đ± PM SĂĄnchez's Private WhatsApps Leaked
Plus: A sacred corpse gets a rare airing, and Madrid is bigger than ever.
Madrid | Issue #102
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Is the call coming from inside the house?
đ± PM SĂĄnchezâs Dirty WhatsApp Laundry Gets Aired
So embarrassing. You know when you tell a âfriendâ in confidence that you donât like a mutual buddy, and they snitch? Yeah. Thatâs kinda how Spanish PM Pedro SĂĄnchezâs week has goneâx10.
Leakomatic. This week saw El Mundo publish a leak of WhatsApp messages between SĂĄnchez and his former Transport Minister JosĂ© Luis Ăbalos, the guy facing a major corruption probe about public contract greasing (and enchufe-ing girlfriends into government jobs). Now, Spainâs government is notoriously leaky, but a leaked text bomb from the PMâs phone? đ± Thatâs yuge!
Whereâd the texts come from? That we donât really know. You see, a lot of people had access to them. El PeriĂłdico de Cataluña reported that Ăbalos had stored hundreds of text message exchanges with SĂĄnchez on USB drives, planning to use them in a memoir. During a move, his advisor Koldo GarcĂa ended up with them. Then, during a police search of GarcĂaâs own home in the Caso Koldo case (so many corruption cases!), the Guardia Civil found two USBs in a box labeled âpersonal.â
Blame game. How did they get from the drives to El Mundo? Economy Minister MarĂa JesĂșs Montero side-eyed the Guardia Civil, suggesting that the fault for the leak lay with "those who had the duty of custody". ButâŠmore on that in a minute.
First, letâs get to the juicy stuff. That is, the messages. Letâs just say that SĂĄnchez didnât always show the greatest respect for his ministers, especially the ones from far-left Podemos. Time forâŠThe Disses!
Pablo Iglesias is such a⊠The far left former deputy PM comes in for the sharpest abuse from SĂĄnchez. After Iglesias released a rival video just as PSOE held a presser, SĂĄnchez messaged Ăbalos, âHow clumsy he is; his problem isnât evil, itâs stupidity." Or when Iglesias made the surprise (and bad) decision to quit the government to run against Madrid presi Isabel DĂaz Ayuso, SĂĄnchez mocked him, saying, âItâs a very âhold my beerâ move.â Another time, he was more succinct: âAn abuser. Blowhard.â
Margarita Robles⊠SĂĄnchez mocked Defense Minister Robles after she was insufficiently confrontational with Ayuso, calling her a pĂĄjaraâa cunning, unscrupulous typeâand joking she slept in her uniform. Whoops!
And then thereâs his relationship with Ăbalos. SĂĄnchez was tight with Ăbalosâtheir chats were all jajaja and đ€Š. That is, until July 10, 2021, when SĂĄnchez dumped him. When asked for an explanation, SĂĄnchez simply said, "We've traveled a long journey together, and this journey is over." When Ăbalos insisted, the PM told him "I can't give you any reason.â Ăbalosâs next statement turned out to be prescient: "people are going to interpret that I have something shady going on".
Four months later⊠SĂĄnchez restarted WhatsApp contact after a right-leaning news site (The Objective) published a story saying Ăbalos had been fired for hosting âprivate parties with prostitutesâ during the pandemic lockdown (we wrote about this recently). SĂĄnchez wrote: âI'm writing to express my solidarity with you in light of the slander we're unfortunately seeing in the media.â
BFFs again! SĂĄnchez later resurrected Ăbalosâs political career, putting him up for an MP seat he won in the 23-J elections in 2023. A week later, a nostalgic SĂĄnchez wrote to Ăbalos, âThe truth is, I've often missed working with you. I've always greatly valued your political judgment. Also your friendship."
So this is awkward. Now that Ăbalos is under investigation for corruption (not to mention the parties, the hookers, the girlfriendsâ jobs) SĂĄnchezâs old WhatsApps arenât aging well. So what are Spainâs political parties saying?
For the center-right PP, the leaked chats are âvery clarifyingâ and show, in the words of party boss Alberto Nuñez FeijĂło, SĂĄnchezâs âtrue measure.â They argue the messages prove the PM âknew everything and covered it upâ in the Koldo corruption scandal. The PP also mocked SĂĄnchezâs insults to his ministers, asking if itâs sustainable to stay in government when your boss calls you a âpĂĄjara.â
Far right Vox took the chance to pile on, with Pepa MillĂĄn using the leaks to claim that SĂĄnchez treats his colleagues with the same disdain he shows âto millions of Spaniards he doesnât even know.â For Vox, the messages confirm SĂĄnchezâs âarroganceâ behind closed doors.
Far leftish Podemos, meanwhile, read the chats as proof of SĂĄnchezâs âdiscomfortâ with their presence in the coalition. Ione Belarra said the messages confirm how much SĂĄnchez resisted their progressive agenda, including policies like the eviction ban, and how fierce the battles inside the cabinet really were.
But really, who leaked them? Ăbalos originally toyed with people by refusing to deny leaking the messages: "I'd rather they keep wondering who did it." Then yesterday, he basically gave Spain whiplash when he admitted on La Sexta that heâd âconsentedâ to the leaking of the messages from 2023 (where he and Mr Handsome express their mutual love), which heâd given to someone linked to his legal defense.
But there must be two leakersâ Ăbalos however denied that heâd leaked the 2021 messages (where SĂĄnchez disses Iglesias et al.).
So, what the hell? The plot thickens. đ€·
More news below. đđ
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đŹ Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1.đ« Frank Cuestaâs wild meltdown
You probably donât know who Frank Cuesta is, and thatâs OK. But you may have seen his face all over the news this week at the center of a very public meltdown involving leaked audios, arrests and public confessions. So what the hell is going on?
Frank who? TV host and YouTuber Frank Cuesta could be considered Spainâs answer to famed Australian conservationist Steve Irwin.
Frank Cuesta (aka Frank de la Jungla or Frank of the Jungle) shot to fame in the early 2010s with his wildlife shows on Spanish TV, mixing animal encounters with a loud, cocky attitude that made him a fan favorite. His show was so big that he actually won awards!
He then reinvented himself as a YouTuber and animal rights activist, broadcasting his adventures and his crusades against animal trafficking from his animal sanctuary in Thailand. He also said he was battling cancer (âïž), thus gaining the support and sympathy of many fans.
While he once expressed his support for Vox (and later regretted it), his sanctuary was visited by all sorts of figures, including Madrid regional president Isabel DĂaz Ayuso this January.
Fall from grace. But Frankâs jungle kingdom started to unravel a few months agoâin spectacular fashion.
Thai police arrested him in February for allegedly keeping protected animals (nine otters and a rare red-tailed boa) without proper permits. The police says they got the tip via an anonymous email. Cuesta spent two days in jail and was released on bail. He later accused his ex-wife, Yuyee, and his former ally, known online as Chi Wildlife, of plotting against him.
Things get worse. The situation took a darker turn when Chi Wildlife leaked some damning audio clips in which Cuesta could be heard casually discussing buying animals from traffickers, using tasers on wildlife, and even poisoning stray cats and dogs who sneaked into his sanctuary.
Cuesta even jokes in one jaw-dropping clip about wanting âcheap animals with three legs or no headâ. Yikes.
But, but, but⊠Cuesta posted a video online crying and denying all accusations, saying the audios were âtaken out of contextâ, arguing people were âout to destroy himâ and that he âcouldnât take it anymoreâ.
Much, much worse. Then this week, things got really weird. Cuesta dropped a bizarre video on his YouTube channel in which he admitted in a monotone, almost robotic tone that everything about his life was a lie.
No, no and no. He said he never had cancer, never rescued animals, and was just playing a character driven by âmythomania and ego.â He even confessed that the animals at his sanctuary were all purchased, not saved.
Was he serious? Was this performance art? Was it an AI deepfake? His fansâ confusion only deepened when, a few hours later, Cuesta appeared in a live stream saying the previous confession video was part of a blackmail scheme, claiming Chi Wildlife forced him to read a script on camera to stop leaking private conversations.
Cuesta says the two have been locked in a toxic feud since Chi left the sanctuary to start his own project, which Cuesta now admits sparked jealousy and paranoia on his part.
We still donât know whatâs true. Yesterday Cuesta posted on X the alleged messages blackmailing him. For now, the only thing thatâs clear is that Cuestaâs reputation is in free fall and no one knows what to believe.
2. âïž Madridâs Barajas Airport is the cityâs main shelter
Madridâs Barajas Airport has become homeâor at least a place to sleepâfor hundreds, a situation that burst onto the scene for most of the world on Monday, when the Catholic charity La Mesa de la Hospitalidad presented a report on and census of the people there.
The tl;dr. Between 300 and 400 homeless people sleep each night at Barajas (officially, Aeropuerto Adolfo SuĂĄrez Madrid-Barajas)âand the number has gone as high as 500.
But where? In the T4 terminal (that lovely one with the curved wooden roof designed by Antonio Lamela, the Spanish architect who also designed Madridâs emblematic Torres ColĂłn), on the first floor, halfway between the arrivals and departures levels. During the day, there are few, but overnight and in the early a.m. the hall can be hard to transit.
Not new, but growing. Gaspar GarcĂa, who for more than six years has handed out food and hygiene kits with the group Bokatas, told El Mundo that in the past, the homeless were less noticeable because they slept on the benches and then left. But since the airport removed plugs and benches, closed some bathrooms, and cranked up the A/C at night, people have brought more sleeping gear and clothing with them.
Now blowing up. The census comes after months of increasing complaints from airport staff and infighting from politicians over whoâs responsible. And the homeless arenât exactly happy about the situation either. First, the employees with Alternativa Sindical Aena/Enaire (ASAE), the major airport employees union:
Bedbugs are grody. ASAE told El Español that the situation inside the airport was âunsustainableâ. Employees complain about an infestation of bed bugs and other insects đȘłin the T4 baggage check-in area, presumably originating in the overnightersâ bedding. With bites and everything. Yikes.
âCity without law.â They also complain of fights, robberies and drug use and say their workplace has become a âcity without lawâ (in one example, on April 22 two homeless airport residents pulled a knife and a screwdriver on one another). On March 20, another was found dead (with no signs of violence). ASAE is demanding an âurgent evictionâ of the people in this âinhumaneâ situation.
Bronx or Zombieland? ASAE secretary Antonio Llarena says that Barajas has become âa kind of Bronx": "Aena's passenger, user, and customer support workers and our doctors and nurses are not safe." El Mundo refers to it as âzombielandâ.
The homeless are not pleased either. For obvious reasons, most would prefer not to be homeless. Making the situation worse, the lack of social services at the airport means that those with drug or mental health issues donât get the care they need.
Crazy people. âIâm sick of sleeping on the floor,â Teresa Andrade, a 54-year-old Spanish woman of Ecuadorian origin who has been sleeping at the airport since losing her elder care job, tells El Pais. âThere are more crazy people here than in a psychiatric hospital.â
Youâd think you could solve this. With a coordinated effort between the airport and local and national government, you could surely⊠Oh wait, this is Spain 2025! So everyone is saying âyour problem, not mineâ and doing nothing. Political hot-potato time! đđđ
The national government. Aena, the majority government-owned airport operator, says itâs not responsible and demands that the city handle the problem. "If Madrid City Council's Social Services are overwhelmed, this is a management problem by Madrid City Council," said Aena President Maurici Lucena. Note: PSOE socialists run the national government, the opposition PP runs the city and region. Oh, and Lucena is a former socialist politician.
The city. The cityâs delegate for social policy, JosĂ© FernĂĄndez, says the national strategy to combat homelessness, approved in 2023, declares the central government has authority "and even literally states in that strategy that they assume the highest level of responsibility." And city reps say the five national ministries with jurisdiction have "refused to participate" in coordinating a response and without their involvement, "adequate social assistance cannot be provided."
The region. Madrid president Isabel DĂaz Ayuso pointed the finger at Aena: "These are their facilities, and therefore, they are the ones responsible; they are the ones who have to take action."
Phew. So good to know that no one is to blame here!
Update:
On Wednesday night, Aena announced that it would âintensify access controlsâ during off-peak hours, effectively shutting the airport to anyone without a boarding pass, their companions, or airport staff.
While not an outright eviction, the move will make it nearly impossible for the dozens of unhoused people who have been sleeping at the airport to continue doing so. The plan includes closing all but one access door per terminal overnight and stepping up security checksâincluding at the metro station exits.
Aena has yet to confirm exactly when the new restrictions will begin, but the draft proposal suggested locking down from 11 PM to 6 AM.
3. đ„ Madrid is bigger than everâthank you, immigrants!
Madrid is booming. Where have we heard that? Oh, right, here. Where, like, we said itâs recently been dubbed the worldâs most popular city for the worldâs super-duper rich. But itâs not just for the top 0.02% anymore. Itâs booming all over.
There be data. Madrid just released its Jan 1, 2025 census: a record 3.53 million people (up 67,433 [2.02%] from last year). đ„ł
Immigrants welcome. Immigrants drove the growth (no surprise if youâve walked around lately). Roughly 136,000 people moved to Madrid from abroad in 2024; net immigrant population: +48,000. Spaniards? Up just 19,400.
Using simple words. Still confused? "It is fundamentally due to foreign migratory movements,â said Madrid Deputy Mayor Inma Sanz. đ
And from where? Venezuela, Colombia, PerĂș, Ecuador and Argentina accounted for almost half of the new Madrileños. Which explains all the new ceviche, choripan, and arepas jointsâŠ.
Overall. 70% of Madrileños were born in Spain; 30% abroad.
But not all good news (for some). JD Vance, Elon Musk & the natalist crew wonât love this: births arenât driving growth. Immigration is. đŠ
Coming and going. In 2025, 26,213 babies were born in Madrid. 558 more than the year before and the highest since 2020. Deaths? 26,296. Net result: -83.
âVegetative growth.â âVegetative growthâ (or natural population growth) was basically zero, said Sanz.
At least itâs getting better? As the deputy mayor points out, âWe are finally seeing a trend where the number of births is growing while deaths are stagnant.â đ
We leave you withâŠMadrid, city of the woman âïž. Itâs 53% female, 47% male.
4.âïž Spain declares war on spam calls: This time, they mean it
Those of us with Spanish phone numbers have almost inevitably received reams of annoying spam calls. But now it looks like their days may be numbered.đ„ł
If you thought these were banned in Spain, youâre not wrong. In fact, they are technically illegal since 2023. So⊠what gives?
Companies have become experts in legal loopholes. The most common trick? Hiding consent deep inside cookie pop-ups or in the fine print of website terms and conditions.
Then again, many call centers just ignore the law altogether and keep dialing random numbers. Phone manufacturers have tried to help by adding spam call detectors to your phone, but those arenât foolproof either.
Now, the central government is stepping up with what they claim is the definitive plan to make spam calls a thing of the past (for real this time, guys).
Under new measures announced by Consumer Affairs minister Pablo Bustinduy, companies will be required to identify all phone numbers used for commercial calls with a specific phone prefix. They will also need to use a different code for customer service calls. They will not be allowed to make commercial calls unless they use the prefix.
The Ministry has introduced an amendment to the Customer Service Law (SAC) to ban unsolicited âspamâ calls and require telecom operators to block all calls from companies that do not use the prefixes.
The Ministry has also proposed a new amendment to the SAC Law that would void any contracts made through unsolicited phone calls .
Renew the love. The amendment also says companies must renew user consent for receiving commercial calls every two years, to prevent them from relying on old or ambiguous authorizations to continue bothering you.
Weâre looking at you, Endesa!
5.â ïž âYou kids want to see a dead body?â The corpse of Saint Teresa of Ăvila is back on display after 110 years
The last time the mummified remains of Santa Teresa de JesĂșs (also known as Teresa of Ăvila) were on display was 111 years ago. Little did the Catholic Church know that the next time that her sepulcher was opened, Saint Teresa would become a meme queen and turn her posthumous home (Alba de TormĂ©s, a small town in the province of Salamanca) into a social media hotspot.
The Order of the Discalced Carmelitas (yes, a thing) has organized the unveiling of Saint Teresaâs body for 14 days, calling it a âspiritual giftâ. The body is being publicly displayed in the Basilica of the Annunciation of Our Lady of Carmen.
The saintâs body is often referred to as âincorruptâ (as in, it never rotted) which turned the Basilica into a site of pilgrimage and, now, a magnet for social media reactions.
Why is this a big deal? Because the body has only been publicly shown three times beforeâin 1582 (when she died), in 1760 (when the remains were transferred to an urn) and in 1914 (though this just lasted a few hours and was in private). If this was on your bucket listâand it undoubtedly was!ânow is your chance.
Huge deal. Saint Teresa was one of the most influential mystics of the Catholic Church and an icon of Spainâs Golden Age literature.
Born in Ăvila in 1515, Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was a Carmelite nun who revolutionized monastic life, challenged the norms of her time, and became the first woman to be named Doctor of the Church (probably heretical back then but good for her).
The official story says she was not embalmed and that the nuns of the then-Convent of the Annunciation were unhappy with the rush to bury her, so they asked to see the body, which they were allowed to do nine months later.
According to the French historian Joseph PĂ©rezâs book Teresa of Ăvila and the Spain of Her Time, once the coffin was opened, the body was found to be intact and emitting a âpleasant fragranceâ. This was considered a miracle and the rest is history.
But not everyone is flocking to Alba de Tormes in awe. Social media has been quick to react with skepticism and humor, questioning the supposed âincorruptibilityâ of her body.
Twitter and Instagram flooded with jokes and side-eye memes, with many people commenting on the very obvious state of decay and the complex, even grisly, history of Santa Teresaâs remains.
Over the centuries, her body has been exhumed multiple times and dismembered to distribute relics across Spain. Her left hand, and we kid you not, ended up on Francoâs nightstand during the dictatorship.
Right until his death in 1975, he kept a 17th-century reliquary piece of gilded silver with inlaid precious stones that contained her hand. It also (and again, we kid you not) looks suspiciously similar to Thanosâ Infinity Gauntlet.
Want to go look at the remains? You have until May 25.
đ A fun game for you Eurovision fans
Itâs Eurovision this weekend, and youâve likely been invited to a viewing party by your Spanish friends. If so, we suggest you bring this drinking game with you so you can have fun and learn about the many (many) things we can guarantee youâll hear them say. This way, you get to drink and learn! (Drink responsibly, though).
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Thank you! Sometimes it's just too deliciously weird!
Thank you! Did you have Austria on your Eurovision bingo card?