that influencers are simply the new celebrities, useful for bringing fresh eyes to culture.

• A matter of national concern. Even Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun tried to calm things down by saying that everyone has a place in these events (while politely reminding everyone that the invitation system is not his circus).

Plot twist not so much. And that gets us to the actual reason these people are there in the first place: the sponsors send them (because, of course).

• The Spanish Film Academy has repeatedly said that the influencers at the Goyas were invited by partner brands, not by the institution itself. In Málaga, some were invited by the festival, while others also came through commercial partnerships.

• So the mystery is less “why are they here?” and more “why are brands convinced that an influencer who can’t name a current Spanish film is the best ambassador for Spanish cinema?” The answer, obviously, is followers.

4.🤬 Even more beef: Politicians really need to take a chill pill

As Spain inches closer to elections (yay!), the political class appears to be entering what can only be described as the “please, everyone, calm the fuck down” phase of the pre-campaign season.

• This week alone delivered a remarkable series of incidents that show that tempers are rising, patience is wearing thin, and political careers are, um, ending.

The first meltdown occurred in Collado Villalba (Madrid), where a PP councilwoman decided that a feminist monologue titled Being a Woman had crossed a line.

• Happy International Women’s Day. Ten minutes into the performance, she marched onto the stage and announced the show was over because she considered it “disrespectful” (see video above, it’s unclear what triggered the interruption, but it sounds like somebody said the word “penis” 🍆 😱).

• The audience, understandably confused about how a performance could be shut down like it was 1958 Francoist Spain, started protesting immediately.

• The video went viral, the backlash was instant, and even the PP itself rushed to condemn the interruption, reminding everyone that freedom of expression applies to theater too. In a few hours, the councilwoman apologized, admitted her reaction “was not appropriate,” and resigned from her position.

The second episode took place in Aranjuez (Madrid) and had a bit more (literal) caffeine involved.

• In a tense municipal meeting, a PSOE councilman lost his temper during an argument with a Vox representative. Insults were exchanged (“fascist,” “gilipollas,” the usual parliamentary poetry), and the socialist councilman decided the next logical step was to throw his cup of coffee at his opponent’s face.

• The Vox councillor dodged it, but the scene quickly escalated into a full political scandal. Outrage followed, complaints were filed, and the PSOE councillor acknowledged his behavior had been inappropriate, so he resigned. Sad!

And just when things couldn’t get any more chaotic, there was a third political surprise. Carlo G. Angrisano, the secretary general of Nuevas Generaciones, the youth wing of the PP, suddenly announced he was quitting the party (and not quietly either).

• The 29-year-old declared in a video statement that young Spaniards are fed up with immigration, bureaucracy, and “wokism,” and then did the unthinkable for someone in his position: he publicly asked people to vote for Vox instead.

• The PP quickly distanced itself (like, obvi), suggesting Angrisano had already been inactive for months and implying his resignation was less dramatic than advertised. (Still, pretty dramatic, right?)

If this is just the warm-up, the election year (2027 or…2026?) promises to be a shitshow entertaining! 🎉

5.🏺 Architects recover a Roman ship off one of Mallorca’s busiest beaches

Sounds like the plot of one of the National Treasure movies (look it up, Gen Z!), but it’s not. While German tourists were peacefully cycling along the seafront at Playa de Palma (one of the busiest tourist traps beaches in Mallorca), only a few meters away, archaeologists were starting the recovery of one of the most important underwater discoveries in the Mediterranean: a Roman ship that sank more than 1,600 years ago.

• The operation to recover the vessel, known as the Ses Fontanelles shipwreck, began this month, marking the start of a months-long archaeological project that experts say could transform what we know about Roman maritime trade.

“It belongs in a museum!” What makes the discovery so exciting is its astonishing state of preservation. The vessel, which dates back to the 4th century (!!), has essentially been frozen in time after being buried under a protective layer of sand that protected it from erosion and looting.

• When divers examine the wooden hull, they say it still sounds solid when tapped, almost as if the ship had sunk yesterday.

• Inside, archaeologists have found more than 300 amphorae, many still perfectly sealed and filled with wine, olive oil, and garum, the fermented fish sauce that Romans considered a delicacy. Even more astonishing, researchers have found vine branches used to cushion the cargo that still look freshly cut.

The location makes the story even more surreal. The ship lies just 65 meters from the shore and only about two meters underwater, directly off a beach where more than a million people swim every summer.

• It was only rediscovered in 2019 by a local snorkeler, who noticed part of the structure sticking out of the sand.

The ship itself is relatively small by Roman standards (about 12m long and roughly 6m wide), with a cargo that originated in Carthago Spartaria (modern-day Cartagena) when a storm sank it.

• The amphorae inside are labeled with ancient commercial inscriptions. There are also personal belongings from the crew, rope, and even a carpenter’s drill used for repairing the ship during voyages.

Divers will carefully remove the wreck piece by piece over the next four months, so it can be studied and preserved on land. The goal is to eventually exhibit the finds in Mallorca, which has a super busy history as a Mediterranean crossroads used by Phoenicians, Romans, and beyond.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Two men enter; one man leaves

🥊 The “war” alongside the war

Pedro Sánchez has been spoiling for a fight with Donald Trump for more than a year. And now, at long last, the Orange Menace 😡 has noticed the Spanish PM and punched back — and their spat has been super entertaining, like a dinosaur duel in Jurassic Park: lots of blood and gnashing teeth but you know it’s CGI.

• But let’s not mock. This is a proper international incident and while we have severe doubts it will end with U.S. Navy Seals rolling up on the beaches of Málaga, this is the biggest diplomatic blow-up Spain has had in years. So… Party! 🥳

Let’s get into it. The ruckus started Sunday when El Independiente reported that the U.S. had withdrawn 15 tanker aircraft from its bases in Rota and Morón and moved them to Germany and France.

• Why? It soon became clear that Spain had refused to let the U.S. use its bases in the attacks on Iran. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said the bases couldn’t be used for operations outside Spain’s agreement with the U.S. and international law, and later said the "logic of violence” the world was seeing only led to “unilateral military actions” with no “clear objective.”

• The pushback was swift (and weeny). 😩 Trump pal Sen. Lindsey Graham bravely wrote on X that Spain’s government was “becoming the gold standard of pathetically weak European leadership.” Which is saying something, coming from a guy who has such a long, personal experience of being pathetically weak.

• No surprise. Also on Monday, Israel’s Foreign Minister accused Spain of “standing with Iran” and said similarly it had supported “all the tyrants of the world, as it did with Venezuela.”

That’s when things got hairy. The 🍊 Menace himself had a tantrum weighed in on Tuesday, threatening to cut off all trade with Spain (no more Fruit Loops? 😭) and even suggesting the U.S. might ignore Spain’s restrictions on the bases: “We could just fly in and use it.” Diplomacy at its finest.

• The nice fella’s words. Trump said he told Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to “cut off all dealings” with our “terrible” Iberian country: “We don’t want anything to do with Spain.” Subtle.

But not as hairy as they would get! On Wednesday, the Handsome Fellow (you know, Sánchez) got all Churchill (ish) and delivered a soaring address of his own defending his government’s refusal to support the U.S.-Israeli military offensive against Iran.

• Sánchez revived a phrase with political weight: “No a la guerra” (No to war). The slogan was used during the mass protests against the Iraq War in 2003 (which Spain took part in), and he repeated his argument that Spain wouldn’t back what he called a dangerous violation of international law.

• Without mentioning Trump by name, he pushed back against Washington’s threats. “We’re not going to be accomplices to something that is bad for the world, simply because of fear of reprisals from some,” he said (hint, hint).

• Not that we like Iran’s leaders. He also condemned Iran’s theocratic regime… but insisted that military escalation was not the answer. “Repudiating the ayatollahs does not mean supporting a war.”

The warnings kept coming. The White House escalated its rhetoric yesterday morning, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Spain of “putting American lives at risk”. (He also called Spain a "freeloader” for failing to meet NATO’s defense spending target of 5% of GDP, but who's counting…)

So what’s really going on? Mr. Handsome, as we know, is unpopular inside Spain, and his government is drowning under a sea of corruption investigations. But with Trump being even crazier and more unpopular in Spain (and the rest of Europe), rebranding oneself as Mr. Handsome, Global Progressive Hero™ could trigger the so-called “flag effect” surge of domestic support in the face of adversity.

• Plus… As annoying as many find Sánchez, he looks to be on the right side of history on this one. And his speech made total sense.

But then the whole situation got even stranger. At a D.C. press briefing yesterday, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt claimed Spain had “agreed to cooperate militarily in recent hours”.

• Huh? While we were all scratching our heads about the sudden change of heart, Foreign Minister Albares, issued a denial, saying the statement was “categorically false.” So there’s…that?

Someone, please, think of the influencers. To end on a funny note (though not really ha-ha funny), influencers have discovered geopolitics the hard way and the internet doesn’t forgive.

• Spanish “content creators” who moved to Dubai to dodge taxes enjoy the rich local culture, suddenly began posting videos of explosions after Iranian strikes on their new home and commenting on their Instagram stories about uncertainty and fear.

• No sympathy. Instead of solidarity, many of the reactions online were brutally sarcastic, with comments like “Now let the Spanish embassy rescue you with the taxes you don’t pay.”

Let's just say that the internet’s patience for tax-friendly influencer lifestyles is… limited.

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 But first, check out our sponsor — Bureaucracy.es

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• If you’d like their help with the paperwork to apply for these visas, or need someone to guide you through the Spanish citizenship application process, you can hire them using this link (and, in the spirit of full transparency with our subscribers, The Bubble will receive a small commission).

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 👑 Spain (or at least part of it) wants its ex-King back

Clearly, no one ever told Alberto Núñez Feijóo that you can’t go home again. After last week’s declassification of the 23-F papers showed former king Juan Carlos I — aka JC1 — playing a decisive role in stopping the 1981 coup attempt, the PP boss has been calling for the ex-monarch to return from his comfortable exile (and occasional Iranian bombing target) in Abu Dhabi.

• But, um, there are a few obstacles.

Bring him back. Feijóo went into full reconciliation mode on X, arguing that the documents “should reconcile Spaniards with the person who stopped the coup.” Yes, he’s made “undeniable mistakes,” Feijóo conceded — but someone who sustained democracy at a key moment deserves to spend his golden years “with dignity and in his own country.”

• Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso quickly chimed in that this is what “the immense majority of Spaniards” think. (Considering how often it is invoked, Spain’s immense majority must be exhausted by now.)

About those ‘undeniable mistakes.’ JC1 didn’t exactly leave Spain because he craved desert heat. In 2020, amid investigations into opaque offshore foundations, alleged commissions, and a $100 million Saudi-linked transfer, he decamped to Abu Dhabi.

• To be fair, he later paid more than €5 million to Spain’s tax man to regularize previously undeclared income. Prosecutors closed their cases, but the reputational damage was done.

• Bad boy. His son, Felipe VI, cut his allowance (€200,000 per annum!) and has spent the last decade trying to rebrand the monarchy so squeaky clean as to be almost Nordic.

Wait a minute. So not everyone is polishing the welcome mat. Especially the leftish parties opposed to the PP and/or monarchy in general.

• Minister of the Presidency Félix Bolaños welcomed JC1 to adulting, saying that “One thing does not erase the other.” As in, heroics in 1981 don’t prepay for later behavior.

• And ERC’s ever-quotable Gabriel Rufián was even clearer: “Criminals are better off outside than in.”

There are other problems beyond a shortage of welcome mats. Even if Juan Carlos wanted to return tomorrow, it wouldn’t be as simple as booking a one-way Iberia ticket.

• The Royal Household has delicately noted that while he is free to return, if he did, he would “in any case” need to reestablish tax residency in Spain — to safeguard both his own reputation and that of the Crown.

• 183 days. Spend more than that in Spain, and you’re a tax resident again. That means answering uncomfortable questions about who pays for all your private jets.

• The fact that the Casa Real is the one publicly reminding him about tax obligations suggests that, shall we say, enthusiasm for Dad’s triumphant return is not universal inside the palace walls.

And the family home. Then there’s Palacio de la Zarzuela itself.

• Juan Carlos has reportedly made returning to Zarzuela — his home for 57 years — a matter of principle. But it’s not just a family house. It’s the headquarters of the Spanish head of state.

• But, no. Back in 2020, it was agreed that he would not stay overnight there, precisely to shield the institution from further reputational damage. Reversing that now would require a massive small rethink.

Our guess? He’ll stay out of Spain 183 days a year. The rest of the calendar? Regattas in his beloved Sanxenxo. Medical visits. Long private lunches. We expect to see lots of JC1 — just not quite enough to interest Hacienda.

2. 🧑‍🔬 Is Spain really becoming a startup capital?

Spain has long wanted to grow its own Silicon Valley. Looking at the wealth boom in the original one south of San Francisco, who wouldn’t?

• But Silicon Valley is a brutal act to follow, and Europe is stuck in a low gear. London, Paris and Berlin have made a mark, and Barcelona is making a serious push, but still… Let’s just say there’s probably more VC money in one breakfast at Buck’s in Woodside than in Barcelona, Madrid, and the rest of Spain combined.

But that may be changing 🥳! The Financial Times just rolled out their 2025 ranking of Europe’s leading startup hubs, and not only is Iberia showing up — Spain and Portugal host 24 of the 150 ranked hubs — but an accompanying article (by our very own Friend of Bubble Lucas Laursen) lays out the shifting landscape in Spain.

• The simple message. The startup boom is leaking out of the usual suspects. Yes, Madrid and Barcelona still dominate the money (they accounted for 29 of 33 funding rounds/deals in January, per El Referente), but the FT–Statista 2025 ranking puts Valencia, Málaga and San Sebastián ahead of the big two — with Valencia’s accelerator Lanzadera landing in the top 10.

And the winner is… The article zooms in on Málaga, where founder Félix Martín-Aguilar is building Alqindoi (a “device as a service platform” — we love a good tech buzzword) out of BIC Euronova — an incubator founded in 1991 that has survived every apocalypse since the dotcom era — and is now plugged into Berkeley SkyDeck, a start-up accelerator at UC Berkeley, which gives Málaga startups a direct line to California without the “move to Madrid first” step.

• Why Málaga? It’s cheaper, it has engineering talent, local institutions are unusually supportive, and foreign founders are a bigger share of the ecosystem than in Madrid/Barcelona.

• The catch. Funding is still thin in smaller markets like Málaga, and weak English skills can sludge things. Still, as regions move into their second generation of founders, experience gaps should shrink — and Spain’s startup map gets more compelling.

Still, a ways to go. There were 654 venture capital investments in Spain last year, for a total of €1.7bn, up 54% from 2024 and the third best year ever, according to the industry association SpainCap. Which is great — until you consider that Europe overall got $68bn, while the U.S. pulled in $328bn 😱.

• And don’t count Barcelona and Madrid out! They also show up plenty in the FT ranking, led by Madrid’s Tetuan Valley. Which, incidentally, did not accept our application for the latest cohort. NOT THAT WE’RE BITTER. (We will absolutely apply again because, you know… cough... We need funding.)

3. 😔 Five students die on Santander’s coast after a walkway collapse

Late Tuesday afternoon on Spain’s northern coast, a quiet walk along the cliffs of Santander suddenly turned catastrophic.

• At around 4:45 p.m., a group of seven students in their late teens and early twenties was crossing a wooden walkway along a coastal trail near Playa de El Bocal, a scenic stretch of shoreline just west of the city. The path winds along steep cliffs between the beach and the nearby oceanographic institute, offering sweeping views of the Cantabrian Sea.

As the group stepped onto one of several wooden platforms built along the cliffside, the structure suddenly gave way beneath them.

• The collapsing walkway sent the students plunging several meters down onto jagged rocks and into the rough water below.

Emergency services arrived quickly. Within minutes, rescuers spotted two bodies floating about 25 meters offshore. Both young people had already died. Over the following hours, firefighters and maritime rescue teams recovered three more victims from the sea and the rocky shoreline. One young woman remains missing.

• The victims, aged between 19 and 22, came from regions across Spain, including Cantabria, the Basque Country and Almería.

• One survivor was pulled alive from the water and taken to the Hospital Universitario Marqués de Valdecilla, where she is being treated in intensive care for hypothermia and injuries.

The collapse occurred at Punta Cortada, a remote and rugged section of coastline along a popular walking route between the Cabo Mayor lighthouse and the fishing village of La Maruca.

• The wooden structures along the trail were installed more than a decade ago as part of a coastal path project intended to make the cliffs accessible to walkers.

• But their condition has long been questioned. Environmental groups and local organizations had repeatedly warned that several of the platforms were deteriorating and should have been removed years ago.

Search operations continued yesterday as firefighters, maritime rescue units, police and a government helicopter combed the rocky shoreline for the missing student.

• The effort has been complicated by strong waves and the jagged coastline, which make it difficult for divers to reach parts of the area safely. Authorities are also waiting for low tide, when the receding water could expose crevices and cavities among the rocks where the missing woman may have been swept.

4.🌡️ Relax, Pedro Sánchez is not dying (or so he says)

I'm not dead yet! Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez has been forced to deny one of the weirder political rumors circulating in Madrid this week — that he is secretly suffering from a serious heart condition and he may be dying. 🩻

• The whole thing began in a pretty surreal way. Sánchez has long been known for his unusually polished appearance. People gave him the nickname “Pedro el guapo” (“Pedro the handsome” or, as we like to call him, Mr. Handsome).

• But in recent months, observers have noted that he looks… skinnier. And that visible weight loss quickly became political speculation.

Some media outlets began publishing stories noting that the prime minister looked “demacrado” (gaunt) and suggesting the physical changes were the result of stress or health problems after years of governing amid scandals and political battles (which, if you read us, you will probably know are many).

• And the Marias said… Only a few weeks ago, a bunch of ladies who were greeting him at an event went full Spanish grandmother on him and told him he had to eat more because he was “too skinny”.

The rumor escalated when a popular right-wing online publication of dubious reputation (the kind we’d prefer not to link to here) claimed Sánchez had been receiving treatment for a serious cardiovascular condition at Madrid’s Ramón y Cajal hospital.

• From there, it spread rapidly across social media (of course) and talk shows. Soon, PP MP Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo (our very own Ice Queen — which we say with love) mentioned the story during a parliamentary session and demanded the government “declassify” the PM’s medical records (obvs a reference to the recent 23-F declassification).

The government initially tried to ignore the claims. But as more media outlets seemed to pick it up, Sánchez himself finally responded with a statement on X.

• Ye olde mud machine. “The far right and the right have been predicting the end of this government since day one,” he wrote, referring to the "mud machine” of criticism from the right (a fave complaint of his). “Now they are spreading hoaxes about my health.”

• Sánchez insisted he does not suffer from any heart disease, and said that even if he did, it would hardly be unusual, as millions of people live normal lives with such conditions thanks to public healthcare. 👩🏻‍⚕️

So there you have it. For those of you who miss the times when Sánchez didn’t look “gaunt” (which, to be honest, he does), here is a photo of him from back in the day. You’re welcome.

5. 🎬 Susan Sarandon got all political at the Goyas (and she got an award too)

Awards season. It was the 40th edition of the Goya Awards (the Spanish Oscars) this weekend, and Susan Sarandon received the International Goya, one of the Spanish Film Academy’s highest honors.

• The annual award recognizes a figure whose career has had a global cultural impact. In previous years, it has gone to actors like Cate Blanchett, Juliette Binoche, Sigourney Weaver, and Richard Gere. This year, it went to one of Hollywood’s most outspoken actresses. (More on that in a sec…)

Let us praise Susan. Sarandon may be known for films such as Thelma & Louise and Dead Man Walking, but she’s really in our hearts for the kitsch masterpiece that is The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Haven’t seen it? Well, you have an assignment. Tonight.

• Loving herself some Spain. At the Goyas, she used her acceptance speech (see video above) to praise Spain’s cultural life and what she described as the “moral clarity” of its public figures.

Cue the controversy. Sarandon has long been a lefty icon, and her political activism is widely known, so it shouldn’t come as a surprise that she praised Pedro Sánchez (who, btw, was sitting in the audience 😉).

• Pouring it on. Wearing a pin in support of the Palestinian people, she contrasted the current political climate in the U.S. with what she sees in Spain. “In these days when the world is so dominated by violence and cruelty,” she said, “I look around and see your president and many artists speaking with such clarity, and it gives me strength.”

• But there’s more! Sarandon had already praised Sánchez a day before during a press conference in Barcelona, where she said he was “on the right side of history” for his criticism of the situation in Gaza.

• Awww…and a diss. Sanchéz tweeted that he was “moved” by her words in Barcelona, and the PP reacted by saying that the two have something in common: “They both act better than they govern”. Ouch 😂.

Whoopsie! Quoting historian Howard Zinn, Sarandon spoke during the ceremony about hope in difficult times, insisting that it is neither romantic nor naïve but rooted in historical truth.

• But there was a brief moment of awkwardness when a live translation slip mixed up the words “textual” with “sexual” while Sarandon was quoting Zinn, but the mistake was quickly corrected, and everyone sighed in relief.

Anyway, who won? The big winner was Los domingos (Sundays), a movie about a brilliant 17-year-old who shocks her family by abandoning university plans to become a cloistered nun. It’s directed by Alauda Ruiz de Azúa, who took Best Film, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and two major acting awards — basically, Best Everything.

• Our own Oscar hopeful. Sirât, directed by Oliver Laxe, collected six awards, largely in technical categories, strengthening its momentum ahead of the Oscars, where it is nominated for Best International Feature Film.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Not quite the Epstein Files

👨🏻‍🏭 23-F gets its day in the sun

Maybe Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez was jealous of the attention the White House got around the Epstein Files document dump. Maybe he wanted to distract from the corruption clouds hanging over his government. Or maybe he genuinely believes history should be free. Whatever the reason, we’ll take it!

• Dirty laundry, aired. PM Sánchez announced Monday that the government would declassify documents related to the famous 23-F — the attempted military coup d’état against Spain’s fledgling democracy, 45 years ago.

For Spanish Boomers, 23-F is pretty much the biggest domestic event in their lifetime — followed by the 11-M Atocha train station bombings and David Bisbal not winning the first season of Operación Triunfo.

• The coup. On Feb. 23, 1981, Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero, along with 200 armed Guardia Civil officers, stormed the parliament in Madrid during a vote to swear in Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo as prime minister (and yes, it’s all on video). The officers held the MPs and ministers hostage for 18 hours, hoping that King Juan Carlos I would back a return to strongman rule.

• Spoiler: JC1 didn’t. Democracy survived. And Javier Cercas wrote a great chronicle of the incident, Anatomía de un instante, that recently came out as a TV miniseries.

Let’s get the politics out of the way. PM Sánchez would undoubtedly like to talk about anything but the performance of his administration, so it is not surprising that the opposition parties on the right, Partido Popular and Vox, both called the move a “smoke screen,” while an ally on the left, the ERC Catalan separatists, said it was meant to “cover up” Sánchez’s problems.

• But honestly, we don’t care about politics right now. We really want to know the juicy nuggets in the documents, who was in on the coup, and whether King JC1 thought, even for a second, “You know, I’d like to be a real King, not a wimpy ‘constitutional monarch.’” So let’s get into it!

Did the King know? For decades, critics have speculated whether JC1 knew more than he let on. These documents won’t put those speculations to bed, but they don’t make him look bad.

• One handwritten internal analysis of the coup states that one of the main mistakes for its failure was “leaving the Borbón [aka JC1] free,” criticizing the decision to treat the King with respect and concluding that he should have been neutralized as an obstacle.

• A Defense Ministry record describes a tense phone call from the Zarzuela Palace at 8:20 p.m. that day, in which the King’s secretary ordered Tejero to immediately stand down and repeatedly asked why he said he was doing it “in the name of the King”.

• Tejero, however, insisted he only obeyed Lt. Gen. Milans del Bosch (another mastermind of the coup) before hanging up.

• JC1 later ordered Milans del Bosch to comply. “For Spain first, and for the Crown second, you must obey”. (Around 6 a.m., the uprising was over, and Milans announced the withdrawal of his troops.)

How close did Spain come to bloodshed? The most chilling revelations concern how narrowly Spain avoided catastrophe.

• Massacre averted. Authorities considered storming Parliament with a GEO (Spain’s SWAT) operation — estimates suggested 80 to 110 deaths.

• Another document describes the orders given to soldiers during the takeover of Spanish public television RTVE — they were told to “shoot to kill” if necessary, with weapons ready and safeties off.

Who was really involved? The intelligence services did not emerge spotless.

• A declassified report from Cesid (Spain’s former intelligence service) admits that six of its agents were involved in the coup and reveals that after the failed attempt, internal mechanisms were activated to cover up their movements.

• Thank you for your service. Meanwhile, an internal Policía Nacional memo from November 1981 claims the force was the main “dam” that stopped the coup.

The human farce. Then there’s the tragicomic layer.

• Fool’s errand. Transcripts of recorded calls show that during the coup, Tejero’s wife repeatedly insulted him, calling him “a fool” and “a disgrace,” and lamenting that he had been abandoned by his peers.

• Even Washington seemed unsure what to make of it at first. Early U.S. cables called it an “internal matter.” Later, President Reagan personally praised JC1 for defending democracy.

And now he’s dead! Oh, and in an unexpected twist of cosmic irony, Tejero died yesterday at 93 years old. Sentenced to 30 years in prison for rebellion, he was paroled in 1996 and had been living quietly in Málaga — a nostalgic symbol for parts of the far right to the end.

• Tejero will be forever remembered for getting the attention of the MPs by shooting the ceiling of Parliament and shouting “¡se sienten, coño!” — “Sit down, dammit!”

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. ⛷️ Spain has its best Winter Olympics in 90 years

The boos and cheers heard round the alps. The big news from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy was arguably the U.S. men’s and women’s hockey teams both winning gold in thrilling overtime victories over Canada.

• Or the U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance being roundly booed at the opening ceremony.

• Or maybe Sturla Holm Lægreid, a 28-year-old Norwegian biathlete, breaking down in tears during a live TV interview as he apologized to his ex-girlfriend for having an affair.

• Or the immortal American skier Lindsey Vonn coming back from age, surgery and broken joints to crash so hard she almost lost her leg to amputation.

But around here, the news was a record-breaking performance from Spain. “Spain?” you ask. Yes, Spain…

• Historic Olympics. Spanish athletes won three medals in the Italian games. One gold. Two bronze.

• Spain received all three in ski mountaineering events (trust us — it’s hella difficult).

• Oriol Cardona delivered Spain’s first Winter Olympic gold in more than five decades. Ana Alonso followed up by receiving bronze for her efforts. Together Cardona and Alonso won another bronze in the mixed relay.

Accomplishment? Of course, this feels historic partly because Spain isn’t exactly a winter-sports dynasty. Or a winter sports country.

• In nearly 90 years of Winter Olympic participation, Spanish athletes have built a résumé that, at best, felt like a footnote compared with Norway’s. Before this year, Spain’s total in winter medals could be counted on one hand (i.e. there were 5), with a few stray bronzes and one gold from Paquito Fernández Ochoa back in… 1972. Pre Tiktok, pre internet, pre color TV.

So why does Spain struggle in the Winter Olympics? In the words of the president of Spain’s winter sports federation, May Peus, “The tradition of ice and snow in Spain is what it is.” Winter sport in Spain has long been a minority activity, historically the playground of the wealthy, the aristocratic, the nouveau riche, or families who worked at ski resorts.

• Spain has 35 ski resorts. Sounds decent. Except many can’t guarantee snow all winter. And the ones that can? They often lack the large-scale facilities needed for elite training and competition.

• The high-performance centers? They’re built for summer sports (and fútbol!). They have no winter simulators, no specialized infrastructure, and no deep development pipeline.

So Spain isn’t built for winter dominance. Fine. But hey, where does everyone in the Great White North escape for sun and joy? Exactly. Spain. We bet Sturla Holm Lægreid and JD Vance will visit. Just so they don’t cry.

2. 🧯 Vox vs. 🌎: The far-right picks fights with… everyone

Vox is having one of those weeks where you can practically hear the shouting from party HQ. In just a few days, Spain’s far-right force has managed to pick fights with itself, with the PP (again), and even with its beloved Catholic Church.

Vox vs. Vox. Madrid City Hall is hosting a full-blown family feud. Javier Ortega Smith — Vox co-founder, longtime enforcer, and former secretary general — is refusing to step down as the party’s spokesperson in the city council.

• The awkward bit? Party leader Santiago Abascal has suspended Ortega Smith and begun the process to expel him. But he can’t simply fire him from City Hall. The spokesperson is chosen by the five-member municipal group, and it’s split — three back Ortega Smith, two back Abascal. The numbers aren’t on the boss’s side.

• A more awkward bit? Ortega says he’ll only leave if councillors vote him out. But they won’t. If Abascal expels the rebels, they could remain on the council as non-attached councillors, costing Vox resources and influence.

Why the drama? This isn’t ideological. It’s a power struggle. Ortega Smith is casting himself as a victim of Abascal’s dictatorial top-down control, while the leadership line is simple: the direction decides, everyone obeys. But Ortega Smith says he’ll go to court, if necessary — and is hinting that he knows a lot about how the party works behind the scenes. 😉

Vox vs. the PP. Meanwhile, the PP still needs Vox to govern in places like Extremadura and Aragón, and negotiations are proving… difficult.

• PP boss Alberto Nuñez Feijóo tried to impose order this week by publishing a national “framework” laying out the PP’s red lines for deals with Vox: He wants proportionality, approval of all budgets, lower taxes, institutional respect… you know, the whole “we’re the adults in the room” deal. (It’s also a preview of how Feijóo wants politics to look if he ever becomes PM).

• Abascal bristled with pure indignation because he hated the power dynamic, saying that the PP is treating Vox like a wild animal that needs to be “tamed.”

• His argument? If you need our votes, you don’t get to hand us a rulebook like we’re interns. The PP then tried to walk its document back, but the damage was done.

Vox vs. the Catholic Church. In the oddest subplot, there were reports that Pope Leo XIV (who, btw, just confirmed he’ll be in Spain June 6-12) privately warned bishops that his biggest concern in Spain was the far right trying to “instrumentalize” the Church and “win the Catholic vote”; multiple outlets insisted he explicitly mentioned Vox.

• Vox’s leadership tried to defuse it at first, but then Abascal dismissed the supposed comment as an invention fed to the press by “a bishop who collaborates with immigration.”

Either way, it’s a headache. Vox wraps itself in Catholic identity, but the Spanish Church hierarchy has been publicly supportive of migrant regularization and has pushed back on Vox’s anti-immigration rhetoric.

3. 🪩 You can use Spain’s youth card for clubbing, right? Um, no

Kids these days. TikTok has discovered what may or may not be a loophole in Spain’s Bono Cultural Joven — and the internet has decided that Pedro Sánchez is now personally funding 18-year-olds’ tequila shots. Spain’s Ministry of Culture? Not happy about the turn of events.

• Party = art. Over the past few days, viral videos have claimed that young people can use the €400 cultural allowance they get from the state to get into nightclubs. In one widely shared clip, a guy confidently explains to a group of teenagers how the prepaid card can be used at a Madrid club because “people don’t realize it works for nightlife.”

Revolutionary scholarship. Some of the teens brag that they’ve still got €150 left on their cards. In other words, they’re ready for a long night out. The meme spreading online is simple and irresistible: “Pedro pays for your party.” But not quite…

What the card actually is. The Bono Cultural Joven gives 18-year-olds €400 to spend on cultural goods and “experiences.” It’s split neatly into buckets: €100 for physical products (lol, imagine an 18-year-old buying a physical magazine 😭); €100 for digital products (subscriptions, video games); €200 for live cultural events (theatre, cinema, museums, concerts)

• It’s valid for one year, usable in 3,800+ registered establishments, and backed by a €170 million budget. This is not pocket change.

The problem? Nightclubs are not culture. At least not under the program’s rules. The money is meant to get teens into museums, not into the VIP. And certainly not for bottle service.

• So how are these payments going through? The suspicion is that some venues are processing transactions under categories that technically qualify — for example, labeling events as “live music.” That bureaucratic gray zone is where this whole thing gets spicy.

The government response? Yeah…not amused.

• The Ministry of Culture has warned that anyone using the card fraudulently “must reimburse those amounts to the Administration.” Businesses that allow improper use could face penalties — or be kicked out of the program entirely.

No fun! The government is planning to ban the sale of energy drinks to the under 16 set too. 😭

4. 🫵 Julio Iglesias strikes back in lurid sex assault scandal

If you thought Julio Iglesias would quietly huddle with his lawyers, hoping that the explosive stories of his alleged sexual assaults published last month would blow over, you would be wrong.

• Take it back! This week, he struck back pretty dramatically, demanding that Yolanda Díaz, the deputy prime minister, “rectify” comments she made about the case that suggested that she, well, thought he did it.

The backstory, briefly. In January, El Diario published an explosive investigative piece in which two former employees of Iglesias’s Caribbean mansions accused the well-tanned crooner of sexual assault, coercion, and what they described as conditions akin to sexual slavery.

• On to court. Their claims — involving alleged abuse in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas — were filed before Spain’s National Prosecutor’s Office with the backing of Women’s Link Worldwide.

• But no love from the law. The prosecutor ultimately archived the complaint, citing lack of jurisdiction: the alleged events took place abroad, and Spanish courts, post-2014 reforms, are picky about such things. It was a procedural dead end, not a declaration of innocence.

Enter Yolanda. On Jan. 13, just after the investigation dropped, Díaz shared the headline of the El Diario story on Bluesky and added her own gloss: “Chilling testimonies… Sexual abuse and a situation of slavery with a power structure based on constant aggression.”

• And then, more. The next day on state TV, she doubled down, saying the investigation “is terrifying, it’s panic-inducing,” and that the women were in a position of “extreme inferiority.” She did, to be precise, use the word “alleged” at one point. But the overall vibe was less “alleged” and more “resounding condemnation.”

Julio would like an apology. Through his lawyer, José Antonio Choclán, the 82-year-old icon has filed a demanda de conciliación — the obligatory prelude to a criminal complaint for slander or libel. He wants Díaz to “publicly rectify,” to acknowledge the “gravely offensive and slanderous nature” of her statements, and to compensate him “in the amount to be determined based on the serious social damage caused.”

• Presumption of innocence guilt. The filing accuses Díaz, a “high ranking public official,” of broadcasting “clear prejudices of guilt” and trampling his presumption of innocence. Iglesias, his team notes pointedly, has “never had the condition of a person under investigation or a suspect.”

And if you thought Yolanda would back down? Think again. Her response Tuesday, also on Bluesky: “I defend working women… With or without complaints,” she wrote, “women will no longer be silent.”

• A quick translation. See you in court. And Díaz might have time for the fight: She announced yesterday she wouldn't run for reelection.

5. 🐶 Are teens turning into animals? Inside the Therian frenzy

Move over, Punch the monkey! Therians are the latest internet “identity panic” to go mainstream in Spain: Teenagers (and some young adults) are posting videos in animal masks, sometimes moving around on all fours, smelling each other’s butts (lol gross), and describing how they identify with a (non-human) animal on a psychological or spiritual level.

• The term comes from therianthropy (Greek for “beast” + “human”). Crucially, it’s not actually new — it’s been floating around since the 1990s — but in the past two weeks it’s exploded because it’s perfect algorithm bait. It’s visually absurd, easily mocked, and tailor-made to travel fast from tiny subcultures to mass audiences on TikTok and Instagram. And the media is loving it.

Local excitement. “Therian meetups” are happening in Madrid and Barcelona, with similar flareups in Latin America (where they are all over Argentina and Mexico).

• But when journalists and gawkers showed up expecting hordes of masked teens, they mostly found… influencers, hecklers, and people hoping to film something weird enough to go viral. The Therians themselves? Harder to spot.

The Therians who dare to speak publicly insist this isn’t a cosplay trend. They describe their identity as involuntary and internal and often very private.

• Here’s an example. Ivy, a 22-year-old data administrator in Catalonia who says she was a ram in another life, told El Español, “A therian is someone who involuntarily identifies as an animal on some level.” Her realization emerged, she said, like a “spark” — with, “small flashbacks, lucid dreams, and behavioral signals.”

Cue moral panic. The media and pearl-clutching broader society have treated the trend either as curiosity or civilizational collapse — and that gap is where controversy thrives.

• Parts of Spain’s extreme right have latched onto the trendlet. Analysts say therians are useful for the “anti-woke” right because they can serve as “proof” that society has gone insane and we live in a decadent world where boundaries don’t exist. Oh and they can then link it to trans people and LGBTQ+ rights (because, you know, first trans pronouns, then animals).

If it feels familiar, it should. Remember the Satanist panic in the U.S.? We do. That’s the period in the 80s and 90s when people reported thousands of unsubstantiated cases of Satanic ritual abuse (mix the expansion of daycare centers with fears of Satanism and it sorta makes sense?), culminating in Missouri passing House Bill 1370 in 1990, which increased penalties for crimes involving ritual or ceremony. This panic is like that, but cuddlier.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Fashion police

🧕 Europe's burqa (and niqab) ban wave comes to Spain

The fight over the burqa and niqab just landed in Spain with a big ‘thud’. Arguments over the garments worn by some Muslim women that (respectively) cover the entire face or all but the eyes have been raging across Europe for years, but Spain’s current political weather meant that, well, right now was the time for it to burst on the scene, wet, confused, and screaming like a newborn child.

• The trigger? Yup, it was the far-righties of Vox, who brought a law to Parliament this week framed as “protecting women’s dignity” and “citizen security,” with a preface that warns darkly about “mass immigration” from countries with “strong Islamist influence” and the supposed “normalization” of people “circulating with their face covered.”

What’s actually in it? Well, a lot. Vox’s text pushes (1) fines for wearing the niqab/burqa in public spaces—starting around €600 and escalating (with repeat offenses) up to €30,000 — (2) prison sentences for anyone who “imposes” the garment through coercion (Vox proposes up to three years, higher if the victim is a minor or otherwise vulnerable), and (3) changes that would make it easier to expel foreign nationals for certain “very serious” infractions.

• Why did the PP back it? And not just kinda, but enthusiastically. Because the PP is in the awkward position of needing Vox as a coalition partner in two regions (Extremadura and Aragón) — and, more broadly, needs to keep the coalition math viable ahead of Castilla y León’s March 15 regional election. The burqa vote is something the right can agree on without having to talk about things like climate policy, Europe, or whatever else Vox is currently trying to set on fire.

• The standard reasoning behind a ban comes in two flavors. One is security and identification: a state can’t identify you if it can’t see your face. The other is women’s equality. As in, the full-face veil is cast as a symbol of coercion and erasure, especially when worn under pressure from family or community. Vox leans hard on both, but peppers it with civilizational language that makes it clear that they’re not, like, super “Pro-Muslim.”

That cultural squirreliness is a basic reason why everyone else voted it down. The outcome: Vox and the PP (and one small ally) were outnumbered; the proposal was rejected 177–170, with one abstention.

The PSOE position was basically, “Nice try, but no.” Socialists argued the Vox text collides with constitutional protections — particularly religious freedom and non-discrimination — and, in any case, is transparently designed to “feed” a xenophobic narrative rather than solve a real problem (the number of women wearing niqab/burqa in Spain is pretty small).

• The right-wing Catalan separatists of Junts, meanwhile, rejected Vox with its usual left-right punch. That is, no to the burqa bill… but even more no to Vox. They insisted they will “never” support Vox because it’s “anti-Catalan” and, well, politically radioactive.

But, but, but… It’s not that black-and-white. Because, you see, every party has reasons to entertain a ban, from public pressure to political competitors.

• Junts actually introduced its own ban bill. Their text prohibits the use of garments that “totally or substantially” cover in public spaces, with some exceptions. So what’s the difference? For one thing, their bill delegates the powers over the “security and identification of persons” to the regional government so it can police its own immigration (separatists 🤷). Plus, Junts is fighting its own Islamophobic-adjacent competition on the right — Aliança Catalana.

• Even inside the PSOE world, you could hear the faint sound of gears turning. Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni said the burqa should be “regulated” and called it a denial of women’s identity — while warning that a flat ban could backfire if it effectively pushes women out of public space.

• In fact, just after voting down Vox’s proposal and saying it “stems from racism and the criminalization of those who are different,” PSOE congressional spokesman Patxi López praised Junts’ proposal because “it hasn’t adopted the far-right’s framework,” and said the socialists would “study” the initiative and “open that debate.”

That brings us to the awkward ending. Some kind of restriction feels inevitable. Not necessarily Vox’s culture-war version — but something. Immigration anxiety (justified or not) has been turbocharged in Spain lately, and it spiked further after the government launched its extraordinary regularization process for people who can prove residence before Dec. 31, 2025 (applications April–June 2026). The right has promoted a cinematic narrative about floods of immigrants waiting outside the Moroccan and Pakistani consulates, sometimes faking documents.

• Crucially, Spain isn’t inventing this debate. Across Europe, bans or partial bans on full-face coverings already exist — France led in 2010, followed (in various forms) by Belgium, Austria, Denmark, the Netherlands, Germany, Bulgaria, Portugal, and others.

Spain joining the list seems largely a matter of time.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🔴 Spain’s left scrambles to unite as Vox keeps rising

Extreme Mild Makeover. Spain’s non-PSOE left is making its latest attempt to join forces and avoid irrelevance as the right — especially the far-right — climbs in the polls. The recent drubbing in Aragón — where the PSOE plunged, the PP stagnated, and Vox surged from 11% to 18%, doubling its seats — was a wake-up call.

• The read for leftists is brutal. The mainstream right is treading water, the radical right has momentum, the PSOE fell off a cliff, and the further left looks fragmented and tired.

Wake-up call. Last week, Gabriel Rufián, MP from the leftist Catalan separatist ERC, gave one of his bluntest warnings yet: “Either we talk to each other, or we’re f*cked” (see video above).

• Rufián — articulate, permanently online, and fond of trolling everyone — argued that forces to the left of the PSOE can’t afford turf wars. What’s coming, he warned, isn’t politics as usual but a European version of the authoritarian drift seen in the U.S.

A new name to learn. A group of leftist parties is now launching an alliance under the slogan Un paso al frente (“A step forward”). Izquierda Unida, Más Madrid, Comunes and Movimiento Sumar are backing it.

• Their goal is to rebuild a broad progressive front before the next general election and stop Vox.

• But this also reflects panic. They know they are losing ground not just electorally, but emotionally. Fewer people feel excited by them, and the right currently monopolizes the energy.

• Consider Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz. Founder of the Sumar coalition (vaguely left in a marshmallow blobish way), she remains the best-known figure to the left of the PSOE. But she’s the junior partner in an unpopular socialist government, and increasingly questioned after poor results and falling popularity.

Organizing is proving messy, however. A big launch event in Madrid this Saturday is meant to show unity. But Díaz herself won’t attend, fueling speculation about whether she even wants to lead again.

• Far-left Podemos is staying away too, nationalist/separatist parties aren’t joining the photo, and even inside Sumar there’s confusion about what comes next: A new name? A new brand? The party has an unclear program, and no obvious successor to Díaz.

• Meanwhile, Rufián’s separate public talk yesterday with Más Madrid’s Emilio Delgado generated media buzz — but without any formal party backing it, it looks more like a symptom of the vacuum than a concrete strategy.

Looming over all of this is the brutal reality of the polls. The left knows it’s not doing well: voters are unmotivated, leaders have burned through political capital quickly, and Vox is thriving on rural and economic discontent and cultural resentment.

• Stay away, Pedro. Many (if not most) on the left also don’t want this reorganization tied to PM Pedro Sánchez. A recent El Español poll suggests that his unpopularity could drag the broader left-wing bloc toward its worst result in decades.

The state-run CIS offers the PSOE a more optimistic picture. But then again, the CIS is run by a former member of the PSOE executive committee whose rosy poll numbers for his party have been wrong so often that they mostly qualify as wish fulfillment.

2. 💣 Police no. 2 resigns after bombshell rape accusation

Hard to keep up. Oh, look. Another explosive scandal hits Spain, this time landing right at the top of the National Police. José Ángel González Jiménez, the Director Adjunto Operativo or DAO, of the Policía Nacional, resigned on Tuesday after a Madrid judge admitted a criminal complaint accusing him of rape. González has been summoned to testify on March 17 and is formally under investigation as a suspect.

• González was no mid-level official. He was the highest-ranking operational commander in the National Police, appointed in 2018 by Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska, and widely seen as one of his most trusted men. His sudden fall has triggered shock inside the force — and yet another headache for the government.

What happened. The complaint was filed by a female police officer who dated González for a while and who says she was assaulted by him in April 2025, while she was on duty.

• When the boss is an ex-boyfriend. According to her lawyer, she received repeated calls ordering her to leave her post, pick González up in an unmarked official vehicle, and drive him to his official residence.

• Asymmetrical relationship. She says she was pressured to enter the house, where he assaulted her sexually, including penetration with his fingers (despite her verbal refusals). The complaint says González used the authority of his position to intimidate her and overpower her.

• She also claims that afterwards she faced months of pressure to keep silent, and even an attempt to “buy” her silence through professional favors in exchange for not reporting what happened. She is currently on psychological leave.

González has denied wrongdoing and insists he stepped down voluntarily as soon as he learned of the complaint. The government, meanwhile, maintains that the Interior Ministry forced his departure once the court formally admitted the case.

• The PP used the scandal as a political weapon. Party boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo yesterday accused the government of protecting González until the story became public; demanded Interior Minister Marlaska’s resignation; and questioned how Marlaska could plausibly claim ignorance about such a serious accusation involving his own police chief.

• Marlaska, however, said he was “deceived” and “deeply disappointed,” insisting he knew nothing about the complaint until this week. He even said he would resign if the victim herself felt “he failed her”.

Even PM Sánchez got involved (while he was in India), calling the accusations “very serious” and insisting his government acted immediately with “forcefulness, coherence and empathy” once they learned of the case.

• More bad news for PSOE. This is yet another brutal scandal in an area where public tolerance is thin. The PSOE and its orbit have faced multiple sexual misconduct controversies recently, and each new case reinforces a story of institutional decay and impunity.

3. 📈 Spain closes in on 50 million residents

Spain is approaching a big, round number: 50 million residents. According to the latest data from the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), the country hit 49.57 million people on Jan. 1, a new record.

• There was even a kind of Baby Boom. No, it’s not a 1960s comeback tour. But in 2025 Spain’s birth rate increased — according to INE — for the first time in over a decade. In 2025, 321,164 babies were born — 3,159 more than in 2024.

Just the facts. Overall, Spain added around 450,000 people in the last year, and almost all of that growth came from migration. In fact, for the Spanish-born population, natural change (births minus deaths) remains negative. So the Baby Boom was undone by a bigger Death Boom. Without immigration, Spain would be shrinking.

Here’s another big number. 50 million may seem like a major achievement, but the real milestone isn’t just the total. The most eye-catching fact is that for the first time, more than 10 million residents were born abroad (10,004,581, to be exact). That’s just over 1 in 5 people in Spain.

The young and the restless. Here’s where it gets even more interesting. In cities like Madrid and Barcelona, nearly half of residents aged 25–39 were born abroad, according to recent INE breakdowns. In some inland provinces, that figure is closer to 10%.

• Let’s translate that. Spain’s big urban labor markets are being powered by people who weren’t born here. And they’re overwhelmingly of working age. Nationally, about 42% of foreign-born residents are between 30 and 49, and another big chunk are in their 20s.

Back-of-the-envelope math. Migration is helping Spain grow faster than much of the eurozone because it’s expanding the workforce. JPMorgan and the Bank of Spain have both noted that immigration has contributed meaningfully to recent GDP growth.

• But, but, but… If Spain’s GDP grows around 2.5–3% and the population grows roughly 1%, then the GDP per capita rise is closer to 1.5–2%. That’s still solid. But it’s not “economic miracle” solid.

• Which goes a long way toward explaining people’s frustrations. More workers means more people competing for the same resources, especially housing. You may have heard people complain about housing prices?

Enter politics. The right-wingers of Vox has denounced the social and economic impact of this recent achievement, stating that this “increases insecurity in neighborhoods, and terminally overloads essential public services”.

• Here’s the paradox: Without immigration, Spain’s economy would likely be weaker and its population declining. With immigration, growth looks better, but competition for apartments in Lavapiés looks worse.

The verdict? You’re allowed to brag about the growth numbers. Just maybe don’t do it in front of someone paying €1,400 for a 45m2 flat.

4. 🖼️ The Canaries are going for baroque

This is an only-in-Spain story about art, taxes, and how politics can sometimes allow you — or force you — to pay your inheritance bill with a mythological kidnapping.

• It begins with the Condado de la Vega Grande de Guadalupe, the bluest of Canary bloodlines, a title granted in 1777 — the year after the country that would later give us Pop Tarts, Fruit Loops, and Donald Trump declared independence.

• For centuries, the family controlled vast swathes of Gran Canaria, pioneered tomatoes and tourism (hello, Maspalomas!), and generally behaved as if they owned the island. Which, at times, they basically did.

Fast forward to 2020. The ninth count dies. The inheritance clock starts ticking. And thanks to the left-leaning “Pacto de las Flores” government then in power, the Canary Islands had just scrapped the near-total 99.9% inheritance tax break for close relatives. Big fortunes would now pay actual money. Revolutionary stuff.

• The family’s bill? It reportedly came in around €4m. 🫢

Liquidity, however, is not always the strong suit of old aristocracies. (Land? Yes. Titles? Totes. Weird intra-cousin marriages? Absolutely. Cash? Not so much.) So in 2021, the tenth count and his siblings reached a very Spanish solution with Hacienda: payment in paint.

• Enter baroque drama. A dozen paintings — including two monumental canvases by Luca Giordano, plus works attributed to Bartolomé Esteban Murillo and Juan Carreño de Miranda — were handed over to the Canary government. Neptune flexing. Persephone being abducted. Seventeenth-century mythological chaos, now serving the Tax Agency.

Market estimates suggest the bundle could be worth somewhere between €3.5m and €5m. We imagine the appraisal meeting between the family and the tax man was lively.

The paintings are now public property. The two Giordanos — Neptuno and El rapto de Proserpina, each over three meters wide — are being restored in Madrid at state expense (humidity, fungi, wood-munching insects… even gods suffer).

• They’re expected to hang in the future Museo de Bellas Artes de Gran Canaria in Vegueta when it opens (we hope) later this year. Which is poetic, given they once adorned the family dining room a few streets away.

It's all in the timing. In 2023, a new right-leaning Canary government restored the 99.9% inheritance tax break for close relatives. Under today’s rules, that €4m bill would likely have been reduced to something… decorative.

• Yeah, irony. Had the count died a few years later, Neptune might still be looming over the soup course in Vegueta.

5.🪩 Benidorm Fest 2026 crowns Tony Grox & LUCYCALYS in the most controversial edition yet

Gays Music fans, rejoice! Benidorm Fest has crowned its new champions, and this year, the victory comes with a big asterisk.

Tony Grox & LUCYCALYS, a duo from Cádiz, won this year’s edition of the popular music festival with their song “T AMARÉ,” (see video above), finishing with 166 points thanks to overwhelming audience support.

• Catchy tune. Their track is built around an irresistible contrast: flamenco emotion on one side and sleek electronic minimalism on the other, creating a fusion that feels both classic and modern.

• Their presence on stage helped, too. A DJ table placed inside the fountain of an Andalusian patio (‼️), became instantly iconic.

• Thank you for the music. Musically, the night was a clash between the jury’s taste and public passion (when is it not?). While the professional jury’s top choice was Asha, with her song “Turista”, the public vote belonged to Tony Grox & LUCYCALYS, who dominated the televote and ultimately took the title.

For the love of money music. The win comes with the festival’s signature trophy (the Sirenita de Oro, or Golden Mermaid) and a cash prize: €100,000 for the performers plus €50,000 for the songwriters, as well as a boost from Univisión, which will take the winners to the U.S. to record with a top Latin producer.

A big f*cking deal. The Benidorm Fest is Spain’s pop obsession. It’s also the national contest that chooses the country’s representative for Eurovision, aka the Gay World Cup.

• Even if you don’t care about Eurovision, the Benidorm Fest has turned into something enormous that acts as a showcase of Spain’s music industry, its queer cultural energy, and its internet fandoms.

• The final was the most-watched program of the day, reaching more than 4.1 million unique viewers, with especially huge figures among younger audiences.

The big asterisk. The 2026 edition hit different, though, because it was the first Benidorm Fest to be officially disconnected from Eurovision.

• Remember? Spain, alongside several other countries, announced last year that it would not participate in Eurovision if Israel remained in the contest.

So while it was fun to watch, the controversy cast a shadow over the entire week as the usual “road to Eurovision” narrative was… absent.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Wet enough for ya?

🌧️ In Spain, the rain falls mainly… f’ing everywhere!

Rain, rain, go away. Leonardo, Marta…we never invited you, nor did we invite your friends who showed up earlier — you know, Francis, Goretti, Harry, Ingrid, Joseph and Kristin.

• Seriously, enough. The only thing more demoralizing than living through January — the rainiest in 25 years, they say, after the contributions of the six alphabetically named storms Frances through Kristin dumped an average of 119.3 liters on each and every square meter of Spain — was the first week of February, when Leo and Marta poured about 20% more than in the previous week.

For those wondering why we’re talking about the weather instead of something “important,” we’d like to remind you that weather is the original safe space.

• Research suggests Brits spend about two days a year — more than four months over a lifetime — talking about it. And it’s been called “conversation’s last refuge,” because it’s the only thing we can still half-agree on. Of course, we’re not British. But after this much rain, we emotionally qualify for citizenship.

But how crazy is it? Let’s visit Grazalema, a “Pueblo Blanco” in the hills north of Cádiz. There, over the last three weeks, some 2,000 liters fell per square meter — more than a year’s worth of rain, or what meteorologist Nahel Belgherze called on X “hydrologically absurd.”

• That causes…problems. Grazalema’s approximately 2,000 residents were evacuated during Leonardo due to fears that the ground was unstable. “This situation is completely abnormal,” said Juanma Moreno, president of Andalucía’s regional government. “The ground is literally spewing water."

• And that’s only one part of the 11,000 people who had to leave their homes over the risks of floods and mud slides. On Sunday, flooding forced the closing of some 179 highways, mostly in Andalucía, according to the DGT traffic authority, as well as local and long-distance trains. And, in the biggest news (kidding), one La Liga fútbol game was postponed ⚽.

• Deaths have been reported. Five have died in Spain and Portugal, according to reports. (The precipitation is not just rain: one victim was a snowplow driver who plunged down a slope in a mountain pass.)

There is good news, though, right? Indeed, there is. Spain, as you know (right?), often struggles with drought conditions. Just a few years ago, a church tower re-emerged from a rapidly depleting reservoir in Catalonia, where boats had to remove fish from oxygen-starved waters to protect drinking supplies.

• Now there’s water aplenty. Over the last two weeks, the rains added more than 10,000 cubic hectometers (a.k.a. a lot) to Spain’s reservoirs, breaking 30-year-old records, according to the Ecological Transition Minister Sara Aagesen.

• Just look at this graph. With 43,341 hm³, Spain’s reservoirs are now more than 77% full, about 24 percentage points higher than the 10-year average, according to our fave site Embalses.net. Many dams have had to dump overflow water for the first time in decades. (Only Murcia — poor Murcia — is still super dry.)

• Amen. “The main implication is that the recurring sword of Damocles of drought has been postponed for months and even more than a year if it doesn’t rain anymore,” Javier Martín-Vide, emeritus professor of physical geography at the University of Barcelona, told ABC.

On the political front. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised aid for distressed farmers who’ve suffered massive crop damage, which his government can do; he’s also called for all political parties to join together to create a national climate change pact, which, considering he doesn’t have the votes to pass basically anything, his government cannot do.

• Want more rain? You may be in luck: Storm Nils has arrived.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🗳️ Vox surges in Aragón as Extremadura heads toward political deadlock

Tough to swallow. Aragón just delivered an election result that feels like deja vu all over again: the center-right Partido Popular (PP) came first in regional polls, but not nearly far enough to govern alone.

• Incumbent regional president Jorge Azcón won the election, but actually slipped slightly compared to 2023 (from around 35% to 34%), leaving the PP well short of a majority. In other words, the right won big… just not the PP.

The real winner is Vox. The far-right party surged from 11% to 18% of the vote, doubling its seats from 7 to 14 and turning itself into the unavoidable kingmaker.

• Vox boss Santiago Abascal not only campaigned; he basically treated Aragón like a national battleground, and voters responded with what Vox called “more than double the Vox.”

The big loser was the center-left PSOE. The socialists, led by Pilar Alegría, dropped hard, falling from 30% to 24% and losing five seats. It’s one of the party’s worst results in the region’s democratic history, and it confirms a broader pattern: Aragón, like Extremadura before it, is drifting rightward.

• That drift. Since 2023, the combined right-wing bloc has jumped from 47% to 55% of the vote, the strongest conservative showing in decades.

So why did Vox do so well? Part of it is simple voter migration: polls suggest the PSOE lost about 16% of its 2023 voters to the PP or Vox, and the PP itself bled around 10% of its support directly to Vox. Plus, the youths like Vox. 🤷

• Vox also pulled in new voters who didn’t participate last time. And they’ve been tapping into very specific anger in Aragón: frustration in the farming sector over the Mercosur trade deal from Brussels, immigration, and the general sense that rural Spain is being ignored.

So what happens now? Well… The PP has almost no path forward without Vox. There is no viable center-left coalition.

• That leaves Azcón dependent on Vox (and Vox knows it). Abascal has already signaled he will demand a high price this time: real power. He wants leadership of several ministries and further right policies on immigration, climate, and public spending.

That’s not all. After recent elections in Extremadura, the PP and Vox are locked in a standoff that could end with voters being sent back to the polls.

• The PP won the elections last December, and María Guardiola (the current regional leader) is the candidate again, but she doesn’t have the numbers to govern alone. Vox’s support is essential (shocker), and Abascal’s party is refusing to simply abstain or back her from outside the government.

• The investiture vote is set for March 3, and negotiations have gone nowhere, with both sides now fighting publicly as much as privately. If Guardiola fails the first investiture vote, the region enters a two-month countdown before new elections.

Fun times ahead. 🎉

2. 📉 Spain slips down the global corruption rankings (not a great look, people)

Oh, the humanity! According to Transparency International’s 2025 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), Spain dropped three places in the global classification this year, landing at 49 out of 182 countries, with a score of 55/100.

• That puts Spain in the same bracket as Cyprus and Fiji, just above Italy, and below countries like Saudi Arabia and Rwanda.

• FYI, The CPI is the world’s most widely cited corruption benchmark. It doesn’t measure corruption directly, but rather perceptions of corruption in the public sector, using data from institutions like the World Bank and the World Economic Forum.

So what’s the tea driving the decline? Transparency International points to a familiar mix: weak political consensus on reforms (no surprise there), insufficient transparency in public procurement (naughty!), and a string of high-profile scandals that have dominated headlines.

• We don’t talk about Koldo. The past year has been marked by turmoil inside the governing PSOE party, including the imprisonment of former party organization secretary Santos Cerdán, and the jailing of ex-minister José Luis Ábalos and his former adviser Koldo García.

• Spain did launch a 15-measure anti-corruption plan in July, and even though Transparency International called it an “important step”, it also warned it was ultimately limited and insufficient without deeper structural change.

• Those were the days. The last time Spain actually improved its CPI score was in 2019. Since then, it’s been a slow downward drift, suggesting that without a long-term, cross-party national anti-corruption strategy — not just emergency plans after scandals — we may keep sliding.

We’re not the only ones. Spain’s slide is part of a broader European problem. The report warns that most EU member states are stagnating or declining, with accountability mechanisms weakening across the bloc 🫠.

• Spain itself fell from 16th to 17th within the EU, as countries like Portugal and Slovenia edge ahead.

3. 🏘️ Are tourist apartments really going away?

Now maybe we’ll find out if eliminating tourist apartments brings down the rent for the rest of us.

• New data from Spain’s statistics agency, the INE, suggests we’re running that experiment in real time. According to its latest (and still “experimental”) data series, the number of tourist apartments marketed on platforms fell 12.4% year-on-year in November 2025, to 329,764 units — a drop of nearly 47,000 homes.

• Big tumble. It’s the biggest annual decline since the agency began tracking the data in 2020, and the lowest number of tourist flats recorded in almost three years. As a share of the total housing stock, tourist apartments now represent 1.24%, down from 1.41% a year earlier.

Cue ministerial chest-thumping. Pablo Bustinduy, Spain’s Minister of Consumer Affairs and a member of the pretty-far left Sumar, called the drop “proof that regulation and intervention work,” adding that it was “absolutely inconceivable” to allow “an activity of this magnitude and scale to develop under illegal conditions.”

• You pay now. Bustinduy reminded reporters that his ministry forced Airbnb to remove 65,000 listings — “We won in court on several occasions. Those advertisements have been removed” — and slapped the platform with a €64 million fine.

• The PSOE narrative. The Housing Ministry, led by Isabel Rodríguez of the socialists, also sacó pecho, tying the decline to the new mandatory short-term rental registry and the reform of Spain’s Horizontal Property Law, which since April has allowed homeowners’ associations to veto tourist rentals with a three-fifths majority.

Who posted the biggest drops? Valencia (-25%), Madrid (-26%), Galicia (-22.5%), and the Balearics (-19.8%). Murcia saw one of the steepest percentage falls. But not everywhere is retreating: Andalucía, the region with the most tourist flats (91,757), actually rose 1.2%, with Málaga still leading nationally in absolute numbers. And when you look at tourist apartments as a share of total housing, Las Palmas (4.96%) and Málaga (4.84%) top the ranking.

So…case closed? Not quite. The INE data is experimental and based on scraping listings from major platforms — which means what’s counted depends on what’s posted. More than 86,000 short-term rentals have been flagged as illegal under the new registry.

• Meanwhile, tenant groups warn that illegal listings remain widespread, and that many owners are simply shifting into the regulatory “black hole” of seasonal rentals — 11-month contracts — as well as room-by-room lets, to dodge controls.

• And rules beget creativity. As we reported last week, in Barcelona, groups of enterprising “tenants” are quietly remodeling apartments to add bedrooms and then renting them out as €150-a-night luxury suites.

This all leaves an uncomfortable question. Even if every tourist flat vanished overnight, would it fix Spain’s housing crisis? Or do we just have too many people chasing too few homes — and need to build lots more?

4. 🏝️ The tragic—and then wonderful—story of the bars of Port de la Selva

This story has a little bit of everything. Summer sunshine, small-town gossip, a business boom, a sudden tragedy… and then, unexpectedly, a kind of civic group hug.

It started last summer, when Port de la Selva — a whitewashed fishing town on the Costa Brava, tucked under Cap de Creus — woke up to a nightmare scenario for any place that lives off tourism: around 10 bars, chiringuitos, and restaurants went dark more or less at once.

• Terraces empty, doors locked. In a town of roughly 1,000 residents, it wasn’t just a few venues. It was about one-fifth of the local hospitality scene, much of it right on the seafront, including the iconic Cafè de la Marina, famous from the Josep Maria de Sagarra play of the same name.

The reason was grim. The couple behind the mini-empire, José Andrés Bel (“Pepito”), 71, and Adela Esteban, 68, died by suicide weeks apart in the summer of 2025, amid mounting financial distress. “They had millions in debt, unpaid loans, and the workers hadn’t received their last paycheck,” a longtime resident told ARA.

• Bel wasn’t some stereotypical beach-bar operator. He was an economist and former executive with a glossy CV — senior roles at Stradivarius, Misako and Castañer — who, after decades summering in the town, decided in retirement to go big.

• Starting around 2018, the couple took over a string of establishments, often paying landlords double the previous rent and keeping places open deeper into the winter than Port de la Selva was used to.

• For a while, it worked — and the town benefited from the extra life. But by 2024, some of Bel’s roughly 20 investors, worried by his heavy spending, began to pull back. El Español reported that by June 2025, Adela was seeking a €150,000 short-term loan backed by 51% of the business.

After their suicide, their company was left with heavy debts, and the town with about 100 seasonal workers suddenly unemployed and a seaside promenade lined with shuttered businesses at the height of tourist season.

And here’s where the story flips from tragedy to something else. In the months that followed, the town essentially refused to let the place go quiet.

• A Girona-based investor (reportedly of the 51% guarantee) took control of the company and signaled he wanted to reopen. One landlord decided to open his own restaurant in the property he had rented to Bel, and a series of local entrepreneurs started stepping in to reopen others — partly as a business opportunity, partly as a community rescue mission.

• By Semana Santa, most of the shuttered bars will be back in business.

“A tragedy can become an opportunity,” Mayor Lídia Ferrer told El País.

5. 🦈 Spain’s Mediterranean has a Jaws moment

Wait! Cue this soundtrack before reading this (trust us, it’s for dramatic effect).

Yes, it’s true. Sharks, including the great white, are showing up again in the Spanish Mediterranean waters. However, before anyone starts reenacting Jaws on the beaches of Alicante, take a deep breath.

• The latest headline comes from Ibiza, where on Monday people filmed a large shark swimming inside the port — a rare sight that instantly triggered alarm and a lot of vertical smartphone videos.

Before that, there was a confirmed case in April 2023, when a juvenile great white shark (just over two meters long) was accidentally caught about 11 nautical miles off the coast between Dénia and Jávea, near Cabo de San Antonio.

• This week, the Spanish researchers from the Institute of Oceanography and the University of Cádiz who documented the capture published the finding in a scientific journal — making it one of the very few verified great white sightings in Spain in recent decades.

• The previous confirmed encounters were in 2018 near Cabrera (Balearic Islands) and 2015 near Tarifa, also during tuna fishing season.

So why is this happening?! Experts say the great white has always had a persistent but extremely rare presence in the Spanish Mediterranean. So it’s not that sharks are suddenly “invading,” it’s that monitoring has improved and occasional encounters are being documented more carefully. Phew.

• Another factor is food. Yup, more human bathers. Sorry. No. Rather, these sightings often coincide with the seasonal migration of Atlantic bluefin tuna, one of the shark’s key prey. Where tuna goes, top predators follow. Scientists also point out that sharks can be drawn closer to coastal areas by human activity (okay, so it's true), including fishing waste near ports.

• The phrase “great white shark” automatically activates the scary John Williams theme, but the reality is far less dramatic: In over 160 years of records in Spanish waters, documented run-ins with humans have been exceptionally rare.

• In fact, great whites in the Mediterranean are considered vulnerable, and populations have declined sharply — with some estimates suggesting a drop of over 70% around the Balearics in recent decades.

So you can swim; just don’t pet them. The Mediterranean is a living ecosystem, and sharks popping up is not a reason to cancel your summer plans. The real story here is that one of its most iconic predators is still hanging on.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Try a book for a change

🤳 No TikTok for you, chaval!

Move over, France and Australia! Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez needs a distraction win, so he has gone full sheriff on what he calls the “digital Wild West” and announced that Spain will ban minors under 16 from social media, forcing platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and X to implement effective age-verification systems.

• The news. Speaking Tuesday at the World Governments Summit in Dubai, Sánchez announced a package of five measures to regulate social media, including the ban on minors.

David, meet Goliath. Sánchez said the move targets Big Tech’s unchecked power, arguing that social networks have become a lawless “failed state” where hate speech, disinformation, harassment — even crimes — thrive. These companies, he warned, are now “richer and more powerful than many countries” (Spain included), with a dangerously outsized influence on society — especially on young people. (And honestly? On the kids part, he’s not wrong.)

• Not really new, though. Back in 2024, Spain’s cabinet already approved a draft bill that proposed raising the minimum age for opening a social media account from 14 to 16, and it’s currently making its way through Parliament.

• One step beyond. But Sánchez now wants to go further by inserting an explicit ban directly into that legislation and force platforms to implement enforceable age-verification systems to make the rule actually work. (He also wants you focused on the ban, not his party’s corruption scandals. But anyway…)

Eyebrows raised. Sánchez is pushing beyond regulation and into criminal law, with tech bros executives facing criminal liability if illegal or hateful content isn’t removed.

• New crime. Spain would also define “algorithm manipulation” as a crime when platforms deliberately amplify illegal content or disinformation for profit.

• We will control all that you see and hear. The government also wants a system to quantify and trace what Sánchez called the “fingerprint of hate and polarization”. The goal is to measure how platforms fuel division and toxic content and eventually use that data as the basis for sanctions. If you think this sounds eerily like censorship, you’re not alone. Some experts aren’t happy with this and call it “dangerous” because it could be used to clamp down on political dissidence.

You know who else isn’t happy? Europe. EU representatives told El Mundo that under the bloc’s Digital Services Act, Spain can set its own minimum age, but it cannot impose extra obligations or criminal liability that go beyond EU law — like jailing Elon Musk for lying.

What’s next? The big question is how any of this will actually work. Normally, Sánchez doesn’t command the votes to pass anything, but the PP has supported age limits, so that might not be a problem. If it were to pass, then comes another hurdle: the technical side is pretty messy.

• What counts as a social network? YouTube is apparently included. WhatsApp is not, since it’s classified as messaging.

• And how do you verify age without creating a surveillance state? Digital ID? Third-party certification? Facial recognition? Even experts aren’t sure what model Spain will land on. (In theory, the EU Digital Identity Wallet, due to be rolled out for all residents by the end of 2026, will provide a way to prove age.)

Here comes the opposition. Hint: People complained.

• Dude, that was mine. PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of stealing their idea, claiming conservatives proposed similar restrictions first and joking the government should “pay the copyright.” (Boomer humor.)

• And from the peanut gallery. Vox, meanwhile, went full Vox: Santiago Abascal mocked both PSOE and PP for fighting over “the patronage of censorship” and accused Sánchez of authoritarianism (no surprise that far-right Vox would stand up for the youths, given its popularity with young voters).

Enter the tech bros. Elon Musk, never one to miss an opportunity for feigning outrage on X, called Sánchez a “tyrant” and a “traitor”.

• “The Telegram Guy.” Then there was Telegram founder Pavel Durov, known for fathering over 100 children, who used his platform to warn all Spaniards to stay “vigilant,” suggesting that Spain could become a monitored state under the pretext of child protection.

• Bonus Cervantes reference! Sánchez responded last night on Twitter, saying: “Let the techno-oligarchs bark, Sancho, it’s a sign that we are riding on.” (That’s a variation of a quote falsely attributed to Don Quixote that’s used to say that if people are complaining, it means that you’re making progress.)

Stop freaking out. Sánchez insists this isn’t censorship, it’s governance. (Subtle difference, sometimes.) He also announced that Spain is teaming up with five other European countries in a “coalition of the digitally willing” (we don’t know who they are, but maybe Portugal?) to push stricter regulation, arguing this battle can’t be fought by one country alone.

• Dunno, but the last time Spain joined a Coalition of the Willing… (paging Iraq).

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🧪 Why top American scientists are choosing Spain

Spain has been busy recruiting top global scientific talent and it would like to thank that angry orange guy President Donald Trump for making it easier. The government has just confirmed that its flagship ATRAE program has put €38.9 million into recruiting 37 senior researchers with international profiles, and more than 80% of them are coming from abroad.

• Merkins. Twelve of them are American, and in a striking detail, 56.7% of all selected scientists currently work at U.S. research centers. Which suggests that Trumpland’s attacks on research funding may not be a big selling point.

• Operación clip. Spain is not just attracting foreigners (we do that all the time) but rather pulling a reverse Operation Paperclip and recruiting people out of the world’s most powerful science ecosystem. As they say, the U.S. is the new Germany.

Show us the 💰. Each researcher will receive around €1 million on average to set up a lab, build a team, and get to work in Spain, with more than half of them landing €1.1 million.

• Those coming specifically from the U.S. escaping the Orange Menace get an extra €200,000 on top. The funding runs for three to four years, and host institutions (universities, the CSIC, or other research centers) are required to offer job stabilization once the program ends. So it’s not a visiting fellowship, it’s pretty much a relocation package.

Democracy is cool here. Science Minister Diana Morant hasn’t been shy about the political framing. She’s described Spain as a “refuge of democratic and scientific values” at a moment when other countries are cutting science budgets, censoring research lines, and rolling back programs tied to climate and other awkward subjects.

• That message lands particularly hard in the U.S., where aggressive cuts and political pressure on universities have pushed many researchers to look for an exit. A Nature survey last year found that up to 75% of U.S. scientists had considered leaving.

Why this matters. It’s the first time in ATRAE’s three editions that international scientists massively outnumber Spanish ones. In 2023, not a single American applied. In 2024, they were 16% of the cohort. Now they’re nearly a third, and the biggest single national group.

• The researchers recruited will work across health, climate, food systems, advanced materials, digital tech, space sciences, and social sciences, with two-thirds spread across Catalonia and Madrid, and the rest going to Murcia, Galicia, the Basque Country, Valencia, and Andalucía.

These scientists are expected to train PhD students, hire postdocs, attract EU grants, raise the profile of Spanish research (which already has been making the news this week), and reposition the country as a serious scientific destination (something that until now has not been easy). Oh, and learn how to make a properly runny tortilla.

2. 🏥 Face/On at Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron hospital

While we’re talking about Spain being better at cutting-edge science than it lets on, here’s another subject for your dinner-party arsenal: Barcelona’s Hospital Vall d’Hebron is one of the world’s undisputed pioneers in face transplants. Yes, those face transplants, like from that John Travolta-swaps-faces-with-Nicolas Cage movie (google it, kids!) but the real “this changes a life forever” kind. And now, they’ve got an extraordinary (literally, beyond ordinary) new “first” to brag about.

• The subject. Carme (no apellido, by choice) lost the central part of her face after a bacterial infection caused catastrophic tissue necrosis, which is seriously gross. She couldn’t eat properly, struggled to breathe, and stopped leaving her house altogether.

• The reveal. Then, four months ago, Vall d’Hebron performed a highly complex partial face transplant that restored basic functions — speech, eating, breathing, sensation — and, slowly, a sense of self.

Here’s the medical-history footnote bit. The donor was a woman who had opted for euthanasia and explicitly chose to donate her face. It’s the first time anywhere in the world that a facial transplant has been carried out using tissue from a donor who received assisted dying. So, like, medicine meets an almost uncomfortable level of generosity.

• This for us is a big step forward from the old process. You know, performing experimental surgery where they literally remove Cage’s face and graft it onto Travolta, including skin, muscle, and apparently… the entire shape of the head; or buying a person from one of those “human farms” in Andorra. (Oh, wait, we’re definitely not meant to make jokes here. Note to self.)

But seriously, face transplants themselves are still rare and pretty damn impressive. Since the first one was performed 20 years ago — a partial transplant on Isabelle Dinoire in Amiens, France — just 54 have been carried out worldwide. Spain accounts for six. Vall d’Hebron alone has done three. ❤️‍🔥

• Hitting the big time. In 2010, the Barcelona hospital made global headlines by performing the world’s first full face transplant. In 2015, it pulled off another first, using a donor in controlled cardiac death. This latest case adds a new chapter to a field that is still considered experimental, controversial, and ethically delicate — but also transformative for patients’ lives in the most intense way.

• These surgeries are marathon affairs. They take 15 to 24 hours, and involve around 100 professionals (no amateurs!), and the transplantation of skin, muscle, nerves, bone, and blood vessels using ultra-fine micro-surgery. The goal isn’t cosmetic. In the words of Dr. Joan-Pere Barrets, the surgeon who led Carme’s procedure, “A face that doesn’t move or feel is nothing more than a mask.”

A new life. Carme now drinks coffee, talks, laughs (she says it still sounds a bit strange), and goes out without fear. “Every day I look in the mirror,” she says, “and tell myself I look more and more like me.”

3. ⛔ Jeffrey Epstein really loved Barcelona

Spain is so great that pretty much everyone falls in love on a good visit. And that includes bad people. Like really, really bad people. Jeffrey Epstein-level bad. Actually, the disgraced financier and convicted sex offender™ himself loved Barcelona. For the marisquerías. And, according to the newly unsealed U.S. Justice Department Epstein Files database, for the girls he found there.

• A lot of them. But more on that in a sec.

We have a match (or many). When the Epstein Files were dumped online last week, internet Clouseaus sleuths with an interest in the Ciudad Condal noticed that if you searched the database for “Barcelona”, you got more than 1,100 hits. 🤔

• Jeffrey’s happy place. You see, after a 2009 visit, the Catalan capital became one of Epstein’s favorite European pit stops — a place he described in emails as “fun,” and later, more memorably, as a city whose “moans” he could still hear days later while sitting in Dubai.

• Yes. Gross.

Epstein’s Barcelona years follow a familiar pattern. He flew in regularly, stayed in luxury hotels (by 2018, he was asking to be booked only at the Hotel W Barcelona, natch), and ate his way through the city’s greatest hits: Bocanegra, Elsa y Fred, Flax & Kale (okay, maybe not a greatest hit), Soho House, Ohla’s terrace. (Rope bondage classes were mentioned, too.)

• And there was culture too! There’s a Picasso Museum charge among his receipts, presumably squeezed in between oysters and… networking.

Yeah, networking. For good old Jeff, Barcelona wasn’t just a food-and-fun stop. It was operational.

• Epstein signed up at IQ Elite, a Barcelona-based dating agency on Gran de Gràcia dedicated to matching “intelligent, sophisticated singles.” This was very on-brand. In the U.S., Epstein notoriously posed as a benefactor offering mentorship and education. Because posing as a disgraced financier and convicted sex offender™ is not a good look.

And then there’s the “assistant”. At one point, emails show Epstein was arranging to fly a “possible new assistant” from Barcelona to Miami in early 2017. Her paperwork was handled, and ESTA forms were filled out. His assistant and pilot coordinated the invite. What happened next is unclear. We shudder to think.

• And now the even sleezier part. Epstein had a local fixer.

Enter Daniel Siad, a Paris-based photographer and self-styled model scout who relocated to Barcelona around 2016. His job, according to messages, was simple: find young women, photograph them, send Epstein the images, report back. Siad bragged about having “models camping” in his 35m² flat (which is crazy small for a campout, no?), praised Barcelona as “much safer than Paris” for his sleazy work with Epstein, and ran rolling castings.

• Epstein reviewed photos. He asked about the ages of the models, whether they looked younger, paid some, made sorta grody demands for more explicit material a la “could you move the camera lower so I can see between your legs,” and seems to have had sex with a few. Like we said. Gross.

Barcelona was not the only apple in Epstein’s eye! During his Spain tours, Epstein took a liking to real estate and, in 2016, inquired about buying a famed Mallorca estate: Michael Douglas’s finca, s’Estaca. 🤦

4. 🏈 The NFL ♥️ Madrid

Remember when the NFL came to town in November? Close to 80,000 people packed the Bernabéu stadium to watch two mediocre 3-7 teams (at least according to the only person in The Bubble’s newsroom that follows American football) play a sport that few of those in the stands understood, while chaos reigned outside, with cheerleaders, live bands, and Dolphins dancers competing with flamenco performers (⁉️).

• The Americans in attendance? They drank the Bernabéu dry, with beer and food running out at several stands (“They weren’t ready for how much we consume,” an American fan named Jack explained, helpfully).

And you know what? Everybody had a fantastic time. So much so that even before the game, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell told Spanish media, “We will be back, we are excited.” ✳️ (more below)

• Roger did not lie. The NFL, along with Real Madrid and city and regional governments announced Monday that the NFL would be playing another game in the Bernabéu in 2026 as part of a multiyear deal that seems to include a game there in 2027 as well (as yet unannounced). The Chicago Bears are supposed to be one of the teams this year, and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2027.

Will there be any games left in the U.S.?! The Madrid game is part of the NFL’s expansion strategy, which during the 2026/7 season will also include games in Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, London, and Munich. Dublin and Mexico City are expected to be added too, pending confirmation.

• We are looking forward to the new tradition. We plan to be there like last year, interviewing some of the players beforehand about what they think of Madrid and why it’s called football when it's mostly played with their hands. Though this year, we wouldn’t mind a few tickets to the actual game. Remember us, eh, Isa, Pepito?

✳️ Roger Goodell has said others things too. Like on Monday, the day the NFL announced the new Madrid games, he was definitely less excited to tell reporters the league would “absolutely” be looking into the communications between New York Giants co-owner Steve Tisch and Jeffrey Epstein, after Tisch’s name appeared in the recent dump of the Epstein files a reported 440+ times. Epstein apparently, um, contacted women for Tisch. We’ll leave it at that.

5. 🏌️ That Seve Ballesteros mystery you didn’t know about has been solved

If you’re not Spanish, a golfer, or Gen X (or older), there’s a decent chance the name Seve Ballesteros doesn’t immediately ring a bell. So, a quick primer. Seve — full name Severiano — was Spain’s first global golf superstar: a former world No. 1, winner of 90 international tournaments, including five majors, and the man who made golf feel rebellious, creative, and slightly dangerous. In Spain, he was basically the Rafa Nadal of golf. He died in 2011, aged just 54, after a long fight with brain cancer.

• Things got awkward earlier this month in Pedreña, his tiny Cantabrian hometown of 1,300 people.

Where’s Seve? Sometime between Jan. 18 and 19, a life-size bronze statue of Seve — frozen mid-celebration after his iconic 1984 Open win at St Andrews — vanished from the park beside the golf club where he learned how to play. Not toppled. Not vandalized. Just gone. Cue “indignation, disbelief, and sadness,” in the words of the mayor.

The theory from day one was theft. The statue weighed over 100 kilos and was worth about €30,000 — though its sentimental value was far higher. Police suspected the worst — that it had been stolen for scrap, chopped up, and sold off as bronze (value: about €400).

• Which, sadly, turned out to be almost exactly right.

Last week, the Guardia Civil found Seve in pieces in a storage unit in Santander, cut cleanly at the waist, arms broken off, ready to be sold to metal recyclers. A 22-year-old man with a record for copper theft was arrested, and investigators aren’t ruling out accomplices. (Because, again, bronze Seve weighed 100 kilos.)

• The good news? Seve will rise again.

The statue’s sculptor, Salvador García Ceballos, says Seve can be restored. Slowly, painstakingly, using the original molds, fitting the pieces back together “like a puzzle.” Some parts will need to be re-cast. Others can be saved. It won’t be quick.

• But it will be Seve. That is, in bronze.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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Spain rolls the dice

🗽 The Sánchez government decreed the largest migrant regularization since, like, ever

Out of the blue. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government just announced the largest migrant regularization in modern Spanish history — by decree, without a parliamentary vote, and right when his coalition most needs a win. More on that in a minute.

• What’s the dealio? After its cabinet meeting Tuesday, the government’s spokeswoman Elma Saiz announced that the government had issued a Royal Decree that would allow undocumented/illegal immigrants who had lived in Spain for at least five months as of Dec. 31, 2025, and have no criminal record, to apply for a renewable one-year residency permit. Applications open between April and June. Estimates of the number of irregular immigrants in Spain run from 500,000 to 1m, with the think tank Funcas pegging it at 840,000.

Government all smiles. Saiz called the move “a historic day for our country,” saying it would benefit workers by granting rights and companies by providing legal certainty.

• The church, too, is a big fan. The Catholic Church was a major proponent of a 2021 Popular Legislative Initiative (ILP) — a kind of non-binding request for legislation — that collected 700,000 signatures backing a regularization.

• That initiative made it to Congress, but has spent 18 months in turnaround. So for the church, the end-run around Congress (which doesn’t get to vote because of the rules under which it was decreed) was “good news” that helps immigrants “working, participating in schools… and sometimes barely surviving among us,” the president of the Spanish Episcopal Conference, Archbishop Luis Argüello, told El País.

What a surprise! Yeah, you guessed it, the opposition was not so pleased. Alberto Nunez Feijóo, leader of the center-right PP, which is trying to fight off pressure from the far-right Vox, said Sánchez was using the regularization to distract people from last week’s fatal train disaster and that he would try to stop it because it “violated” Europe’s migration pact. And anyway, “In socialist Spain, illegality is rewarded.”

• And Vox? Well, it went all Great Replacement Theory: “The tyrant Sánchez hates the Spanish people,” party boss Santiago Abascal wrote on X. “He wants to replace them. That’s why he aims to…accelerate the invasion. It must be stopped. Repatriations, deportations, and remigration.” 😱

• International immigration dilettante Elon Musk also weighed in on Spain's regularization. Thaaaanks, Elon.

But this isn’t purely a left-right fight. Spaniards have some of the most positive views on immigration in Europe, and both PSOE- and PP-led governments have approved mass regularizations in the past — nine in total — covering more than 1 million people.

What else is going on here? Coalition politics (and, yes, like Feijóo said, a little distraction).

• The Sánchez government would very much like to talk about almost anything other than the fatal train crashes in Andalucía and Catalonia, which occurred under its watch (Sánchez has been in power since 2018), especially considering the attacks it has received from victims’ families and some political allies.

Let’s keep the family together. Equally as important, pushing through the regularization gives Sánchez the chance to bring some one-time allies back into the fold.

• First, Podemos. The once-important hard left party broke with Sumar, the coalition partner of Sánchez’s PSOE, back in 2023, and has drifted further away ever since. One thing they’ve long wanted? A massive regularization.

• Then, Junts. The right-leaning Catalan separatist party voted to reinstall Sánchez as PM back in 2023, but has since broken with him over promises he made but has not kept. One of those promises? Transferring control over immigration to the Catalan government (which, in theory, would let regional officials control who gets residency in Catalonia, and demand that they learn Catalan to get it).

Chocolate and peanut butter. Sánchez saw a way to fix the two problems by combining them. Reportedly, Sánchez offered Podemos the regularization in exchange for backing Junts’ bid to oversee — and potentially limit — immigration in Catalonia.

• Irony alert. This means the pro-immigration lefties would be helping Junts outflank its rivals on the far-right, the anti-immigrant Catalan separatist party Aliança Catalana, by limiting the arrival of immigrants. So much for open borders.

It’s okay to feel conflicted about all this. It’s possible to support regularization for people who’ve built lives here and still have questions about how this was done.

• Because? Using a generous legal interpretation to avoid a parliamentary vote opens the door to court challenges. Rolling out the largest regularization in contemporary Spanish history could also irritate EU partners. And then there’s the question no one has really answered: why five months? Why not six — or several years — if the goal is to reward commitment?

Thoughts, dear reader?

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 😡 Spain honors train crash victims as families slam government

We still don’t have confirmation on what caused the Adamuz rail disaster of Jan. 18, but the leading hypothesis behind it is a failure in the track itself, specifically the fracture of a welded joint just before the Iryo train passed.

• Broken rail. Preliminary findings of the Commission for the Investigation of Railway Accidents (CIAF) held that one rail appears to have broken before the crash, causing the rear carriages of the Iryo to derail, cross onto the adjacent track, and collide with an oncoming Alvia train.

• Investigators believe the weak point was not the rail as such, but the weld connecting two rails of very different ages, one manufactured in 1989 and another produced in 2023.

• The broken rail had been installed only months before the accident, but it was welded to an older section dating back to the original Madrid–Seville high-speed line (something that’s common practice, it seems).

Experts suspect a defect in that weld may not have been detected during inspections, something that will only be confirmed once metallurgical analyses and the welding records are fully examined.

If this hypothesis is confirmed, responsibility would fall primarily on Adif, the public body that manages Spain’s rail infrastructure.

• That would not necessarily imply a single error, but rather a chain of decisions involving track renewal criteria, welding execution, and inspection protocols.

• The Transport Ministry insists the line had passed all required checks, but the investigation is now questioning why some sections of the line were renewed, and others were not, and whether maintenance standards should have been stricter in high-risk areas such as welds close to switches.

Politically, the case is now moving into the parliamentary arena. Transport Minister Óscar Puente is due to testify today to explain the government’s position and the state of the investigation, while PM Sánchez will address the issue in Parliament on Feb. 11.

State funeral. Spain will hold a state-level funeral in Huelva to honor the victims, with King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia confirmed to attend. After the government’s initial plan for a secular state ceremony collapsed amid backlash, the tribute will take the form of a large religious service, organized by the Church and expected to draw a massive crowd.

• The event is very controversial among victims’ families, many of whom have openly rejected any government presence, accusing public authorities of bearing responsibility for the disaster.

• Several relatives refused to attend a state funeral precisely because ministers would be there, arguing that official tributes amount to “photo ops” rather than accountability.

• However, the King’s presence forces the government to be present (because of protocol), and Finance Minister María Jesús Montero will attend on behalf of the executive, alongside a limited and still not fully defined delegation.

Expect tension as private grief and public politics collide. If the first contact between government officials and the families of the Dana storm victims is any guide, there will be heckling and anger.

2. ⚖️ Spain shelves complaint against Julio Iglesias

Julio Iglesias is probably happy. Spain’s National High Court closed a criminal complaint against the pop music legend after the state prosecutor concluded that Spanish courts do not have jurisdiction to investigate sexual assault allegations about events that reportedly took place in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

• This means the case will not move forward in Spain, at least for now. However, it does not settle whether the alleged crimes happened or not. It is a procedural closure, not an acquittal.

Let’s recap. The complaint was filed in early January by the NGO Women’s Link Worldwide, with the support of Amnesty International, on behalf of two women who worked in Iglesias’ home in Punta Cana and whose story was the subject of a joint investigation by El Diario and Univision Noticias (we covered it here).

• Strong allegations. One woman said she was pressured into sex, the other reported unwanted touching and a hostile working environment.

• The NGOs brought the case to Spain, arguing that Iglesias’s citizenship and Spain’s international commitments on trafficking and gender violence should allow Spanish authorities to investigate.

The prosecutor disagreed. In its seven-page resolution, it argued that Iglesias does not live or work in Spain, the women are not Spanish and have never traveled to Spain with him, and the alleged crimes would have taken place entirely abroad.

• Local rules. Under Spain’s rules, prosecutors said, the country can only investigate crimes committed outside its borders if there are strong links to Spain, or if the country where the events happened is unwilling or unable to act.

• Dominican and Bahamian authorities have not signaled that they are renouncing jurisdiction or that they cannot investigate. The prosecutor also stressed that Spanish law on extraterritoriality has been narrowed since 2014, subjecting universal jurisdiction in such cases to strict conditions.

Julio's team hit back. Iglesias has denied the accusations from the beginning and criticized the two accusers on social media. Now, his lawyer has suggested in a legal filing that the singer could file suit against the women for making “false accusations.”

• Bad call? Women’s Link and Amnesty International called the decision “lamentable” and said the court wasted an opportunity to investigate serious conduct involving a Spanish national. They also complained that prosecutors made their decision quickly and did not answer filings that backed Spain’s ability to take the case.

• This isn't over. The women say they will continue the fight and are exploring legal options. The NGOs can still try to file a formal criminal complaint directly at the National High Court, though it would face the same jurisdictional hurdle. Or, more likely, they could push the Dominican Republic or the Bahamas to act.

Antonio Banderas (aka Tony Flags) chimes in. During a swing through Madrid to promote his new production of 'Godspell', Melanie Griffith's ex-husband cautioned against condemning Iglesias until the courts rule on his guilt: “You have to be very careful,” he said. “Once the mud stains a person, some always remains.”

3. 🏆 Spain wins Europe’s unemployment booby prize!

We’ve got good news and bad news. The good news? Spain’s unemployment rate fell to its lowest since 2008. 🥳The bad news? It’s still just shy of 10%. 🫣

• A stats recap. Unemployment fell 0.52 points to 9.93% during the fourth quarter of 2025, the first time it’s been below 10% since early 2008. (Remember 2008? That was when the shit hit the fan global financial crisis sent joblessness soaring.) What’s more, Spain added 605,400 employed workers in 2025, to hit a record of 22.46m, making it the EU country that has added the most new jobs recently. That left 2.48m people without work, and youth unemployment (<25) at “only” 23%, the lowest figures since 2008. Those stats are all undeniably good news.

• But, but, but… Spain is still nowhere near the “gifted and talented” group when it comes to unemployment. It, in fact, has one of the highest unemployment rates in the EU, beating even Greece (barely 8%) and running neck-and-neck with surprise rival Finland. The overall EU rate? 6%. So, like, we’re #1! Maybe?

What’s really going on? Start with the positives. For one thing, immigration. Spain has seen a huge inflow of immigrants in recent years, and they accounted for about 43% of the new jobs in 2025. Second, a construction boom to build all the new homes Spain desperately needs. The country added 79,500 construction jobs last year, not far behind the biggest sector, manufacturing, which added 96,500.

Then why is unemployment still so high? If you listen to economists, they’ll talk about “structural” reasons for the persistently elevated rate — because, sin pelos en la lengua, Spain’s unemployment has rarely dropped below 8% since the 1980s.

• Wrong training and seasonal jobs. Spanish education and training systems often don’t train people for the jobs that actually exist, meaning businesses can’t find the right workers. And many of the jobs that do exist are project-based or seasonal — think hospitality and construction — meaning workers cycle on and off unemployment.

• Spain’s employment laws are rigid, which makes layoffs difficult and expensive — and discourages companies from hiring in the first place.

• Then there’s the “tax wedge”. That’s the percentage of the total cost of employing someone that goes to taxes (both business and employee contributions). Spain’s is 40.6%, according to the OECD, versus an OECD average of 34.9% and 30.1% in the U.S.

Those last two reasons make hiring more expensive (and less attractive). They also make it more tempting for people to work under the table, avoiding taxes and, sometimes, showing up in the stats as unemployed. That’s a reason Spain has one of the EU’s largest underground economies as a share of GDP. (Want more? See our deep dive on why everyone hates Spain’s tax man.)

4. 🌨️ Snowstorm turns Madrid into a chaotic, beautiful winter wonderland

Madrid got a dose of winter chaos yesterday morning when a fast-moving snow monster caught the city (and country) by surprise. The snowfall wasn’t really epic in volume but it was heavy enough in some Madrid districts to activate Madrid’s Winter Emergency Plan (quick, dive under a bed!), shut down parks, deploy salt trucks, slow down commuters, delay people’s caña plans, and make the city look beautiful and unprepared at the same time.

• The snow was part of the Kristin Storm Front, which sounds like a revolutionary terrorist organization but is really a complex Atlantic system that brought rain, wind, and cold air to most of the country.

• In Madrid, 5,600 workers were sent out to salt streets, clear crossings, and keep public transport operational. Parks like El Retiro, Juan Carlos I, and Parque del Oeste were closed for safety, and there were intermittent closures of tunnels and access roads around town. Universities also canceled morning classes, and plenty of work meetings, appointments, and deliveries simply evaporated.

Not so fun now, is it? Outside Madrid, Kristin’s footprint was far more serious. Andalucía was hit by torrential rain and hurricane-force winds, forcing the closure of schools in 77 municipalities, mass power outages affecting more than 170,000 people, evacuations in Cádiz due to rising rivers, and widespread road disruptions. Apocalypse? Now.

• The storm created transport headaches across the peninsula. A runway was temporarily closed at Barajas, several rail lines were suspended in Andalucía due to fallen trees and flooding, and the traffic overlords issued chain requirements and road closures in Ávila, Segovia, and Cáceres. Oh, and Extremadura — which, like Teruel, also exists — suspended classes and activated its regional flood emergency plan as rivers swelled and winds topped 90 km/h.

Sorry not sorry. But here’s the thing about Madrid and snow: we secretly love it. The last truly historic snow event (Filomena in 2021) dumped more than half a meter of snow on the capital, paralyzing it for days.

• You weren’t here? It was bad. Or good. Cars disappeared under snowdrifts, supermarkets ran out of food, and the airport shut down. It was a clusterfuck infrastructure disaster (Why? Because Madrid had like, three snowplows because it never gets snow). But it was also magical.

• People skied down Gran Vía (literally), kids built snowmen in Cibeles, and Instagram had its golden age. For many Madrileños, that memory turned snow from a nuisance into something oddly nostalgic. So when the flakes start falling, the city gets excited.

And more fun is coming soon! Tomorrow brings a brief lull, with weaker rain in the south and center, but expect continued wind in the east and north. If you’re traveling this weekend, expect typical “borrasca mode”: rain in Galicia and Castilla y León, snow above 700–1,000 meters in northern mountains, and yet another Atlantic front on Sunday. Is Spring almost here? Please?

5.🐂 The government wants to ban minors from bullfights

Hold on to your butts! Spain is reopening one of its rawest scabs most symbolic cultural debates.

• The Ministry of Youth and Childhood has proposed a legal reform that would ban minors from attending or participating in events where violence is committed against animals. Ring a bell? The category includes bullfighting.

• The change is being introduced as part of the expansion of LOPIVI, the omnibus law that covers the protection of children and adolescents against violence, and it comes after years of pressure from the United Nations.

• The trigger? During the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child’s latest review of Spain, Spanish officials were asked directly why the country had not acted on a recommendation issued back in 2018, urging the state to “prohibit the attendance of minors” at bullfights to “prevent harmful effects on children.”

Enter the right. The opposition sees it differently, and the reaction has been predictably polarized. The Partido Popular and Vox frame the proposal as an ideological attack on a constitutionally protected cultural tradition (i.e., on “something Spaniards do”).

• Today, minors are legally allowed to attend bullfights in Spain, and restrictions are set at the regional level (some communities enforce age limits or school-related guidance; others do nothing).

• The new proposal would flip that model. Instead of regional discretion, there would be a uniform national prohibition written into a child protection law.

If the Council of Ministers (aka the Cabinet) approves it, it will move through the legislative process. There’s no guarantee of passing, though.

• Why? The proposal could be softened, delayed, or blocked depending on how aggressively the opposition fights it and — more importantly — how the PSOE positions itself. Inside the party, there is no single unified view of bullfighting and whether it’s a valuable cultural expression or just a terrible thing.

The proposal has reignited a familiar Spanish question. That is, how far should the state go when tradition and rights collide, and what happens when the world is watching?

• Parts of the Spanish media have, over the past year, pushed the idea that young people were flocking back to the bullring, because apparently, there had been an uptick in fan content on Instagram.

• But that story doesn’t hold up when set against the broader data. Attendance at bullfights has been plunging for years, ticket sales are down roughly a fifth compared to the previous decade, and cultural surveys consistently show the sector as one of the few in clear decline.

Going, going… The supposed “youth revival” of bullfights looks more like an anecdotal blip than a real demographic shift. And if this reform passes, that blip would shrink to a blipita.

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We still don’t know what really happened

🛤️ A deadly train collision in Andalucía leaves Spain in mourning

Spain faced a tragedy this week that it hoped never to relive. Less than 13 years after Spain watched, forlorn, as 79 passengers died in a high-speed train derailment in Galicia, the country is again mourning dozens of victims. On Sunday night, a speeding southbound train slammed into a northbound train whose last two cars had derailed and slid across the tracks just outside the Andalusian town of Adamuz.

This new tragedy is brutal. Shortly after the crash around 7:45 p.m., reports began to filter in of a ‘Dantesque’ scene at the crash site, with bodies torn in two, survivors wandering aimlessly ‘like zombies’, and others screaming from inside the wreckage. The two high-speed trains together had been carrying close to 500 people.

• The slow drip of bad news. Early reports pegged the death toll at 19, but the number climbed through the night and into the following days as emergency workers cut open mangled train cars to recover the dead. Families searched hospitals for missing relatives, filling the news vacuum with dread.

• Each tale was uniquely devastating. Six-year-old Cristina, who’d traveled with her family to Madrid to see El Rey León as a King’s Day gift, was the only survivor, losing her mother, father, brother, and cousin. Another family from Lepe (Huelva), whose 27-year-old daughter was in the first row of the speeding southbound train, refused to believe she was dead even after their city hall sent condolences. As of last night, there were 43 confirmed deaths, and the Guardia Civil said two bodies remained in the wreckage.

But what caused the crash? Unlike the crash in Galicia 13 years ago, which was immediately blamed on the professional recklessness of a train engineer driving at twice the posted limit, the cause of Sunday’s crash was not obvious. Transport Minister Óscar Puente spoke for many when he defined the crash as “strange, odd, and difficult to explain.”

• Some causes were quickly ruled out. Like human error. The crash occurred on a flat straightaway, at speeds well below the 250 km/h limit, and the drivers had no time to react. And the gear looked good: The track had just undergone a €700m renovation, and the derailed Iryo train was less than four years old and inspected days earlier.

• But there are clues. Investigators soon identified a gap in the track where the rails had separated. According to El Español, the joint appeared to have been welded manually, a less secure method; Reuters reported that the gap may have existed for some time and widened gradually. Transport Minister Óscar Puente cautioned that “no technician is yet able to say whether [the gap] is a cause or a consequence” of the derailment.

• And then there’s the bogie. Several days after the crash, one of the Iryo train’s bogies — the wheel assemblies that connect a train to the track — was discovered in a nearby creek. (Whether it was found by a wandering New York Times photographer or Guardia Civil investigators is, um, unclear.) Its presence far from the wreck raises a disturbing question: did it fly off in the crash, or cause the derailment by detaching at high speed?

• A working hypothesis. Investigators are far from declaring a cause, but the gap in the track, the missing bogie, and reports of wheel gouges on earlier trains point to a possibility: that the gap widened over time as trains passed, scratching their wheels, until it caught the final train’s bogie hard enough to derail the train — and send the bogie flying. But let’s be clear: this remains unproven.

Adults in the room. In the hours after the crash, Spanish politics did something it almost never does anymore: it shut up. Parliament, the Senate, regional assemblies, and party headquarters all observed minutes of silence. For a country locked in permanent trench warfare, it briefly felt like a ceasefire.

• Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez scrapped his Monday schedule, flew to Córdoba, and declared three days of national mourning.

• PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo echoed the tone, telling Sánchez by WhatsApp to postpone a long-awaited meeting (their first in 10 months) because “nothing was more urgent now than attending to the victims.”

• The only major leader who broke the unofficial truce? Far-right Vox’s Santiago Abascal, who mixed condolences with an attack against the government. Still, he eased off a bit. 🤷

But as shock gave way to anger and early technical details leaked — the gap in the rails, the missing bogie, questions about inspections — politicians from Vox and the PP began pointing fingers, especially at Puente. The government responded by calling Vox leader Santiago Abascal “vile and inhuman.”

• Well, it was nice while it lasted. The ceasefire lasted about 48 hours.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🙌 Catalonia’s president is not dead! (But he’s sick with something weird)

The news out of Catalonia Saturday was the kind of stuff that makes you think the zombie apocalypse has begun. Regional president Salvador Illa was whisked by ambulance to the emergency room of Barcelona’s Vall d’Hebron Hospital, suffering severe pain and loss of strength in his legs.

• He had tried to run in the morning, then participated in an institutional event, but the pain got so bad he couldn’t go on. No one knew the cause. All the doctors would say was that it was not a stroke. Our first thought: He’s going to start biting people. 🧟

• But Illa didn’t die and come back to life (or bite anyone, thankfully), so we — and Spain’s medical establishment — had to look for a serious diagnosis.

48 hours passed. Initial tests ruled out “serious” pathologies, like a stroke, a tumor, or a vascular problem. But as of early Monday, hospital officials were still only talking vaguely about an “inflammatory process.” Which is…sorta helpful?

Then came the diagnosis. On Monday evening, doctors said tests showed Illa suffered an osteomyelitis of the pubic symphysis caused by Streptococcus dysgalactiae. In simple English, that means a bacterial infection of the joint that connects the left and right pubic bones at the front of the pelvis.

• But really, it’s grosser than that. We looked this up, and the Cleveland Clinic says osteomyelitis is a serious infection where bacteria invade your bone marrow 😱, often spreading through your bloodstream from a wound on your skin.

• And Streptococcus dysgalactiae! It turns out that Battlestrep Galactica (our nickname) can cause everything from skin infections to necrotizing fasciitis — aka flesh-eating disease. So maybe Illa isn’t a zombie…but has a zombie in him! 🧟

The good news? Illa is responding well to treatment (lots of antibiotics) for what his doctors call “a very rare disease”. His fever is gone, his pain has eased, and he’s left the ICU — though he is expected to remain in the hospital for at least two weeks to fully recover. His deputy Albert Dalmau will handle his functions in the meantime.

• We’re glad to hear his prognosis is good. But we wouldn’t be surprised if he bit someone.

2. 👸🏻 Irene de Grecia, Queen Sofia’s baby sister, dies at 83

Irene de Grecia (Irene of Greece), the inseparable sister of Queen Sofía (mother of the current King of Spain, Felipe VI), died in Madrid last week. She was 83.

Wait… who? If her name doesn’t ring immediate bells, it should. She was one of the most singular royals of Europe.

• She was the daughter, sister, and aunt of kings — and yet chose a quiet life in Madrid, far from palaces or protocol.

• To her Borbón grandchildren, she wasn’t “Her Royal Highness,” but simply Aunt Pecu — short for Peculiar, a nickname earned by being, yes, delightfully eccentric.

• Aunt Pecu’s health had deteriorated sharply in recent months, and Queen Sofía cancelled her entire agenda to remain by her sister’s side at Zarzuela Palace.

Farewell in Madrid. Her funeral rites began in Madrid, where she had lived since the 1980s. A private funerary chapel was set up inside the Zarzuela palace (which is pretty rare), followed by a service on Saturday at the Iglesia Ortodoxa Griega de San Andrés y San Demetrio.

• Queen Sofía looked visibly devastated. Her bond with Irene was legendary: the sisters shared homes, summers in Mallorca, holidays around the world, and a companionship that lasted more than 80 years.

Who showed up (and who didn’t). The Madrid funeral brought together almost the entire Spanish royal family… except, notably, Juan Carlos I, whose doctors advised him not to travel to either ceremony because of the physical strain.

• His absence was widely noted. It would have been his first reunion in years with his granddaughters Leonor and Sofía, who did attend to support their grandmother.

Final goodbye in Athens. On Sunday, Irene’s body was flown to Greece for her public farewell. The Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens held a packed funeral on Monday, after a morning wake that allowed ordinary Athenians to pay their respects.

• The coffin, draped in the Greek flag and surrounded by wildflowers from the Aegean, was carried in by members of the Greek royal family.

• The Spanish royals occupied the front pews. Queen Sofía, the infantas, several grandchildren, and later King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia, who flew in briefly despite the unfolding rail tragedy in Córdoba.

As Irene wished, she was buried in the Royal Cemetery of Tatoi, next to her parents and her brother Constantino.

A life stranger than Netflix fiction. Irene de Grecia lived one of the most unusual lives in European royalty.

• Born in exile in South Africa during WWII, she grew up between Egypt, Greece, India, and Italy, trained as a pianist, studied archaeology, embraced Hindu spirituality, practiced philanthropy, fought for animal rights, and was famously fascinated by ufology and the paranormal.

• She never married, never took on official duties, and never chased titles; she simply chose a life of curiosity, independence, and family.

In both Madrid and Athens, this week felt like the end of a chapter of modern royal history, one written by a peculiar royal who never quite behaved like one.

3. ✝️ Attention, sinners! The Pope is coming to the Bernabéu this summer

Have you noticed church ladies looking unusually joyful these last few days? Here’s why: the Pope is coming to Spain, and the Vatican is quietly preparing one of the most ambitious papal trips in recent memory, including a massive stadium event at the Santiago Bernabéu. Popealooza, here we go.

• The visit is slated for early June, with Madrid as the grand opener (apparently from June 6-9), followed by Barcelona and the Canary Islands, before León XIV flies back to Rome around June 12.

The schedule isn’t fully confirmed (the Holy See moves at Vatican speed), but here’s what it’s looking like:

• Madrid: reception at Barajas, meeting with the King and Queen at Zarzuela Palace, a pastoral stop at Cáritas, an academic event in El Escorial… and the headline act: a giant youth vigil at the Bernabéu. The date being floated for the stadium is June 6 or 7, aligned with the Feast of Corpus Christi, which tracks: Spain is Catholic, Corpus is huge, and football stadiums already know how to move 80,000 humans through metal detectors.

• Barcelona: the trip will orbit the Sagrada Familia (obvi), coinciding with the centenary of Gaudí’s death and the inauguration of the Torre de Jesucristo, the basilica’s tallest tower (finally!). Expect heavy symbolism, lots of cameras, and probably some political drama.

• Canary Islands: the Pope wants to visit frontline migration hubs in person; something Pope Francis said he wanted to do before dying, so the trip may include meetings with migrants and local pastoral workers.

Why this matters (even if you’re a heathen not Catholic). Spain may feel increasingly secular, but it’s still the world’s fourth-largest Catholic country and one of the Vatican’s biggest historical arenas.

• The last time a pope did an official visit here was Benedict XVI in 2011 for World Youth Day, when Madrid briefly turned into a Catholic Coachella.

• And if you’re old enough, you might remember John Paul II filling the Bernabéu in 1982 in a Cold War-era mega-mass.

So yeah, in a country where football is a religion, this is as on-brand as it gets.

Logistically, the whole visit will probably be a nightmare. But symbolically, it puts Spain back on the Vatican’s top tier after a 15-year absence.

• We’ll update once Rome makes it official.

4. 🏘️ Ever wonder why it’s so hard to crack down on illegal Airbnbs?

@lavanguardiaUna trama ilegal que involucra hasta 220 pisos turísticos en Barcelona. Luis Benvenuty, periodista de La Vanguardia, explica la complejidad de un caso que mueve al extranjero cientos de miles de euros. #pisosturísticos #Airbnb #Barcelona

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The Spanish government has made a lot of noise about how it’s fining the hell out of Airbnb for publishing unlicensed listings, and Barcelona has gone nuclear, pledging to ban all tourist apartment rentals by 2028. Now, we’re not entirely convinced that banishing tourist rentals will magically solve Spain’s urban housing shortage, but the reality is we don’t know if it would work…because illegal rentals keep multiplying like cockroaches with law degrees.

• Don’t believe us? Let us tell you a story from this week.

The Italians are coming. Allegedly. In Barcelona’s Eixample, a group of enterprising (allegedly Italian) tenants quietly built an entire secret bathroom inside a rented flat — no permits, no shame — to transform ordinary bedrooms into €150-a-night “luxury suites.” Doors were sealed, new ones hacked open, and voilà: a boutique hotel hidden inside a perfectly respectable apartment.

• Wait, that’s my house. The owner only figured it out after spotting her own floors and ceilings in Airbnb photos… plus a bathroom that, inconveniently, did not exist when she bought the place. She booked the listing herself and found the surprise loo right where the washing machine used to live. (Barcelona: city of Gaudí, butifarra, and clandestine plumbing.) Oh, and when she called the tenants on what they’d done? They threatened her with legal action. In Italy. And Spain.

And this, inspectors say, is not their first rodeo. The same kind of networks operate high-end flats across the city — Eixample, Diagonal, Passeig de Gràcia — often renting them under the pretext of housing “athletes” or “employees” of vaguely defined sports clubs. When caught, they stop paying rent, lawyer up, claim the protections offered to so-called “vulnerable” tenants, and drag evictions out for years while the tourists keep rolling in.

• New twist? AI. Listings now use AI-generated images so inspectors can’t use views from the windows to identify the address. Guests are choreographed like SEAL Team 6: arrive by taxi, text five minutes before, never loiter in the portal with a suitcase. No wandering tourists, no awkward questions from neighbors, no evidence. Just money. 🤑

Shouldn’t they be scared of The Man? Naaaah. The fines are €60,000 a pop, but the profits are way higher. Which is why City Hall, lawyers, and inspectors are all saying that this isn’t a housing violation problem anymore, but organized, professional fraud dressed like a realtor.

• Apartur, the lobby for legal tourist apartments, of all people, says that there are more than 3,000 illegal room rentals in Barcelona alone. Cockroaches. With law degrees. That’s why illegal Airbnbs are so hard to stamp out.

5.👺 Spain got a new duende in town — and it's got huge teeth

You, of course, know that in Spain, duende has two meanings. One is folkloric: a mischievous goblin, elf, or general agent of household chaos. The other is sacred. In art (especially flamenco) it’s that dark, electric force that turns performance into something like possession and takes us to terrifying places we might otherwise avoid. As Spain’s über-poet Federico García Lorca put it, “The duende doesn’t show up unless death is in the room.”

• Well. Spain now has a third kind of duende, and it looks like it’s also here for death: the tiburón duende. Yes. The goblin shark.

Researchers at the Universidad de La Laguna (Tenerife) announced this week that they had documented the first live goblin shark ever recorded near the Canary Islands—and only the second confirmed sighting in the entire Macaronesian region (the North Atlantic near Africa).

• The shark, a 2.5-meter female, was caught accidentally (the luck!) during a recreational fishing trip off the coast of Gran Canaria, nearly 10 kilometers offshore and some 900 meters below the surface. She was caught on rod and reel using mackerel and squid as bait, and after being photographed and filmed (because obviously), she was released alive.

Goblin sharks are deep-sea oddities, often described as “living fossils” and instantly recognizable by their flattened, blade-like snouts and their party trick: jaws that shoot forward like something designed by H.R. Giger after too much pacharán. They also have tiny eyes, flabby bodies, and an overall groove that suggests evolution briefly considered adding every horror and then said, “Hell, why not?”

• Fewer than 250 goblin sharks have ever been documented worldwide. They live scattered across tropical and temperate oceans at depths of 250 to 1,500 meters, which helps explain why most humans will never meet one. In the northeastern Atlantic, sightings have been limited to places like Galicia, Madeira, Morocco, and Portugal — making this Canary Islands appearance a big deal. (National Geographic calls it the “rarest shark in the world.”)

Good news, really! The finding, published in the scientific journal Thalassas, also highlights something Spain doesn’t brag about as much as it should: the waters around the Canaries are unusually well preserved. Bottom trawling has been banned since the 1980s, and targeted fishing for deep-water sharks is limited, turning the area into a kind of accidental sanctuary for marine weirdos.

• On timing. We’re not quite sure why, but it took 18 months from when the shark was accidentally caught — in May 2024 — to when the university published the news about it. You know if a tech startup had caught this duende, he woulda been on TikTok and the basis of a posing trend 30 seconds later.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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A legend is canceled

💥 Julio Iglesias, Spain’s biggest pop icon, is facing an explosive sexual assault case

Is the most day-glo radioactive story in Spain this week a) electoral polling, b) Venezuela, or c) the latest PSOE–PP fights? None of the above! It’s the sudden and spectacular explosion of a #MeToo-style case involving one of this country’s most famous cultural exports.

• Julio Iglesias, an artist whose name functions as shorthand for an entire era of Spanish soft power, has been accused of sexual assault and forced labor by former domestic workers.

The big reveal is the fruit of a three-year joint investigation by elDiario.es and Univision Noticias, which involved interviews with more than a dozen former employees, hundreds of documents, and two key testimonies that form the core of the accusations.

The allegations center on two women, both in their twenties at the time, who worked for Iglesias at his Caribbean properties in the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas. The alleged events took place in 2021, when Iglesias was 77, and the youngest of the women was 22.

• Lots of documents. According to their statements, which the media outlets said were corroborated by documents, messages, visas, photos, and other evidence reviewed by the reporters, both women describe an environment of coercion, humiliation, and — the big one — sexual aggression.

• Gnarly nighttimes. One of them says she was pressured into nightly encounters in Iglesias’s bedroom, describing finger penetration, slaps, and verbal humiliation without her consent, often in the presence of a female superior who allegedly participated in and facilitated the abuse.

• Unpleasant workplace. The other woman, who worked as a physiotherapist, recounts unwanted touching and kissing in semi-public spaces such as the beach or the pool, as well as a working atmosphere marked by intimidation.

• Iglesias’ legal team has so far declined to respond to the accusations, but Julio himself briefly spoke yesterday to ¡HOLA! (aka Hello! Magazine, no surprise there) to say “the truth will come soon and it will all be clarified”. Um, okay.

Spain gets involved. Because Iglesias is Spanish, the case has landed in the Spanish legal system.

• Local complaint. Assisted by the international organization Women’s Link Worldwide, the two women have filed a formal complaint before the National Prosecutor’s Office, accusing Iglesias of human trafficking for forced labor and sexual assault, along with a battery of related offenses involving labor rights.

• Always a Spaniard. Turns out Spanish law allows these crimes to be prosecuted domestically under the principle of personality, meaning Spain retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes committed abroad by Spanish citizens.

The reaction. Inevitably, chaos ensued. The revelation drew shock, indignation, pushback, and just old-fashioned, bizarre commentary. Talking about bizarre…

• Madrid regional presi Isabel Díaz Ayuso was the first major politician to speak. On Twitter, she said that the women being attacked and raped were in Iran, the crimes committed with the complicity of the far left. Then she said Madrid would never contribute to the discreditation of “the most universal singer of all: Julio Iglesias.” Whether she was trying to link the two (to accuse the left of hypocrisy?) or these were meant to be two unrelated tweets, no one but her social media manager will ever know. 🤷‍♂️

• Not my words. Within 24 hours, PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo publicly distanced himself from Ayuso’s stance, reminding reporters that the justice system should decide on Iglesias’s guilt.

• The government stated the obvious. Equality Minister Ana Redondo tweeted that she hoped the case would be “investigated and taken to its full conclusion.” Now, let’s not forget the Socialist Party is still dealing with their own #MeToo hangover.

Finally, there’s television. That’s where things went nuts.

• Ana Obregón, noted friend of Jeffrey Epstein and mother of her own son’s child, wondered on air if receiving an all-night blowjob (as Iglesias reportedly demanded of one of the women) would give a man blisters, and asked the co-author of the El Diario investigation how much money the women had charged for their testimony (”Zero euros,” the journalist answered, visibly annoyed).

• The archives. Once the Pandora’s box was opened, people began analyzing every shocking episode from Iglesia’s past, from the moment on live TV when he forces Argentine host Susana Giménez to kiss him, to the crazy allegations from an ex-girlfriend 15 years ago, to his odd relationship with his wife.

This is a big, big deal. Julio Iglesias is the most successful Spanish recording artist of all time — he’s sold nearly 250 million records worldwide — and a global celebrity whose voice and persona defined a generation.

That’s why the story hit so hard. The speed with which the Iglesias case has moved is a reminder that Spain has changed since “To All the Girls I’ve Loved Before” was released in 1984, and it may have to confront how many other dark tales its celebrity culture, built in a time when consent and labor rights were more optional, might have hidden under the rug.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🤷 Sánchez’s new housing bill gets shot down before it takes a step (and by his “friends”!)

Notice a guy on the street mumbling, “Man, I can’t win for losing”? That’s PM Pedro Sánchez.

• Example 248: His new housing law. You see, he’s been down because everybody’s been banging on about how like half his close PSOE buddies are in pre-trial detention — and his brother and wife might even face trial. So he must have been like, “I got it! We’ll roll out something to keep rental prices down. People will dig that 💯!” Why? An estimated 600,000 cheap COVID-era rental contracts expire in 2026, setting renters up for brutal 35–40% hikes. So, good idea, right?

• Bob Pedro the Builder. Speaking Monday at a Madrid housing site in a high-vis safety vest (but no hard hat because, dude, the hair), Mr. Handsome announced that “in the coming weeks” his government would introduce a decree law that would refund the taxes landlords pay on rental profits if they froze rents, as well as limit the prices landlords could charge on room-by-room rentals. “This way we all win,” he said. Bet he expected a big hug!

Didn’t work out that way. First came the PP, which at this point just opposes Sánchez out of muscle memory. Party boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo rolled out his own housing plan within hours, and it was heavy on build more, cut red tape, give landlords legal certainty, and very light on, you know, freezing rents.

• But here’s where it gets really awkward for Mr Handsome. The real firing squad wasn’t on the right. It was standing directly behind him.

Sumar, his own coalition partner, basically spat out the proposal like a hairball. Party kingpin Yolanda Díaz warned that “gifting” public money to rentiers was, like, a “grave error” 😱, and Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustinduy went harder, calling the plan “ineffective” and “unjust” and saying flat out that Sumar wouldn’t support it.

Then the formerly important Podemos showed up with a tank of gasoline. Party leader Ione Belarra promised to vote no, while MEP Irene Montero demanded that “the streets must burn” 🔥 until the housing crisis is solved. (Always a crowd favorite.) EH Bildu and ERC piled on, calling the tax break a “scam” and warning that if the progres don’t legislate against speculation, “the left is going to hell.”

• Here’s the kicker. What Sánchez’s partners really want is an obligatory extension of contracts — no carrots, just a stick — imposed by decree, just like during COVID. It polls great, right? Well, if you don’t own a rental.

The only problem? That whole capitalism and private property thing — plus the Constitution — really doesn’t like it.

2. 👀 Vox surges toward 18% as PP bleeds and PSOE plunges

Surprise! The latest polling from El País (40dB) and El Español confirms a trend that has been visible for months: far-right Vox is consolidating support, and the gains are coming directly from both the center-right PP and the center-left PSOE.

• The 40dB/El País poll now places Vox at almost 18%, up 5.5 points since the 2023 election, making it the fastest-growing national party. (Importantly, the survey captures the period following the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela, which Vox embraced without hesitation.)

• A separate poll from El Español shows a similar result, projecting that Vox could surpass 60 seats and be competitive with the PSOE in parts of Andalusia and Murcia.

And the PP? In an awkward position. 40dB/El País gives it 31.5%, half a point more than the previous month but nearly two points below its 2023 result.

• The headline number hides the real issue, which is that Vox is feeding on PP voters. According to the transfer data, 13% of PP voters from 2023 would now switch to the party of Santiago Abascal, while barely 2% would do the opposite, suggesting that the right is not fracturing so much as being rebalanced on Vox’s terms.

Hard gulp. The PSOE’s picture is no brighter. The Socialists fall to 27.1% in the 40dB/El País barometer, down seven tenths since the last survey and nearly five points below their electoral result. Yikes!

• El Español estimates they would lose 19, dropping to 102. The hemorrhage is diffuse: PSOE leaks voters to the PP, to Vox, and to Sumar, but above all to abstention and indecision, which now absorb more than 15% of its 2023 electorate. Erosion in multiple directions is harder to correct than a single, clean shift.

The kids aren’t alright. But the most notable data point is related to age, as Vox now leads among Spaniards aged 18 to 34, and its advantage is strongest among those aged 18 to 24, where it reaches 22.6%, more than 11 points ahead of the PP and four points ahead of the PSOE.

• The PP performs best over 65, and PSOE does reasonably well between 35 and 64, but the left faces a generational problem that goes beyond turnout. Increasing numbers of young voters are not just indifferent to them, but actively making goo-goo eyes in the opposite direction.

Taken together, the polls show a right-wing bloc with a 13-point advantage, a left fragmented by the collapse of leftist Sumar and the modest survival of far-left Podemos.

Were you thinking of moving to Spain to escape Trump? Um, maybe try Bhutan.

3. 🙊 Don’t referencies that, you dumb groupie! Pérez-Reverte vs. the RAE’s new words

There’s one thing we look forward to each December even more than hating on listening to Mariah Carey. The Real Academia Española’s annual drop of newly “acceptable” words for the Diccionario de la Lengua Española. For Americans raised in the glorious chaos that is English, it’s oddly cute — like Spain has a linguistic bouncer checking IDs at the nightclub door.

• But not everyone is so thrilled. This week, Arturo Pérez-Reverte — the bestselling novelist, professional curmudgeon, and elite-level media troll (we mean that affectionately) — penned a scathing opinion piece in the right-leaning El Mundo in which he basically ripped the RAE a new 🫏🕳️ (classy, we know) for abandoning its famous motto adopted in 1713: “Limpia, fija y da esplendor.”

Oh, do tell! Well, Pérez-Reverte’s argument is basically a three-act disembowelment.

• Limpia (Clean). The RAE isn’t supposed to just record whatever gets said on TV or shouted on X. It should warn against sloppy, unnecessary, or confusing uses — especially for students, teachers, and non-native speakers who need stable references. Basically, Arturo says, if “it’s used” automatically becomes “it’s valid,” then congrats, we’ve reinvented vibes-based grammar. 😝

• Fija (Fix). Fixing doesn’t mean freezing the language, he adds. It means providing anchors — consistent guidance — instead of endless “depends,” “optional,” “recommended but not required.” “An institution that does not establish a fixed standard, doubts; and one that doubts, ceases to be a reference point,” he says. So give us some clarity, damnit! (He didn’t say that; we did.)

• Da esplendor (Give splendour). The RAE should defend Spanish as a cultural heritage, not chase the tone of social media clapbacks. His nightmare scenario: the academy becomes a notary for the loudest illiterate influencer instead of a steward of literary Spanish. “An illiterate pundit, YouTuber, or influencer can have more linguistic influence than a Cervantes Prize winner,” says an irate Arturo. 😡

For example. Pérez-Reverte gets petty (his best mode) with examples. Referenciar, he complains, is an anglicism-cum-redundancy: Spanish already has referir. And groupie? If you’re going to import it, at least admit the saucy part of the meaning — not just “fan who follows a band,” but that kind of weirdly obsessive fan you want to avoid. The RAE leaves that out.

• Check the video above for more examples from 2024. Like espóiler (spoiler) and esnórquel (snorkel) — aren’t they just pronouncing English in Spanish? And script — why isn’t guión good enough (and shouldn’t it be escript ☝️?)

Senior academics fired back, saying, “Easy, dude, the RAE is not the Inquisition.” (Our paraphrase.) The language belongs to everyone, not just writers, and the Academy’s job isn’t to prohibit or scold — it’s to orient. Also, they add, dictionaries have always tracked real usage, from great authors to boring administrative texts. Welcome to real life, Arturo.

4. 🌹 Yo, PSOE: The call is coming from inside the house

Pedro Sánchez claims (repeatedly) that he won’t call elections until 2027. But with no majority, thin public support, and—minor detail—no real ability to pass laws, it was only a matter of time before other pols in his own PSOE started positioning themselves to take over his role as PSOE Top Dog when the reckoning comes.

• Enter Jordi Sevilla. The 69-year-old ex-minister in the government of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero published a manifesto-video combo — ‘Socialdemocracia 21‘ — that is as retro as it is earnest, meant to set the foundation of a reborn PSOE. His diagnosis of its current state, tl;dr? Pedro Sánchez kinda sucks for the party. (Shocker.)

Pining for the past? A lot of the manifesto reads like a plea for calmer, more consensus-driven politics — whether or not that golden age ever really existed (though tbh it sounds nice).

• Like this. Sevilla calls for an “autonomous, social-democratic, transformative, inspiring, majority-supporting project, focused on the problems of citizens and open to democratic consensus with its political adversaries on matters of state.” Also, he wants to overcome the “dead end” of the “pro-Sanchismo” vs. “anti-Sanchismo” trench war between the PSOE and the PP. Wouldn’t that be nice.

But we focus on the spicy bits. That‘s why we’re looking at his (sorta) veiled criticism of the Sánchez administration.

• Like this: “We have replaced social democracy with populism based on electoral calculations.” And this: claiming moves by current PSOE leadership have led to a “rise of the far right” and a “dictatorship of minorities.”

• And what about Mr Handsome? Sevilla has previously warned the PSOE was becoming a “Sánchez fan club”, but in his manifesto, he opts for a diplomatic tone: Political parties are “democratic channels of political participation, not dogmatic sects centered around a charismatic leader.” Wonder who that’s about… 🤔

The rollout was deliberately low-key. No big-name signature list. Instead, short testimonial videos from militants and leaders (“Hi, I’m Carmen”) calling for an internal debate. Around 40 PSOE figures have publicly backed the manifesto so far.

• Who’s orbiting the effort? Old guard figures like Felipe González and Alfonso Guerra have been briefed, while mid-generation names such as Juan Lobato and Eduardo Madina are watching closely. Sevilla has also spoken with Castilla-La Mancha president Emiliano García-Page, the regional baron most often floated as a future challenger — if and when the dam breaks

Does this change anything today? Not really. But it makes one thing clear: inside the PSOE, the post-Sánchez jockeying has begun. Officially, party leaders say they welcome debate. Unofficially, the tension slipped when Science Minister Diana Morant was asked about the manifesto and replied: “I haven’t read it — among other things, because I’m not interested.”

5.✋ The Prado Museum doesn’t want any more visitors, thank you very much

Everyone’s favorite museum in Madrid has a message for the world: thanks for coming, but we’re good. After hitting a record 3.5 million visitor mark in 2025, director Miguel Falomir says the museum “doesn’t need a single visitor more” and would very much prefer “not to become the Louvre”.

• C’est la merde. Have you ever tried to see the Mona Lisa? We have. Waiting in line sucks, and the Prado wants to stay away from that. So for 2026, the decision has been made to have no “blockbuster” shows designed to pump ticket sales and create human traffic jams.

• Instead, the museum is rolling out Proyecto Anfitrión, a plan to make the museum visit feel less like airport security and more like, well, a museum. That means more thematic exhibitions, fewer monster queues, optimized entrances (have you ever seen the doors on Paseo del Prado open? We haven’t), smaller tour groups, and a stricter stance on photography.

Falomir’s logic is simple. Most of the Prado’s money already comes from the permanent collection, so it doesn’t need to stage an exhibit on, say, Kim Kardashian every year to pay the bills.

• The 2026 lineup reflects this sanity. Under El Prado en Femenino, the museum continues its focus on women patrons and collectors with “The Year of the Three Queens”: Cristina of Sweden’s sculpture, Isabel de Farnesio, and a big show on Mariana of Austria.

• There’s also a major exhibition on the influence of Italian Gothic on Spain (A la manera de Italia, launching May 26), and another on Hans Baldung Grien that deliberately leaves the comfortable Spain-Italy-Flanders triangle. (Forget about Jeff Koons or Damien Hirst or any other contemporary stars.)

The Prado’s numbers are pretty great. It’s grown massively in the last 25 years — doubling visitors, increasing its space by 53%, and acquiring 13.500 works.

• Combine all that with a frozen budget of €72 million, the long-awaited Salón de Reinos renovation slowly inching toward 2028, and Falomir’s repeated warnings against “delirium” and “paroxysm” (here you go, you’re welcome) à la Louvre, and you get the Prado’s new stance: quality over quantity, because this isn’t a damn theme park.

In Falomir’s wise words, “Going to the museum shouldn’t be like taking the subway at rush hour.” Amen, brother.

🙏 Once again, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information we’ll be able to offer each week.

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🛂 The Bubble’s Very Practical (and Not Too Long) Guide to Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa

🚨 This is one of The Bubble’s expanded feature articles and guides for paid subscribers. It’s sponsored by our friends at Bureaucracy.es — the people who make Spanish paperwork suck less.

There comes a moment in every remote worker’s life (fine, in most remote workers’ lives) when the phrase “work from anywhere” starts meaning “anywhere but here.” Maybe it’s the third shite winter in London. Maybe it’s your landlord jacking up rent in San Francisco again. Or maybe, just maybe, it’s that colleague who moved to Málaga and now “takes meetings” at the beach chiringuito.

• That’s when, suddenly, you think, “I could live in Spain. I could actually do this.”

And for the first time, you might be right — because the Spanish government has, in a rare moment of future-looking clarity, designed its own Digital Nomad Visa.

• This is Spain’s way of saying, “Come live here. Keep your foreign salary. Just don’t take a local job. Or root for France in the World Cup.”

If you’re a remote employee, a freelancer with clients abroad, or the kind of entrepreneur who says, “As long as I have my laptop and my cellphone, I’m fine,” the Digital Nomad Visa (DNV) is the door you’ve been looking for.

Let’s step through it.

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🇪🇸 What the Digital Nomad Visa Actually Is

Quite simply, the visa and the residence authorization that goes with it offer Digital Nomads — or teletrabajadores de carácter internacional because, after all, we are in Spain — a legal way to live in Spain while working for someone (or several someones) outside of Spain.

You earn abroad, you live here. Spain gets your rent and your supermarket receipts (and your taxes). You get sunshine, healthcare, and an existence that does not revolve around hourlong commutes and ultra-processed foods.

Win-win. 🥳

Table of Contents

1. Is the Digital Nomad Visa for You?

2. Money: Proving Financial Means

3. Can You Bring Family on the Digital Nomad Visa?

4. The Documents You Need

5. Health Insurance — What You Need and How to Find It

6. How to Prepare Your Paperwork

7. Applying Inside Spain vs. Applying from Your Home Country

8. What a Typical Application Timeline Looks Like

9. A Quick Word About Taxes

🟦 TL;DR — Can You Get Spain’s Digital Nomad Visa?

(A 20-second checklist before you read 3,000 words)

• ✅ You’re a non-EU/EEA/Swiss citizen.
  If you have an EU passport, congratulations — you’ve already won.

• ✅ You work remotely, either as:

  • An employee of a company outside Spain, or

  • A freelancer/contractor with mostly foreign clients.

• ✅ Your employer or main client has existed for at least 1 year.
  Spain does not want people who work for businesses that LLC’d this morning.

• ✅ You’ve worked with them for at least 3 months.
  DNVs are not for those who think it’d be “fun” to try out freelancing.

• ✅ You earn enough to support yourself without becoming Spain’s problem.
  (See the income table below — it’s straightforward.)

• ✅ You have a university degree OR 3+ years of relevant experience.

• ✅ Your criminal record has been clean for the past 5 years.

• ✅ You have private health insurance valid in Spain. (We’ll show you how to buy this.)

If you can check all of the above without sweating, congratulations: you’re eligible. Eligibility doesn’t guarantee approval — but it means Spain will at least take you seriously.

• If you’re not eligible, Bureaucracy.es can usually tell you in one phone call whether there’s a workaround — or whether you should consider the Non-Lucrative Visa instead.

🚨 WARNING: The UGE (Unidad de Grandes Empresas), the authority that processes DNV applications in Spain, frequently changes how it interprets the law. This means that what is valid today may change at short notice. We will update this guide with the changes as we learn of them.

👀 Who the DNV Is (and Isn’t) For

Now that you’ve passed the TL;DR sniff test, here’s the super-basic version of what this visa is actually meant for.

The Digital Nomad Visa is for people who already work fully online and wanna do it from a place where life isn’t just Slack → Starbucks → Sleep. If your income arrives digitally, not via a physical office door, you’re in the right place. Welcome.

It’s great for:

• Remote employees whose employer doesn’t care where they sit, as long as the work gets done and the WiFi stays on.

• Freelancers/contractors with foreign clients who won’t suddenly ask you to “pop into the office” (because the office is 7,000 km away).

• Self-employed consultants whose businesses are location-independent and already rolling along nicely.

• People who want a legal, renewable, multi-year residency in Spain without pretending they don’t work (looking at you, Non-Lucrative Visa holders).

It’s not for:

• Anyone whose employer is based in Spain and wants them physically present. (Spain has other visas for that.)

• People hoping to arrive and then figure out how to make money. This visa rewards stability, not improvisation.

• Crypto-day-traders who can “definitely” generate stable income “depending on the market.” Spain likes predictability.

• Influencers planning to shout “What’s up dudes, welcome back to the channel!” from a Barcelona balcony — unless they have actual contracts with non-Spanish companies.

Everything else in this guide is about getting a DNV. Now let’s walk through the process, which you can think of as a simple flowchart:

Gather Docs → Apostille → Translate → Apply → Approval → TIE → Residency

💶 Money (The Part No One Wants to Hear But Everyone Needs to Know)

Here’s the quick-and-painless version:

Read more

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Old friends in high places

🇻🇪 The Spanish side of Trump's Venezuela adventure

The U.S. military’s capture/abduction of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro sent shock waves through Spain. And not just because the two countries share a language and a long colonial “relationship.”

• Remember Delcygate? Delcy Rodríguez — Maduro’s VP and the woman now tapped (by Caracas…or by Trump?) to replace her arrested boss — has played a not-insignificant role in corruption scandals involving PSOE figures José Luis Ábalos, Koldo García, and Víctor de Aldama. Yes, that fun bunch. Now she’s the woman of the hour — and her success (or failure) may determine how much of the still-murky Venezuelan side of those scandals comes to light, and who gets hit.

More on that hot mess in a minute. First, how Spain handled the news from its former colony.

• The news detonated straight down Madrid’s political fault line, instantly dividing the country into two camps (as per ush): those cheering the fall of a dictator, and those insisting that how it happened matters just as much.

PM Sánchez, unsurprisingly, chose Camp Two. After an initial call for “de-escalation,” his tone hardened quickly. Spain may not recognize Maduro’s regime, he said, but it will not endorse an intervention that violates international law or destabilizes the region.

• Next stop: the international stage. Sánchez pushed the issue into the UN, warning that the operation set a dangerous precedent and violated Venezuela’s sovereignty. Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares argued that fighting organized crime can’t become a blank check for military action. “Force never brings more democracy,” he said.

• Sánchez also pressed other European leaders to stop tiptoeing around Trump, warning that shrugging at a U.S. intervention in Latin America sends a signal. What happens, Madrid suggested pointedly, when that logic gets applied closer to home — in, say, Greenland?

On the right, the Popular Party sprinted into the story… and then slowed down. Party boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo initially hailed Maduro’s capture as unequivocally good news, while Madrid president Isabel Díaz Ayuso framed it as a historic act that could earn “years of gratitude.”

• But once Trump floated a transition plan that sidelined María Corina Machado, the Venezuelan opposition leader and recent Nobel Peace Prize winner, apparently for being too into democracy, and kept Delcy Rodríguez in play, the PP began hedging: Venezuela’s future should be decided by Venezuelans, they said, and anyway, there are “doubts” about whether international law was breached.

To Sánchez’s left, the pressure ran the other way. Sumar denounced the intervention as imperial; Podemos went further, calling for Trump’s international isolation. And the far-righties of Vox predictably celebrated it as a triumph for “freedom”.

• And public opinion? Classic Spain. A majority backs Maduro’s capture, but an even larger majority thinks the operation broke international law. In other words, Maduro is loathed, Trump is distrusted — and Spanish politics is fighting over which of those truths deserves the headline.

Now let’s get back to Delcy. She appears to have had close contact with Ábalos, Koldo and Aldama in the 2019-2021 period, when Ábalos was Sánchez’s infrastructure and transport minister and was apparently involved in commission schemes tied to public contracts. Aldama spoke regularly with Delcy ahead of a January 2020 meeting between her and Ábalos at Madrid’s Barajas Airport that Ábalos’s son claimed Sánchez had ordered his father to take (Delcy was banned from entering the EU because of her role in “human rights violations and for undermining democracy”).

• The gold. Shortly before that meeting, Aldama apparently took part in the sale of 104 gold bars from Venezuela for $68.4m to a company called Bancasa S.A., and discussed it with Delcy; it is rumored that the bars were on Delcy’s flight and that they were moved into Spain in a money laundering or payoff scheme, though this has not been proven.

• Zapatero and Plus Ultra. In another murky relationship, a Madrid court is investigating whether Plus Ultra, a small airline that mostly connected Spain with Venezuela, used a controversial €53m COVID bailout from the Sánchez government to launder funds from Venezuela. It happens that former PSOE Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, a Sánchez ally and (very friendly) envoy to Venezuela’s authoritarian regime for the last decade, is running buddies with Plus Ultra’s chairman, Julio Martínez, and is rumored to have warned him of his upcoming arrest in time to erase incriminating mobile phone data. That, and claims that Zapatero received commissions for his work with Venezuela, have also not been proven. And Delcy? She and Zapatero are friends.

For now, the cases are winding their way slowly through the courts. And the courts may never get the whole story without the Venezuelan side. But if the Trump administration’s intervention takes another bizarre turn — an arrest of Delcy, for example — who knows what comes to light?

More news below. 👇👇

🔔 But first, check out our Instagram account

If you’re not following us on Instagram yet, you’re missing out. We’re posting exclusive content with our collaborators across Spain, breaking news updates, and pop culture coverage. Click on the post above and come hang with us!

💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🤑 A new sign that Madrid’s economy passed Catalonia’s

We live in Madrid, but this isn’t a Catalonia-bashing exercise. We love Catalonia — Barcelona, the Costa Brava, the Pyrenees, the whole schmear. But a new piece of economic data dropped this week that shows that Madrid’s sorpasso of Catalonia in economic terms isn’t slowing down. If anything, it’s hardening into a trend. Here’s what happened.

• Social Security “affiliations.” For the first time since records have been kept (i.e. 1999), Madrid now has more people affiliated to Spain’s Social Security system than Catalonia — about 3.88 million, roughly 7,600 more than Catalonia, despite Madrid having around 1 million fewer residents. This number isn’t from a survey, but from a government register that tracks where people work, not where they live. It’s one of the cleanest proxies we have for where jobs are actually being created. (That said, if you have two part-time jobs, that counts as two affiliations 👀.)

That milestone didn’t come out of nowhere. Economists have been predicting it for years. Madrid’s regional GDP overtook Catalonia’s back in 2012, briefly flopped back, then pulled ahead again in 2017 during the height of the procés separatist crisis — and has been widening the gap since. Today, Madrid accounts for nearly 20% of Spain’s total economic output, more than any other region. (Catalonia has been stuck around 19% for years.) So why is this happening?

• First, Madrid has become Spain’s uncontested “global city.” According to Arturo Lahera, an academic cited in an analysis in El País, the capital now attracts close to a third of all foreign direct investment coming into Spain, particularly since the pandemic. Capital comes in, jobs follow. Economics 101, dude.

• Second, economic sectors matter. As Spain’s longtime clothing and automotive factory center, Catalonia still has a powerful industrial base, but it’s heavily tied to exports to northern Europe — where growth has been sluggish for, like, years. Madrid, by contrast, is more diversified and increasingly heavy in high-value services: consulting, tech, finance, and corporate HQ activity. That’s where the job growth is.

• Third, there’s a snowball effect. As one economist put it, Madrid benefits from a strong centripetal force: companies want to be near competitors, suppliers, regulators, and talent. The bigger it gets, the more gravity it has. That’s why so many graduates from elsewhere in Spain end up in a city with no access to the Med — if they want to or not.

• Finally, there’s housing. Madrid concentrates the jobs, but it’s getting harder to live there. (If you read us regularly, you know we bang on about this. A lot.) Tens of thousands of people commute to work in Madrid from Toledo or Guadalajara. Those workers still count as Madrid “affiliations,” reinforcing the capital’s economic weight even as the population spills outward. (When you look at where workers live, more still reside in Catalonia than Madrid.)

The downside? Winning can come with the risk of death by success. As in, if it becomes absolutely impossible to attract talent to Madrid because of housing prices, businesses will look elsewhere.

2. 📺 A death is live-streamed Black Mirror-style

Sergio Jiménez Ramos’s death was a Black Mirror episode nobody asked for. When his brother Dani managed to push open the door to Sergio’s room at the house of their mother in Vilanova i la Geltrú (Barcelona) in the early hours of New Year’s Day, he found Sergio on his knees on his bed, his head to his mattress “as if he were praying.”

• Sergio’s computer and webcam were on, and the table held an almost-empty bottle of whiskey and a pile of cocaine. Voices from his computer were asking if he was sleeping off a hangover, but Sergio’s rigid body and cold hand, still holding his phone, told another story. “Mamá,” Dani said. “Sergio is dead.”

• Sergio died livestreaming a “dare.” The 37-year-old was a Trash Streamer, a member of an underground society of hosts who engage in shocking, degrading, violent, or humiliating activities to attract viewers — and donations. In this case, a small group of fans had ponied up the money to buy the whiskey and cocaine — reportedly six grams — and pay him to livestream himself while ingesting it all in three hours.

This is not the first Spanish trash stream. If the reference to “a Black Mirror episode nobody asked for” gave you a sense of déjà vu, that’s because we used it before — when we wrote about Simón Pérez and Silvia Charro, the real estate experts who lost their careers after recording a video about mortgages while high, and turned to trash streaming to make money. We wrote about them in August, when their Kick channel, SS Conexión, was shut after French streamer Raphaël Graven (aka Jean Pormanove) died during a 12-day trash stream that featured him being physically abused.

• Local connection. Well, it appears that Simón is from Vilanova i la Geltrú, and served as a kind of manager and guru for Sergio; Sergio started trash-streaming in October when Simón invited him onto his livestreams to build his audience, and Simón apparently took something like a 20% cut.

• Sergio was a vulnerable man with mental problems — he had a kind of schizophrenia, a friend told El Español — who took to drugs after his father died, a brother died in a motorcycle accident, and two friends died in the crash of a car he was driving.

• Which is why some blame Simón for Sergio’s death. “For me, Simón Pérez is responsible,” the YouTuber Pablo_Xtrm, a commentator on the trash stream world, told El Español. “This is a murder committed by psychopaths. They took a disabled person and encouraged him to do these kinds of challenges. It was like shooting him: they killed him.”

Simón’s reaction has not been exemplary. “I told him not to do live streams, to get off Telegram because it was crap, that it was going to end badly,” he said in a live stream. “It’s not my fault.”

• TikTok has since closed Simón’s account. Which is good. But it feels like it will “end badly” for him as well. Both El Español and El País have written articles about his slow online “suicide” in recent months.

3. 🗳️ Alvise never stops surprising — now he’s taking “The Party’s Over” to Spain’s Ohio

Just when you thought Luis “Alvise” Pérez has finally run out of plot twists, he’s dropped another one. Fresh off the whole “yes, I took €100,000 in cash from a crypto guy, no I won’t be taking questions” era — and with multiple legal cases still simmering — Alvise now has announced that his non-party party, Se Acabó la Fiesta (SALF), will run in the Aragón regional elections on Feb. 8.

• Why Aragón? Because it’s basically Spain’s Ohio: mid-sized, swingy, and just close enough to normal politics that any new populist gets stress-tested there first. Also, the math is friendly. Aragón’s electoral law has a 3% threshold, and in Zaragoza province, that can translate to about 15,000 votes for a seat, which SALF has gotten before.

Wait, who’s Alvise and SALF again? In the June 2024 elections, the unhinged professional agitator and far, far-right social media troll astonishingly managed to get 800,763 votes and three seats in the European Parliament for his electoral group while promising to end “corruption, crime, and pedophilia” in the government. Because…lots of pedophilia?

• A 34-year-old Sevillano college dropout who calls himself “academically illiterate”, Alvise had brief stints as a member of Unión Progreso y Democracia (UPyD) first and later of the now-defunct centrist party Ciudadanos (he was chief of staff in the Valencian Parliament but quit after a year). He also tried Vox, but apparently it didn’t take.

• That’s when he decided to build his community on Telegram by bombarding people with misleading and fake stories, (aka “real news”) as part of his crusade against “corrupt politicians and criminals”. Think of his politics as a guy on a street corner screaming “freedom!”, “anti-dictatorship!”, “anti-taxes!” and “anti-feminism!” Oh, he’s also anti-vax and a climate change denier. We hear he likes cats, however.

Aragón’s election list dump Wednesday confirms SALF is running in all three provinces.

• The faces. In Zaragoza, the list is headed by Cristina Falcón, a public-school director in Utebo; in Huesca, Jorge Falcó (a University of Zaragoza professor); and in Teruel, Carlos Aranda, a former Ciudadanos councillor whose past includes a sexual assault complaint that was later archived.

And yes, the timing is exquisite. While SALF tries to look like a “serious” regional option, Alvise is still dealing with the aftershocks of his European-election breakout — including a rupture with his two MEP colleagues and ongoing court drama.

• Never, ever boring.

4.🦴 A discovery in Morocco may force Spain to rethink one of its biggest prehistoric claims

Attention, fossil nerds! We have a story for you.

Spain has occupied a privileged place in the story of human origins for decades. The fossils found at Atapuerca, near Burgos, helped shape the idea that Europe, rather than Africa alone, may have played a central role in the emergence of modern humans.

• New facts! Now, a new discovery just across the Mediterranean is challenging that narrative and forcing Spanish paleoanthropology to revisit some of its boldest assumptions.

Researchers have uncovered 770,000-year-old human remains in a quarry near Casablanca, Morocco, including three jawbones, teeth, and vertebrae that appear to belong to a population closely linked to the lineage that led to Homo sapiens.

• Ours weren't so smart. The findings, published in Nature, suggest that these North African hominins were already on the evolutionary path toward modern humans, while European populations such as Homo antecessor, discovered at Atapuerca, may instead belong to the branch that led to Neanderthals. (Ugh.)

This distinction matters enormously for Spain. Since the late 1990s, Homo antecessor has been one of the country’s most significant scientific exports, placing Atapuerca at the center of global debates about where and how modern humans originated.

• The new Moroccan fossils resemble antecessor in some ways, but their dental and mandibular features align more closely with later Homo sapiens. If confirmed, this would mean that Atapuerca represents not the cradle of our species, but a parallel evolutionary experiment on the European side of the Mediterranean. They kinda lead to a dead end.

Spanish scientists are deeply engaged in the debate. Some members of the Atapuerca team have pushed back, arguing that key Asian fossils were not fully considered and that the evolutionary picture remains incomplete.

• Fine, you're right. Others acknowledge that the discovery strengthens the classic “Out of Africa” model, placing the deepest roots of Homo sapiens firmly in Africa while redefining Europe’s role as secondary rather than central.

What this discovery does is reframe Spain’s place in the human story. Atapuerca remains one of the most important archaeological sites on the planet, but its significance may lie less in being our point of origin and more in showing how fragmented human evolution really was.

5.🫅🏿 A regional president in blackface and a bait-and-switch sort of harsh our mellow during Epiphany

Here we go again. What should have been a night of magic and excitement for thousands of children across Sevilla instead became a national controversy after Andalucía’s regional president, Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla, from the center-right PP, appeared wearing blackface while portraying King Baltasar during the city’s traditional Three Kings parade. Whoopsie! 🤭

• It’s all about joy and nothing else. Moreno himself amplified the moment by sharing images on his official X account, celebrating the “illusion, magic, and hope” filling the streets of Sevilla and describing his role as an honor.

• No happy faces. The reaction was immediate and, um, overwhelmingly negative. Spain has a long, uncomfortable history with blackface, and critics argued that whatever meaning it may once have had, it is now globally recognized as a racist practice rooted in colonial caricature.

The Cabalgata de Reyes (aka the Cavalcade of Magi) is one of Spain’s most beloved traditions, held on Jan. 5 (aka Epiphany Eve), and for many children it’s even more important than Christmas. The Three Wise Men — Melchior, Gaspar, and Baltasar (you should know that!) — parade through cities throwing candy and gifts, pitting children against one another in a sugar-fueled Battle Royale.

But Sevilla is different. Its parade has been organized since 1918 by the Ateneo de Sevilla, a private cultural institution. There, the Three Kings aren’t actors but prominent members of the city’s elite, who are expected to make large donations in exchange for the role.

• That structure has allowed Sevilla to cling to practices other cities have dropped — Málaga, for example, has explicitly moved away from blackface — despite growing criticism from civil society groups.

• And they knew the drama was coming. Back in October, the PP and far-right Vox blocked a parliamentary debate on whether the president should appear in blackface, dismissing the issue as “absurd”.

Just when you thought the night couldn’t disappoint further, Madrid viewers faced another blow: the loss of hot Gaspar.

• Wait, who? The city’s Three Kings parade sparked unexpected outrage this year when people realized that the hot zaddy actor playing King Gaspar was not the same one they had grown used to drooling over seeing.

• As the floats rolled through the city and the parade aired live, confusion turned into frustration on social media.

This may sound trivial, but Gaspar had become very popular. Since 2022, the role had been played by Beltrán Iraburu, whose, ahem, “striking good looks” turned him into an unlikely cult figure with moms and the gays.

• Bible gets some sexing up. Parents joked about “the hot Gaspar,” memes circulated every January, and his appearances became part of the parade’s modern identity. (Because fantasizing about a biblical figure is a thing these days).

The hot man speaks. Iraburu himself addressed the situation shortly after the parade, explaining that the magic of the Three Kings relies on mystery. Once that mystery fades (by his identity becoming widely known, which could undermine the illusion for children), he suggested it is time to step aside.

• Sorry, moms and gays!

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A PR nightmare before Christmas

🚨 PSOE’s #YoTambien moment is a full-blown identity crisis

Spain’s governing PSOE socialist party is in trouble. Remember last week we mentioned how multiple people accused Paco Salazar (a longtime party figure and former senior adviser to PM Pedro Sánchez) of sexually harassing women who worked under him? Turns out that was just the tip of the iceberg.

• The case has metastasized into multiple allegations, resignations, internal rage, and warnings from government allies that the legislature is going off the rails.

What’s happening (and why is it so toxic?). This isn’t just another scandal. This is a spiritual crisis for a party that built its brand on women’s rights and is now accused of failing women inside the house, while Sánchez is already weakened by corruption headlines and little support in parliament.

• The opposition smells blood in the water, especially with some PSOE allies saying it looks “difficult” for the Sánchez government to keep on keeping on.

Domino effect. Once the Salazar scandal exploded, the PSOE acknowledged “errors,” apologized to victims, and insisted there was “zero tolerance”, but many in the party felt leadership’s reaction was slow, defensive, and too focused on damage control.

• But, worse. Not only that, but it also triggered a deluge of similar accusations involving other party leaders who were apparently behaving badly (with no one doing anything about it).

Who’s on the list? The names tied to the #MeToo shockwave include:

• Francisco “Paco” Salazar (Sánchez adviser) left his roles after allegations; PSOE said his conduct was a very serious violation.

• Antonio Hernández (Salazar’s close collaborator) was removed amid claims he may have enabled and/or covered up what was happening.

• Antonio Navarro (Torremolinos PSOE leader/councilman) was the subject of a case that escalated to prosecutors after the complainant felt the party's response wasn’t enough.

• José Tomé (Monforte de Lemos/Lugo provincial leadership) stepped down from one role but tried to hold onto others, fueling the sense that PSOE is applying “tough talk, uneven consequences.”

• Javier Izquierdo (federal leadership/senator) resigned after a report pointed to a potential harassment allegation.

• Toni González (Almussafes mayor/PSPV #2 in Valencia province) resigned from party roles amid an internal probe but didn’t immediately quit as mayor, extending the scandal drip-drip-drip.

• Francisco Luis Fernández Rodríguez (Belalcázar mayor) resigned after allegations involving harassing messages.

Official response. PSOE’s public posture has been to apologize to the presumed victims, promise tougher internal processes, deny a cover-up, and insist the party is acting “forcefully and transparently.” Sánchez tried to frame it as being feminist doesn’t make you infallible, but it does require you to act decisively.

But allies aren’t happy. The real danger for Sánchez isn’t just attacks coming from the right, it’s also allies and junior partners in Parliament publicly losing patience.

• Yolanda Díaz, from leftish coalition Sumar, called for a deep government reshuffle, basically saying cosmetic fixes won’t cut it.

• Gabriel Rufián, from the Catalan leftish/separatist ERC went for the throat, criticizing PSOE’s handling of internal complaints and urging real protection for women who report.

• Aitor Esteban, from the Basque PNV, even issued the kind of warning that’s not just rhetoric. He said, stop the “hemorrhage” or consider elections.

And the opposition speaks. PP boss Alberto Núñez Feijóo is wasting no time and is using the scandal as evidence of “structural” rot, bundling harassment and corruption into one big “Sánchez must go” narrative.

• Santiago Abascal, from far-right Vox, is doing what Vox does: labeling PSOE a danger to women while dragging the debate back to the failed “only yes means yes” law as a culture-war weapon. (Side note: this morning Vox’s social media boss resigned after being accused of sexually harassing a minor).

What this means for the party. Even if PSOE contains the crisis internally, politically the brand damage sticks, because it lands on top of older feminist-policy controversies that already strained credibility, including the backlash around the “only yes means yes” law.

• And there’s more. When you add public anxiety about protection systems, like the ongoing problems with monitoring bracelets for domestic abusers and whether the state is actually keeping their victims safe, the party’s “we are the shield” messaging gets harder to sell.

PSOE is trying to survive this by apologizing, making promises, and attacking offenders. But the problem is that the story now looks less like isolated bad actors and more like a party that didn’t listen until it was forced to.

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 🚐 Sánchez announces a transport card that might not take you very far

PM Sánchez made a big announcement at his political year-end wrapup Monday. That is, the government will be rolling out a national transport card that will be valid across the country on both train and bus, for the low, low price of €60/month for Big People and €30/month for La Juventud.

• That sounds fantastic. But to say the card is not all that it seems would be a vast understatement. In fact, it actually takes longer to list where you can’t use the card than where you can. But before we get into that, let us tell you the idea.

The idea was inspired by the Deutschlandticket. That’s Germany’s national transit card, which for €58/month (rising to €63/month on Jan. 1, 2026) lets you travel on all local and regional public transport (but not on long distance trains or buses).

• The Deutschlandticket needs subsidies. The central and regional governments each put in €1.5bn (so, €3bn in total) to subsidize the scheme. That has not been enough, hence the ticket raises (from €49 to €58 and now €63).

Spain’s version. The ticket Sánchez announced isn’t new. Óscar Puente, the Transport Minister (and massive overpayer for podcast productions, but that’s another story), floated the idea in January, with more or less the same parameters as the ones Sánchez just announced.

• We have doubts. At the time, Spain’s autonomous communities — especially Madrid, which has the most public transport users — voiced, um, reservations about the plan. Specifically? Well, who’s gonna pay for the upgrades and increased services, who’s gonna run the thing (local and regional governments control their own transport systems)?

Where does that leave us now? It appears that Sánchez made Monday’s announcement without getting any local or regional governments on board — though he said he “hoped” they would sign up. So when it rolls out mid-January, the only places where the new card will be valid is on state-controlled transport: Cercanías trains, middle-distance Renfe rail (not high speed), and state buses. That is, no metros and no local or regional buses.

• Mutual distrust. There’s not a lot of love lost between the PSOE/Sumar central government and regional ones run by the PP (the majority of Spain). That suggests that a few PSOE and aligned comunidades may sign up, but even they may not be game under the government offers real subsidy money. And judging from the PP recently, it seems they might hold off until after the national elections. (Madrid also said that joining would “raise transport prices” in the region.)

So the service may be limited for a while. Still, a national card is probably the future, so it’s not a bad idea. But it might have been better if it were meant to work, not just as a campaign tool, right?

2. 🛖 Spain whacks Airbnb with a €64m (‼️) fine

The Spanish government’s war on housing unaffordability hasn’t done much to increase supply, decrease demand, or lower prices. But it really has done a great job kicking the bejeezus out of the piñata known as Airbnb. This week’s example? The €64m fine the Ministry of Consumer Affairs just dropped on the housing platform.

• A bit of history. In October 2024, the Ministry warned Airbnb that they had some 65,000 listings without required license numbers. Airbnb did nothing, so the ministry started to impose penalties, which led Airbnb to appeal to the Ministry and to the courts. The courts ruled against Airbnb twice, after one of which the Ministry again ordered Airbnb to remove the listings. In July, Airbnb finally cried “Uncle!” and took them down.

Fixed, right? Wrong. According to Pablo Bustinduy, the Minister of Consumer Affairs, his ministry can impose the penalty — equivalent to six times the profit made by the company during the time the illicit advertisements were published — because the courts ruled against Airbnb. Taking the listings down (late) wasn’t enough to reverse the fining process.

• Cue soaring rhetoric. “We will defend consumer rights, no matter how large or powerful the companies involved in abusive or fraudulent activities may be,” Bustinduy said.

Will Airbnb be surprised? At least sad. In July, when Airbnb took down the listings, it made a big deal of how closely it was working with the Ministry of Housing, which was about to begin enforcing new short-term rental laws, to ensure that the apartments on its site were correctly registered and to remove those that weren’t. And after Monday’s fine, Airbnb told the BBC it was “confident that the Ministry of Consumer Affairs’ actions are contrary to applicable regulations in Spain“ because, if effect, the new Housing rules had superseded the Consumer Affairs ones.

• Differentiating themselves? Here’s a theory: The Ministry of Housing is run by the PSOE, while Consumer Affairs is run by the further-lefties of Sumar, who right now want to differentiate themselves from the PSOE, and all its sex scandals, and show how they are standing up against The Man. This could help.

• The “crazy communist.” Bustinduy loves poking The Man. He’s the guy who fined Ryanair €107m for charging extra for cabin bags, leading Ryanair boss über troll Michael O’Leary to call him “a crazy communist” — and when the European Commission opened a case against Spain over its ban on the extra charges, to demand he resign (unlikely).

• More soaring rhetoric. Here’s what Bustinduy said about Airbnb: “In this country, the law will be upheld, especially in the housing sector, to put an end to the speculative practices that are suffocating millions of working families.”

About those speculative practices. Spain has about 400,000 homes designated for tourist rentals, or 1.38% of the total stock (according to INE data crunched by El País). In some city districts, this figure exceeds 10%, and on some streets, it can rise above 30%. There, the Airbnb crackdown could have some effect, but the big problem remains — the lack of new housing.

3.🗳️ Extremadura and Aragón will hold elections soon (we know you don’t care, but you should)

Election time! Spain is heading into another round of early regional elections, and this time the spotlight is on Extremadura and Aragón, two conservative-led regions where the PP has pulled the plug early, not because it expects a political earthquake, but because governing with Vox has become increasingly annoying unworkable.

• The trigger is the same in both cases. Vox blocked the budgets and broke the coalitions, leading the PP to decide that calling voters back to the polls is preferable to continuing paralysis (democracy can be so annoying… ask the Gen Zers if you don’t believe us!).

Extremadura votes first. The western autonomous region votes Dec. 21. Polls suggest the move won’t radically change the balance of power. Regional president (aka governor) María Guardiola is expected to win comfortably, improving her current results and coming close (but not quite reaching) an absolute majority.

• Guardiola’s gamble is political as much as numerical. Since taking office, she has positioned herself as one of the PP’s most moderate figures, drawing clear red lines against Vox’s rhetoric on immigration, gender violence, and minority rights.

• That stance blew up her coalition last summer, when Vox walked out after she refused to back hardline positions on unaccompanied migrant minors. Guardiola framed the split as a matter of principle, arguing that she would not violate human rights or stigmatize migrants, even at the cost of political stability.

Vox has taken it personally. Party head Santiago Abascal has gone on the offensive, attacking Guardiola with language that has largely reinforced her centrist credentials.

• Bad lady. He has accused her of embracing “feminist fanaticism,” likened her to leftist former Minister of Equality Irene Montero (!!), and claimed she “betrayed” the political change voters demanded.

• Party pooper. For Abascal, Extremadura was supposed to prove that a PP-Vox axis could deliver a sharp rightward turn. Guardiola, in his telling, ruined that.

National PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has taken a more pragmatic tone. All but ruling out an absolute majority in Extremadura, he’s openly acknowledged that the real objective is to outperform the left enough to lower Vox’s leverage.

• But, but, but… The PP will almost definitely need help from Vox (or another party) to pass laws. So Extremadura won’t resolve the PP’s Vox problem; it will merely reset it.

Aragón is next. On Feb. 8, the region will hold its first-ever early elections after regional president Jorge Azcón followed the same path as Guardiola.

• The reason? The same. Vox left the governing coalition and then blocked the budget. The PP has decided that governing without accounts was unsustainable. Now Azcón is hoping that fresh elections will strengthen his hand and reduce dependence on the far right—but polls suggest a déjà vu outcome.

Why you should care. Aragón and Extremadura matter because they sit at the heart of the PP’s broader strategy. The party is rolling the dice in these regions, hoping that incremental gains will break Vox’s veto power. So these elections are a test of the right’s future.

• The questions to answer. Can the PP govern without embracing Vox? Can it present moderation as a strength, not a weakness? And can it escape a cycle where early elections change little?

4. 🕵️‍♂️ Ana Obregón says the “perfect man” she says she never loved was…Jeffrey Epstein ⁉️

This celeb drama was definitely not on our bingo card. And then, BOOM, it exploded in the Spanish media. The thing is, the plot twist didn’t come from ¡Hola! or Lecturas, but from — brace yourselves — the New York Times, which on Tuesday casually dropped a bomb into Spain’s celebrity ecosystem.

• Back in the day. According to the Times, Ana Obregón — the actress, socialite, and omnipresent TV figure of the 1980s and 1990s — briefly dated Jeffrey Epstein in the early 1980s, back when he was still cultivating his “mysterious financial genius” act and long before the world learned he was a serial abuser and sex trafficker and in the running for “Worst Person Ever”.

Their first date, as described by the Times, is almost offensively 1980s NYC. Epstein picks Obregón up in a Rolls-Royce and speeds her around Manhattan. She’s charmed, intrigued — but, she later insists, uninterested. In her 2012 memoir (written after Epstein had already been convicted as a sex offender), she described him as “the perfect man I never fell in love with.”

• Yes, that sentence exists. 🤢

The relationship wasn’t just social. During that period, Epstein was hired by Obregón’s family — along with several other wealthy Spanish families — to help recover millions lost when the brokerage firm Drysdale Securities imploded (and took their money with it). The Times reports that Epstein and a former federal prosecutor eventually tracked the missing assets to the branch of a Canadian bank in the Cayman Islands, flying down to retrieve bond certificates and securing Epstein a hefty payday.

• Cue Spain’s collective record scratch. This is the moment when all Spanish media went “OMG we made it to the NYT!” and then rewrote it in, like, Spanish. At which point Ana realized this was a thing.

Obregón responded quickly on Antena3. She insisted she never had a romantic relationship with Epstein. Yes, she knew him. Yes, he helped her family financially. But no, she says, there was no affair, no intimacy, and “not even one night of love.”

• Not even a held hand. She recalls telling Epstein she had a boyfriend at the time (Miguel Bosé, casually), stopping him when he once took her hand, and ultimately keeping things strictly platonic.

• Still… “Little by little, we started seeing each other every day for breakfast at 6:30 in the morning,” she said.

• On the bonds recovered by Epstein? “I don’t know for sure. I can’t say yes, no, or the opposite,” she said.

• This is obvious. Being linked to “a depraved monster,” she said, is, “asqueroso.”

This may be predictably weird for Ana. This story lands differently when filtered through the Ana Obregón Extended Cinematic Universe. This is, after all, the same Ana Obregón who in 2023 stunned Spain by a) having a baby via U.S. surrogacy at age 68 and b) revealing that said baby was not her daughter — but her granddaughter, conceived with sperm from her late son, Aless. 😯Ana, you live your dream, girl!

• So, did Ana Obregón once orbit Jeffrey Epstein? Absolutely. Was it romantic? She says absolutely not. We’re just happy she didn’t have his baby.

5. 💰 Vox faces a corruption scandal over youth group’s donation scheme

Having a scandal is so 2025. Vox is dealing with one of its most damaging scandals to date (beyond, like, saying nasty things about muslims) after accusations of a donation scam involving Revuelta, a far-right youth organization that has operated as a de facto satellite of the party.

• Show us the money. Spanish prosecutors are investigating whether funds raised to help victims of the deadly DANA floods in Valencia were improperly, ahem, “diverted”, following complaints from former Revuelta leaders who say that large sums of donated money never reached the people they were meant to help.

• Nope, it’s not there. Revuelta allegedly raised hundreds of thousands of euros through donations, membership fees, and merchandise sales, promising that the funds would go to flood victims. Instead, much of the money allegedly sat in bank accounts for months, was routed through a legally unrelated association, or may have been used for other expenses. Whoopsie!

What has made the scandal explode politically is the revelation that Vox’s leadership appears to have known about the problem long before it became public.

• We’re listening. Leaked audio recordings published by El Mundo show senior Vox figures, including European lawmaker Jorge Buxadé, one of Santiago Abascal’s closest allies (and a man with a very whiny voice), pressuring Revuelta leaders to dissolve the organization and liquidate its accounts quietly.

• This could look bad. In the recordings, Vox officials openly worry about reputational damage and acknowledge that if the case reached the media (hello!), the inevitable question would be whether Vox knew about the irregularities and chose to do nothing.

We don’t know them. Once the audios became public, Vox moved quickly to distance itself. The party filed a complaint against Revuelta with Spain’s whistleblower protection authority and insisted that Revuelta “is not part of Vox.”

• Nothing to see here. Party spokespeople have framed the issue as an internal problem of an independent group, despite the fact that Revuelta’s founders were Vox members, several of its leaders were on Vox’s payroll, and its street protests were openly encouraged and attended by senior party figures.

We don’t know nuttin’. Revuelta, which is denying all of this, emerged in late 2023 as a militant youth movement tied to the far-right ecosystem, gaining visibility by organizing aggressive demonstrations outside the Socialist Party’s HQ in Madrid against the amnesty law for Catalan separatists.

Seizing the moment. Other parties are calling for the case to be examined in Parliament and have not ruled out summoning Vox leaders, including Abascal, to testify.

• You know who’s low-key enjoying this? The PP, as they are very much aware that every scandal tied to Vox (which has been growing in the polls) favors them. Between this and the PSOE’s never-ending corruption dramas and sex scandals, they are looking like the adults in the room right now. 😇

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Health’s bottom line

🏥 How a hospital meeting turned into a high-octane debate over private healthcare

It’s called business. Executives at private companies don’t normally blink an eye when they’re caught saying their company needs to cut back services to juice profits. It’s annoying for the customer, but hey, it’s bidness. But what about when the company is a hospital, and the services save lives? Yeah, things blow up.

• Welcome to Ribera Salud. The scandal began when a tape surfaced of the CEO of the healthcare company, which has a contract to run the public hospital in Torrejón (Madrid), telling hospital leaders to cut back on service and extend waiting lists to increase profits. Well, it’s now turned into a full-blown political row that could kill off the entire model of public-private healthcare in Spain. (h/t to El País for the series of stories on this.)

A recap. On Sept. 25, Pablo Gallart, the freshly promoted CEO of Ribera Salud in Spain (known as an “Excel guy” in the office), gathered about 20 managers at the Torrejón hospital. In the recording, he complains the hospital is losing money and then gets… creative.

• Less improvement, please. He tells them that in 2022 and 2023, they made “an effort to reduce waiting lists”. Now, he says, “All I ask is: let’s retrace our steps.” And then the money shot — he says they should use their “imagination” to spot which procedures don’t contribute to the hospital’s EBITDA and which ones do – and adjust activity accordingly. Translation: Fewer costly patients, more profitable ones. (One example: the hospital apparently rejected out-of-town dialysis patients.)

• Quitsville. Four senior clinicians who reported these orders through the company’s internal ethics channel — including the hospital’s manager and Ribera’s medical director — were promptly fired. They warned of “medical malpractice” and even orders to reuse single-use catheters up to 10 times; the company denies any wrongdoing. (Maybe one of these four leaked the tape? 🤔 Just saying.)

Why now? Because the French parent company of Ribera, Vivalto Santé, reportedly wants “quick gains” in Spain ahead of a planned sale of shares in 2026 and is spooked by France’s 2027 elections that could put at risk its home business. Torrejón has been losing money for years, despite Madrid pumping in an extra €88m since 2020 and another €32.7m “rescue” package this July to keep it afloat.

• Public-private partnerships. Under the “Alzira” model Ribera invented in Valencia in the 1990s (when Valencia was run by the center-right PP), the company gets a fixed per-capita fee from the region, regardless of how much it treats; it also gets a bonus for attracting patients from outside the area, and gets penalized for losing locals to other hospitals. Every euro it doesn’t spend on patients is a euro that can move to the bottom line. (In the meeting, Gallart explained that there is a direct “elastic” relationship between the hospital’s results and the waiting list. But to be fair: Torrejón’s waiting lists are still shorter than those at fully public hospitals.)

The politics. The left saw the tape and thought: Christmas came early 🎁! PSOE Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called it “the PP model: turning health into a business and illness into a money-making opportunity”. Health Minister Mónica García says she’ll push a law to end public-private hospital concessions altogether.

• PP response. Madrid presi Isabel Díaz Ayuso (PP) is trying to have it both ways. She’s called Torrejón’s care “impeccable”, blames the scandal on “internal squabbles” and “out-of-context recordings”, and waves inspections showing “unbeatable” waiting lists — while also promising that any malpractice will be “eradicated decisively” and ordering more audits and inspections.

Your lying ears. Ribera’s French bosses now flatly deny having ordered anyone to do anything like lengthen waiting lists or reuse gear, say the leaks are political, and are threatening legal action. Gallart has stepped down from directly managing Torrejón.

• Is health just another “business line”? In many sectors, private operators really are better at squeezing out waste than the state. But Torrejón is forcing Spain to confront the uncomfortable: what if “efficiency” means fewer operations, more delays, and taking the profitable patients while nudging the rest down the road? And if the government decides to end public-private hospital concessions, can it really afford a quality all-public system? (We are not optimistic.)

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties

1. 👀 Another machismo crisis hits the PSOE

Oh, look — the PSOE is facing another ethics crisis! Apparently everyone Pedro Sánchez has tapped for Secretary of Organization (the party’s no. 2/3 spot) comes with a side of, um, “toxic masculinity.”

• Both José Luís Ábalos and his successor Santos Cerdán have spent time in pre-trial detention in that sprawling corruption case we’ve told you about. Ábalos was also a big fan of prostitutes. And now Sánchez is trying to contain the fallout from another scandal involving the man once expected to replace Cerdán — after it emerged that the PSOE had failed to investigate reports of his also toxic behavior for months.

They call him Paco. Multiple testimonies accuse Francisco “Paco” Salazar — a longtime party figure and former senior adviser to Sánchez — of systematically sexually harassing the women who worked under him.

• Naughty. Salazar, closely linked to Sánchez’s inner circle (a great run for that inner circle lately!), allegedly humiliated younger female staff with sexually explicit comments, abused his position of power, and made the workplace a hostile mess.

• Grody. According to written complaints reported by elDiario.es, Salazar allegedly unzipped his pants in front of women, mimicked sexual acts in meetings, obsessed over their bodies and clothing, and made explicit remarks about their sex lives — all while reminding them of his proximity to power and his ability to ruin careers. Sounds like a nice guy 🏅!

So close! Salazar — set to join a “choral” Secretary of Organization team replacing Cerdán — resigned once the accusations became public. The PSOE later admitted that two formal complaints had indeed been filed months earlier through its internal anti-harassment channel.

• Um, whoops. Those complaints mysteriously vanished from the system. The party blamed a “technical error,” an explanation that did little to calm anger inside or outside the organization, or to really convince anyone.

Containing the fallout. Sánchez admitted this week that the PSOE made “mistakes” (😱), conceded there was an “unplanned error” in the speed of response, and took responsibility. The party now says it will fully cooperate if victims choose to file criminal complaints. Redemption road? So far, looks bumpy.

• Do what I say, not what I do. One week after calling Salazar’s behavior “vomitive,” government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría on Tuesday had to explain away a November lunch she shared with him — months after the complaints and his resignation. She now says it was an “error” and “shouldn’t have happened.” (You don’t say. 🙈)

• Slightly less feminist than advertised. The scandal has enraged many PSOE women, who are furious that reported abuses were ignored for so long by the party that brands itself Spain’s great feminist vanguard.

The opposition has seized on the scandal. PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo accused Sánchez of hypocrisy, arguing that Salazar’s rise and long stay near the center of power exposes a “double standard” in PSOE feminism: “The PSOE is a dangerous party for women.”

• Which is a bit…much. But yes, there’s definitely a whiff of hypocrisy in the air.

2. 🧑‍⚖️ The Supremos explain why they convicted AG García Ortiz, 19 days later

The Tribunal Supremo (aka the Supreme Court) got Spain all wound up on Nov. 20, when it announced it had convicted Attorney General Álvaro García Ortiz for leaking confidential info in the tax fraud case of the boyfriend of Madrid presi Isabel Díaz Ayuso — and then didn’t publish the sentence. “How dare they!” said those on the left; “It’s perfectly normal, “ replied those on the right.

• Now, 19 days and 233 pages later, the Supremos (“Supremes”?) have finally dropped the ruling — including a 53-page dissent — so we can all stop arguing about whether the Supreme Court is a lawfare death squad or the last trench of Spanish democracy and… okay, no, we’re absolutely going to keep arguing about that. But it’s the thought that counts.

What the majority says (5–2). According to the five judges who voted to convict (a mix of conservative and centrist blocs), García Ortiz did several naughty things — and even though no direct proof survived (more on that below), the court says the circumstantial evidence forms a “solid, coherent and conclusive” picture.

• The rush to get the email. After El Mundo published a (false) claim that prosecutors had offered Ayuso’s partner a deal and then withdrawn it for political reasons, García Ortiz urgently demanded the internal email chain — dragging the case prosecutor out of a football match — and had the messages forwarded to his private Gmail. One email contained the boyfriend’s lawyer proposing a plea admitting two tax crimes.

• The leak. Not long after, the PSOE-friendly Cadena SER published a story that included the text of that email. The court says the document was sent to the SER journalist “either directly or through a third party, but with the full knowledge and acceptance of García Ortiz.”

• Wiping his phone. On Oct. 16, the day after the Supreme Court opened proceedings, García Ortiz performed what the judges call a “conscientious, double” deletion of his phone and email contents. They note that this was not required by any data-protection rule and infer a deliberate destruction of potentially incriminating material.

Put together — the rush, the timing, the SER scoop, and a mysterious 4-second call from the SER journalist to García Ortiz that night — the majority says there is no “reasonable alternative explanation.”

…and what the two dissenters say. Left-wing Magistrates Susana Polo and Ana Ferrer read the same script and saw a very different movie.

• They argue the conviction rests on “mere suspicion” and violates the presumption of innocence. If many people had the email — including journalists and people close to González Amador — you cannot simply pick the AG as the most convenient culprit.

• They trust the journalists, who under oath said García Ortiz was not their source and that they had previous access to the email.

Political reactions. Choose your own apocalypse.

• PP uncorked the cava — The AG is a “delincuente,” several leaders repeated with gusto.

• PSOE replied, “We respect [the ruling], but don’t share it,” while Sánchez said the one who should apologize is Ayuso. 🤷

• Sumar/Podemos deployed the full fascism thesaurus — “mockery,” “auto-de-fe,” an “inquisitorial process without evidence”, and even “golpista.”

And now that we’ve all memorized half the Penal Code, can we please return to Spain’s true constitutional battleground: is chocolate con churros breakfast or merienda?

3. 📛 The day the pollster who was always wrong claimed he was always right

The head of Spain’s official polling institute is not supposed to be a main character. The job description is basically: keep your head down, count things, try to be accurate. José Félix Tezanos, the very partisan ex-PSOE executive Pedro Sánchez put in charge of the CIS, heard that and said: “Ni de coña” (just look it up!).

• This was destined to be hot. So when the PP-controlled Senate hauled him in Tuesday to “investigate” his management of the CIS, it was never going to be a normal hearing. It was Tezanos Live.

At least it started well. He arrived cracking jokes about doing “a survey on good manners”, then spent more than two hours behaving less like the neutral head of a public institute and more like a grumpy PSOE deputy.

• How do you pick your questions? Asked why the CIS doesn’t poll about the broadly disliked 2024 amnesty law that Sánchez introduced in order to get the Catalan separatist support he needed to continue as PM, Tezanos shot back that he also didn’t ask “why the leader of a certain party goes on holiday on a narco’s yacht”, referring to a 1995 photograph of PP boss Nuñez Feijóo with Marcial Dorado, a friend who was later convicted of trafficking drugs. Which is funny, but not exactly methodological analysis.

• Always? When Vox pressed him on why the CIS “never hits the mark”, Tezanos smiled and dropped the line of the day: “We always hit the nail on the head.”

• He did concede one “oops.” Reminded that in 2021 he described Isabel Díaz Ayuso as having a “limited intellectual capacity,” he insisted it “wasn’t an insult, just a disqualification,” which he now “regrets.” Sort of.

About that nail. As friend-of-Bubble Kiko Llaneras of El País has documented (yes, the very same Kiko Llaneras that Tezanos dismissed in the hearing as “an engineer, not a sociologist” 🙃), the CIS under Tezanos has overestimated the left in 41 of the 42 elections analyzed since 2018.

• Plenty better ones. Private pollsters like 40dB. and the El País poll-of-polls have been consistently more accurate, while the CIS lives in a parallel (inaccurate) universe where the left almost always does a bit better than in real life.

• It’s not just the numbers. Former members of the CIS advisory council — including old friends and heavyweight sociologists — have filed formal complaints and quietly walked away, lamenting the loss of neutrality and the “CIS de Tezanos” brand that now clings to the institution like bad cologne. One described it bluntly as “the least neutral institution in Spain right now.”

Back in the Senate, Tezanos went full drama. He accused the PP of running an “Inquisition-style” process — “Not even Torquemada would have thought of this” — and whipped out a sign: “Parliamentary immunity is one thing, but impunity to attack and slander is another.” Later, he produced another sign about political corruption: “88 people have entered Soto del Real prison: 87 from the PP and one from the PSOE.”

• Yes, it was subtle like that.

4. 🎤 It’s happened: Spain abandoned Eurovision