🛂 This Week in Spain: Catalonia Gets Migration Control

Also: The Epstein files nothingburger, Ayuso's boyfriend, and the Cachopo King's horrifying confession.

Junts leader Carles Puigdemont strikes again.

Madrid | Issue #92

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🌰 This Week in a Nutshell: Despite protests from pretty much everybody, the PSOE and Junts have reached a deal to delegate immigration management to Catalonia. (Hey, at least we’re not leading with Trump.)

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How do you say ‘Build that wall’ in Catalan?

The Junts Tail Wags the PSOE Dog, Again

A huge (yuge!) deal has been struck between the center-left PSOE and center-right Catalan separatist party Junts to turn over some immigration-related powers to the regional government—and many people are not happy.

• No love. While Junts generally supports the PSOE coalition government, this is purely a marriage of convenience. The Socialists have nothing in common with Junts, but they need their seven votes in Parliament to pass laws. So pretty much whatever Junts wants, Junts gets.

• Strong arm💪. This is how Junts continues to strongarm Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez into concessions, without even being in the regional government (Catalonia is currently governed by the Catalan PSOE). And the latest concession is a big one.

Long time coming. After over a year of negotiations, this week PSOE and Junts finally came to an agreement on the delegation (not a full transfer) of immigration oversight to Catalonia, which would allow the region to develop its own “policy” on migration. So what does this mean?

• Border control. The Mossos d’Esquadra (Catalonia’s police) will be checking documents at the borders (management, however, will be coordinated with the National Police and the Civil Guard).

• Deportations. The Catalan government will also manage deportations, as well as the immigration detention center (CIE) located in Barcelona’s Zona Franca area.

• Language enforcement. Lastly, it opens the door for Catalan to become a requirement for obtaining a residence permit (this would have to be legislated if the bill is approved).

A constitutional move. This will be carried out through Article 150.2 of the Constitution, which allows the central government to delegate (but retain) certain competencies.

• Used before. This mechanism was used in 1996 when Prime Minister José María Aznar, from the center-right PP, granted Catalonia authority over traffic management after reaching an agreement with the region’s then-president, Jordi Pujol, known as the Majestic Pact.

No speak Spanish. One of the sticky points in the delegation of migration powers is language, and Junts leader Carles Puigdemont (who, mind you, is still a fugitive), said this week that speaking Catalan must be “indispensable” to getting a residence permit.

• Shhhhh… The PSOE-Junts agreement doesn’t deal with the issue or explicitly state that Catalan will be a requirement for getting a residence permit. But Junts’ secretary-general Jordi Turull (not a fugitive) said on Wednesday that speaking Catalan should be “one of the requirements to prove social integration”, which means they could push legislation requiring Catalan to get a residence permit.

This went over well with the other parties, right? 🤣 Yeah, no. The PSOE is always unpopular with the right, but this was the lead balloon of all lead balloons. Let’s count the ways.

• PP says ‘Beat it like a rented mule' (look it up!). The center-right PP wasted no time obliterating the deal. Leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo called it “the gravest concession in constitutional history”, warned that “National security is being compromised so Sánchez can stay in power,” and accused the government of “leaving us unprotected by dismantling border controls.” So… safe to say he’s not a fan.

• Vox: Full meltdown mode. The far-right’s take was predictably histrionic (and not in a “Big hugs for Pedro” way). Vox Secretary General Ignacio Garriga called it “the last step before a de facto independence”, declared that “when Sánchez finishes his term, there will be absolutely nothing left of Spain”, and for good measure, said it was a “death sentence” for the Guardia Civil and Policía Nacional. Zoinks!

The real problem: Podemos. Ironically, the party that matters most isn’t PP or Vox—it’s PSOE’s own ally, Podemos. Without their four votes, the deal probably dies in Parliament. And… Podemos hates it.

• Podemos’s beef. As a right-wing separatist party, Junts is not exactly pro-immigrant. To whit, Podemos leader Ione Belarra tweeted: 🚨 “The PSOE has agreed with Junts, an anti-immigration party that competes with the Catalan far-right, to give them powers over migration. This will not be done with Podemos' votes.”

• Radically. Another Podemos leader said they’d “vote radically against” the deal, calling it a move to “decentralize racism.” 😱

• Framing. Now, Junts is working overtime to frame Podemos as “aligning with Vox”, but that whole “vote radically against” thing? We’ll be watching to see if Podemos folds again. 🍿

The kicker? This might get PSOE nothing. Even after this headache, Junts is still saying no national budget (which PSOE likely needs to remain in power) until they also get:

1. ✅ Amnesty for separatists still waiting for it (hello, Puigdemont!)

2. ✅ More money for Catalonia

3. ✅ Catalan as an official EU language

And since none of that has happened? In the words of Junts’ Turull: “For now, bad.”

More news below. 👇👇

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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week

1. 🤫 Who are the Spaniards in the Epstein docs? And do we care?

Short answer? No.

In fact, even Fox News called the whole thing a “nothingburger”, but let’s talk about it anyway, because #gossip.

Really bad guy, really old news. Jeffrey Epstein was a well-connected financier, convicted sex offender, and accused child predator who was found dead in his high-security Manhattan jail cell in August 2019 (watch this doc if you want to learn more).

• The autopsy said suicide, but conspiracy theorists say murder—to keep Epstein from exposing powerful people involved in his abuse network.

• Republicans, despite Donald Trump knowing Epstein personally, have long claimed Democrats had a “client list” they were hiding.

So…what happened? This week, the Trump administration released the so-called “Epstein Files”—a 100-page contact list hyped as a bombshell.

• Spoiler: It wasn’t.

Most of it had already leaked years ago, the only difference being that this time it was declassified. The White House hyped it up, gave conservative influencers a sneak peek, and then—nothing new. Even the flight logs of the passengers who traveled aboard Epstein’s private jet were already public.

• Were there Spaniards on the list? Yes indeedy! (Though you probably won’t know most of them). Still, being on the list doesn’t make them criminals—just people Epstein did business with. But still, people wanted to know. Because, again, #gossip.

The Spanish connection. Luckily, El País read the whole thing (so we didn’t have to) and published a detailed list of Spaniards who appeared on it—though, again, appearing on the list doesn’t mean someone has done anything illegal (and please don’t sue us).

• The biggest names?
  📌 José Aznar (son of ex-PM José María Aznar)
  📌 Alejandro Agag (ex-PP MEP, businessman & Aznar’s son-in-law).

  • Pointless chat. Agag tells El País he talked to Epstein over 20 years ago to discuss his involvement in an investment fund—and it went nowhere.

  📌 Maite Arango (Acciona board member & Prado Foundation patron)
  📌 Jacobo Gordon (convicted in the Gürtel corruption case, aka the scandal so big it has its own Wikipedia page).

• Then there’s a bunch of others.
  📌 Joaquín Fernández de Córdoba Arion (aka Duke of Arión)
  📌 Fernando Arion, Fernando de Córdova Hohenlohe, Fernando de Soto, Nacho Gaspar, Juan & Helen Herrero, and Ludmila García.

Disappointed? Told you so. Take it up with the White House.

2. 🚨 Ayuso’s boyfriend: You only have to pay taxes on legal 💰, right?

You know you’re in trouble when your tax dodge defense is that dirty money isn’t technically taxable. Smoove, right? Well, that’s where Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso’s boyfriend, Alberto González Amador, landed this week—asking the judge to pause his tax case until courts decide whether the income he skipped taxes on was illicit. First world problems, right?

• How it started. The legal woes of González Amador (G-Lover, as we call him here) began a year ago when prosecutors charged Alberto, who has long worked as a health industry consultant, with faking business expenses to dodge €350,000 in taxes (2020–2021). His businesses pulled in €3.6m in that span, including ~€2m in commissions on COVID mask sales in Spain.

• Political hand grenade. Since G-Lover is dating Madrid’s center-right PP boss Ayuso, his tax troubles became Massive Spanish News. Media followed his plea deal talks: pay back taxes + fine = no jail.

Sound of other shoe dropping. Then last month (see video above), prosecutors flagged a ~€500,000 payment G-Lover made in December 2020 to buy a business in León.

• But what’s wrong with that? Well, this wasn’t just any business. It was owned by the wife of Quirónprevención’s president—G-Lover’s longtime consulting client. And this “business,” Círculo Belleza S.L., had no employees, no assets—just a worthless laptop and three hair removal machines (seriously).

• The crime theory. Investigators suspect the €500,000 was a bribe to Quirónprevención’s president for pandemic contracts (which, let’s recall, made G-Lover riiiiiich 🤑). On Monday, a Madrid court allowed the judge in his tax case to dig into the whole “I’ll buy your worthless company for half a mil” situation.

No, it’s not a joke. If the court rules that G-Lover got the income in exchange for a bribe, he could face prison. And his lawyers really did write in a filing: "According to Supreme Court doctrine, income from criminal sources under criminal investigation shouldn’t be taxed."

• In other words. If I committed a crime to get this money, you can’t charge me with evasion for not paying taxes on it.

• Actual numbers. G-Lover’s lawyers say he got €994,453 from Quirónprevención in 2020–2021 and technically owes €249,363 in taxes on it. If that’s removed from the €350,950 tax dodge accusation, the alleged evasion drops to €101,587—below Spain’s €120,000 annual tax crime threshold. So… no crime?

We’ll have to see. For now, G-Lover’s lawyers want the judge to hit pause on the tax case until courts determine if the business buy + contracts were criminal.

• And Ayuso? The Madrid regional presi, who lost it over G-Lover’s original tax fraud scandal, has kept it chill this time: “It has nothing to do with me.”

Stay tuned! 🍿

3. 🚨 Cachopo King finally explains how he killed his wife—and it’s gruesome

(Before you ask, the cachopo is an Asturian dish. You’re welcome).

Not actual royalty. You may have heard about the Cachopo King in the news or seen last year’s Netflix documentary (trailer above). If not, here’s why he’s back in the headlines.

• Bad cachopo king. César Román Viruete, aka El Rey del Cachopo, was a Madrid restaurateur known for his popular cachopo joints—until he was sentenced to 15 years in prison for murdering and dismembering his ex-partner, Heidi Paz.

• Almost famous. Before the horrific crime, Viruete was semi-famous in Madrid’s food scene. His ex-wife (who is not Heidi Paz) even made it onto an episode of Kitchen Nightmares Spain! But behind the scenes, he was a pathological liar and fraud, and his empire was crumbling.

Dark turn. In 2018, things got grim. Heidi Paz, his Honduran ex-girlfriend, was murdered and dismembered—and he was arrested for the crime.

• Grisly discovery. Heidi Paz’s mutilated torso was discovered inside a burned suitcase in an industrial warehouse that belonged to Viruete. He quickly became the prime suspect.

• Flight, then arrest. Viruete tried to flee but was caught in Zaragoza. In 2021, he was convicted of homicide and corpse desecration—though the exact cause of death remained unknown because most of her remains were missing. He always denied killing her.

• Change of heart? Then last year, he confessed—sort of. He called the killing “accidental”, claimed he was sorry, but offered no details about how it happened or where the rest of her body was.

New deets. News broke on Tuesday that Viruete had spilled more beans, confessing to accidentally shooting Paz in the head during a “pointless argument”. Then, he says, he panicked and called his (now dead) uncle, who had studied medicine, for help dismembering the body. The missing remains? He says they’re buried in Carranque, a town in Toledo.

• Mapping. In a letter to the court, the disgraced chef says his uncle told him he buried the missing body parts (including the head) in Carranque Archaeological Park—and even included a hand-drawn map.

• Accident-ish. He says while arguing over financial matters, Paz took his gun and pointed it at him “probably just to calm him down” and during the struggle “the gun fatally discharged” killing her instantly.

• For the fam. Why didn’t he say any of this sooner? He claims he was protecting his uncle, who was gravely ill during the trial and died soon after.

Really sorry? The Cachopo King says he’s sorry and has apologized to Paz’s family. He even offers to compensate them with whatever money he makes in prison.

If you like true crime podcasts, there’s one about him that’s worth listening to on Spotify (although it’s from 2021 so it’s definitely outdated).

4. 🐗 Hunters are just getting killed (not literally, but almost)

Vox can rant ad nauseam about illegal immigration, those EU plastic bottle caps, Catalan separatists, and Pedro Sánchez. But when it comes to one issue, they suddenly get all soft and sentimental—like it’s their weak, sickly only child 😩: Spain’s hunting culture.

Turns out, they might have a point about that one. A new study from the Instituto Pirenaico de Ecología (IPE-CSIC) finds that hunting in Spain is basically going the way of a certain over-hunted bird 🦤. Hunters are aging out, and young ones aren’t taking their place.

• Going, going, gone… The number of hunters in Spain and Portugal has plunged 45% since 1970, when there were over a million. Today, most are 60-70 years old, while youngins 20-30 make up just 5%.

• Not getting better. By 2050, the study projects another 70% decline—a “marked, continuous, and probably irreversible” drop, says lead researcher José Daniel Anadón. And the numbers back it up: hunting licenses in the study areas fell almost 90%, from 44,000 per year in the 1970s to just 5,000 in the 2010s.

No shocker there. Hunting is fading everywhere as people move to cities and, frankly, get tired of butchering their own meat. Plus, there are other ways to get an adrenaline rush. “Now there are many forms of leisure—ride a bike, climb a 3,000m mountain, play video games,” Anadón notes. Hunting is expensive, time-consuming, and traditionally passed from parent to child—which ain’t happening anymore.

• But…animals! Meanwhile, wild boars (jabalí) are thriving—by which we mean raiding urban dumpsters like they own the place 😋. Spain’s jabalí population? Somewhere between 1 million and 3 million, with the European jabalí population growing 10-15% a year‼️This, of course, is Vox’s excuse to go all-in on promoting hunting—not as some nostalgic throwback to when men hunted and women darned socks, but as a “necessary” solution to animal overpopulation.

As in… Vox MP José Muñoz, pitching a pro-hunting bill last month: “We ask that hunting culture be promoted among young people; that hunting… be allowed year-round, and other measures be taken to deal with the overpopulation of wild boars.”

Only thing he didn’t say. “Is that too much to ask?”

5. 🏨 Madrid’s renewed Palace Hotel

Pictures via Marriott International

Madrid’s Bermuda Quadrangle (is that a thing?) of luxury hotels is back! This week, the Palace Hotel premiers after an almost two-year makeover, rejoining the city’s “ridiculous” luxury tier alongside the Villa Magna, Four Seasons, and Mandarin Oriental—where, not long ago, Madrid had literally nothing. So next time someone doubts Madrid is having a moment among the rich, point to that.

• Nice pad! Built in 1912 on the site of the Duke and Duchess of Medinaceli’s palace, the hotel was once Europe’s largest and swankiest, dripping in Belle Époque glamour straight out of Paris.

• Big rehab. Led by Ruiz Larrea Arquitectura, the facelift included repainting the 8,000 m² façade in “còlor Palace”—a warm beige we wish was more common than the “Spanish urine” yellow haunting Madrid. More spectacular? The restoration of its iconic wrought-iron-and-glass dome—1,875 pieces of glass!—designed by Eduardo Ferrés i Puig in 1912 and executed by master glassmakers Maumejean. It’s now crowned with an Art Deco palm lamp (which, wait… wasn’t Art Deco from the 1920s?).

Legends of the Palace. During its golden age, bullfighters Belmonte, El Gallo, and Manolete stayed here, strutting out in full traje de luces to fight at Las Ventas. Other legendary guests?

• 📌 Pablo Picasso, Hemingway, Buster Keaton, García Lorca, Buñuel, Dolores del Río, Orson Welles (with Rita Hayworth), Mata Hari (who lived here ⁉️), and a still-relatively-unknown Salvador Dalí. Hemingway and Mata Hari even have meeting rooms named after them. The Medinaceli got one too… which, we guess, is an honor?

Pricey! The cheapest of the 470 guest rooms that we could find? €432/night—about half what the Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental charge.

• So… a bargain!

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