⚖️ This Week in Spain: Government vs. Judges
Also: Madrid's empty office space is being turned into luxury condos.
Madrid | Issue #96
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Didn’t see that one coming
Overturned Rape Conviction Inflames…Everyone
Catalonia’s regional Supreme Court overturned former Barça star Dani Alves’s conviction for sexual assault, surprising pretty much everyone. Then politicians on the left began attacking the judges, and politicians on the right began attacking their counterparts on the left and…oh, you know, pretty quickly things got nasty—and confusing.
For those just tuning in. Dani Alves was convicted and sentenced to 4½ years in prison for the December 2022 sexual assault of a 23-year-old woman in Barcelona’s Sutton nightclub (we’ve written about it lots).
Clearer than usual. While rape trials are never cut-and-dried, this one seemed more so than most: Alves’s story constantly changed and seemed unbelievable, the woman immediately reported the assault, and witnesses seemed to corroborate her testimony.
So it came as a surprise for most when a panel of four judges not only overturned the conviction but acquitted Alves due to the "inconsistency" of the complaint, noting that the sentence was riddled with "gaps, inaccuracies and contradictions about the facts, the legal assessment and its consequences." 😮
Like, really surprised. As in, people thought the sentence would be made tougher. The Prosecutor's Office had been seeking an increase to 9 years, and the victim had wanted it increased to 12 years.
All about the money, right? The immediate reaction of many people (including some of us) was that this was another instance of wealth buying justice or the courts ignoring a rape victim.
But maybe not so easily dismissed. Some things didn’t quite fit with the “money and macho court” narrative, however. As in, the four-judge panel was made up of three women and one man and they ruled unanimously. And, more importantly, their 101-page ruling pointed out oddities in how the lower court handled the case, namely in how it believed the victim’s testimony about what happened in a closed bathroom, but ignored the fact that her testimony about what happened in public was contradicted by video of the scene. There was also DNA evidence that suggested Alves and the victim had had sex in the way he testified and not as she did (we won’t go into this—but it’s in this story).
Not the last chapter. Again, rape cases take many turns and are often unfair to the victim, so this isn’t the last chapter. Indeed, it can and will be appealed to the Supreme Court.
But it doesn’t end there. Not long after the ruling, Deputy Prime Minister María Jesús Montero of the center-left PSOE socialists called the sentence a “disgrace” and also said it was "disgraceful" that "the testimony of a victim is still being questioned and that the presumption of innocence is said to prevail over the testimony of young, brave women who decide to denounce the powerful, the great, the famous."
The right attacks. Politicians to the right of Montero attacked immediately—and bitterly. Alberto Nuñez Feijóo of the PP demanded her resignation or dismissal for discrediting Spain’s judicial system: “She is not in a position to be the second in command of any European government."
But not just the right. All the judicial associations came out against Montero as well, saying in a letter that “it is essential that institutions and public representatives respect and support the work of judges and magistrates, avoiding comments that could undermine confidence in our judicial system.”
Maybe I made a boo-boo. Montero appeared to realize she’d stepped in it, and on Tuesday—after initially saying she wouldn’t be “taking lessons” from the PP—she apologized. Well, kinda. In that way that’s like, “If any moron couldn’t understand what I meant, I’m sorry for not being clearer.”
Literally. Montero’s actual words: “If the literal meaning of the expression I used leads to the conclusion that I have called into question nothing more and nothing less than the presumption of innocence, which is a pillar of our rule of law, then I obviously withdraw it and apologize for that expression." Thanks for clearing that up, María Jesús!
And now the weirdest part. Amid all this drama, Dani Alves’s wife Joana Sanz—who separated from him (temporarily) after his arrest, announced that, at 32, after two IVFs, three miscarriages, a fallopian tube operation, and endometriosis, she was pregnant with her first child. So…congrats, we guess? 👶
More news below. 👇👇
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💬 Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1.💥 Asturias mine blast leaves 5 dead—and plenty of questions
A devastating explosion on Monday morning in the Cerredo mine in Degaña (Asturias) left five workers dead and four others seriously injured. Authorities believe the cause was a pocket of firedamp (grisú), a highly flammable gas commonly found in coal mines.
What happened? Around 8:45 a.m., a powerful explosion took place inside one of the galleries of the Cerredo mine.
🚨 Emergency calls that came nearly an hour later reported that the incident was thought to have been caused by a machinery malfunction.
Mine workers. The five dead workers were identified as Jorge Carro, Rubén Souto Robla, Amadeo Bernabé, Iván Radio, and David Álvarez, aged between 32 and 54. All of them were residents of the nearby León province in Castilla y León. The four seriously injured workers remain hospitalized and are currently stable.
Mourning declared. The tragic incident has shaken Asturias and Castilla y León, both of which declared two days of mourning.
A bit of history. The mining industry has been a cornerstone of the region’s identity—and economy—for over a century, and this is the deadliest mining accident in Asturias since 1995, when 14 miners were killed at the Nicolasa shaft. Almost all of the mines were closed by 2019, however, as Spain shut down its coal extraction industry.
Mostly inactive. In fact, the Cerredo mine wasn’t fully operational and had been mostly inactive since 2018 but authorities say the mine passed a routine inspection in September 2023 with no issues detected.
Alternative use research. The company Blue Solving was working under a complementary research permit to explore alternative uses for the mine’s remaining mineral resources (specifically graphite) but not to extract coal.
But, but, but… However, Asturias President Adrián Barbón said on TVE that the explosion occurred on the third level of the mine, where the company did not have permission to conduct research—only to remove materials from the old mine. Barbón added the company would be investigated “from top to bottom”.
Consequences. The incident has reignited debates over mining safety, oversight, and the future of extractive industries in Spain’s post-coal era.
Outdated. Some local residents and miners’ unions say the mine was operating under conditions reminiscent of decades past, with insufficient gas detection systems, while Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz, in a visit to the site, said, “In the 21st century, no one should die like this.”
2. 🎓 Government thinks private universities stink
Private uni lockdown. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday announced a sweeping reform that sought to tighten the creation and regulation of private universities. The move, he said, comes in response to what he calls a growing number of “educational chiringuitos” (aka low-quality private institutions) in the country, so it’s time to defend the prestige of the country’s public education system.
State of play. There are currently 50 public universities and 46 private ones in Spain, and more students are enrolled in private master’s degrees than in public ones. And the trend seems to be growing as more private institutions open: no new public university has opened since 1988).
Bad education. The government says it’s worried about the “low quality” of some of these institutions and doesn’t want universities to become “a mere marketplace where wealthy students always have a way in”. Hot off calling some Spanish judges a “disgrace”, Deputy PM Montero set her less diplomatic tongue to task dissing private universities. saying, “We can't allow someone to buy a degree.”
So what’s changing? The government expects to approve a reform of the Castells decree of 2021, which was supposed to regulate this but, it says, wasn’t enough. Some of the new requirements would be:
Minimum student body. Any new institution must reach 4,500 students within five years or risk losing its license. (Considering many very good colleges the world over don’t have 4,500 students, this makes little sense. 🤔)
Transparency. Promoters must disclose if the project is backed by a multinational, investment fund, or existing university group.
Mandatory research. At least 2% of the annual budget must come from competitive research funding.
Academic offering. New universities must offer at least 10 undergraduate degrees, 6 master’s programs, and 3 PhD programs across three different knowledge areas. (Again, why if so many great colleges and universities don’t do this?)
Real faculty. At least 50% of professors must hold PhDs, and no more than 8% can be on temporary contracts. (The temporary contract requirement would close every single university in the U.S. by the way.) Comically, when the 2021 reform lowered the temporary contract max from 40% to 20%, two-thirds of public universities didn’t even comply with the 40% limit—worse than private schools.
More than meets the eye. Turns out that the seven future private universities that would be affected by this are located in—wait for it—regions governed by the center-right PP that serves as the main opposition to Sánchez’s PSOE.
Where? Four are in Madrid, two in Extremadura, and one in Galicia.
PP not happy. Party leader Feijóo says Sánchez was attacking private universities “because he fears freedom of expression” (which doesn’t totally make sense, but good for trying). He added that the reform was "an ideologically motivated attack" against "the free choice of citizens" (which actually makes a little sense).
Speed dating. The reform is meant to be fast-tracked—meaning it won’t need to go through Congress—with final approval expected in May. The new rules won’t apply retroactively, but private universities that don’t meet the standards will have three to five years to comply or risk losing their license
Shocker. The reform will almost inevitably end up in court.
Funny finale. PM Sánchez—aka Mr. Handsome, not Mr. Scholarly—himself attended a private university, the Real Centro Universitario María Cristina de El Escorial, as did four other ministers in his government. Perhaps this is why PP boss Feijóo, when referring to Montero’s snide diss of private colleges, said, “I don't know if it was a criticism of the president… I hope not.”
3. 👑 Juan Carlos I, meet the Streisand Effect
Imagine your way back to 2003. That’s when less-famous-than-she-was American singer/actress Barbra Streisand sued a photographer and a website for $50 million for violating her privacy by publishing an aerial shot of her oceanfront mansion in a publicly available California Coastal Records Project documenting coastal erosion.
Did it work? No. Streisand was ordered to pay the photographer’s $177,000 legal fees and hundreds of thousands of people flocked to see the photograph, exactly the opposite, unintended consequence of her attempt to hide it. That’s the Streisand Effect.
Spain’s former King Juan Carlos I clearly hasn’t heard of it. Why do we say that? Well, let us tell you the tale of a lawsuit.
Legal demands. King Emeritus Juan Carlos I (or, as we like to call him, JC1) is suing former Cantabrian president/folksy politico Miguel Ángel Revilla for allegedly slandering him between 2022 and 2025. JC1 is demanding a public retraction and €50,000—which he says he’ll donate to Cáritas (so generous!).
How dare you call me names! According to his lawyer, Revilla used "injurious, defamatory and opprobrious" language on various Spanish TV shows, which apparently crossed the royal red line.
Well, he did say some stuff. The remarks in question? Let’s say that Revilla suggested that JC1 wasn’t always honest financially. Basically, he regularly used his media appearances to insinuate that JC1 is, well, a tax-dodging monarch with a penchant for offshore millions.
Greatest hits. “I even confided in him,” Revilla said, “but when I discovered he was a tax evader…”; “The €60 million he gave [his ex-lover] Corinna is just the tip of the iceberg.”; “He’s a fiscal exile. I won’t leave him in peace until he brings the money back to Spain.”
But, but, but. Thing is, while JC1 hasn’t been convicted of anything, it’s not like he enjoys a clean bill of legal health. Among other things, there was the Swiss money-laundering probe into how an offshore foundation linked to him came to receive a murkey $100m payment from Saudi Arabia in 2008. Then the aforementioned Corinna alleged that her former lover had slipped her €65m from that $100m gift in 2012. And Spain’s public prosecutor opened—and then closed—an investigation into alleged corruption, tax evasion, and money laundering in 2022.
Not exactly “innocent”. Spain’s watchdog found evidence of misconduct but couldn’t prosecute because some acts were statute-barred, others were committed while he was king (and thus legally untouchable), and still others were cleared thanks to some timely tax "regularizations".
But we were friends! 😭 On Wednesday, Revilla held a press conference where he seemed more heartbroken than hostile. “He was my idol,” he said. “My friend.” Now, Revilla says, he’s just a citizen going up against a man who can’t be prosecuted thanks to royal immunity. “Why me? Why not the CNI [Spain’s intelligence services], or Corinna, or Bárbara Rey [another ex-lover]? I’ve just said what everyone knows.”
See you in court. Revilla says he’ll show up to court like any other citizen—if the King himself can manage to show up in Spain.
You started it, JC1. So here we are. No one had been really talking about JC1’s offshore empire lately. But now? Now it’s back on every front page. And JC1’s son Felipe VI’s Royal Household—La Zarzuela—has wisely distanced itself from dad’s ill-considered legal shenanigans, calling the lawsuit a “personal initiative.”
The Streisand Effect? Try the Juan Carlos Effect. You try to silence the gossip and end up reminding everyone that it wasn’t gossip in the first place.
4. 🌆 Madrid offices going condo de lujo and you can’t stop it
The hottest new thing in Madrid real estate? Old digs. Specifically, stately old office buildings in neighborhoods like Salamanca, Chamberí, and Justicia being gutted, drowned in cash, and reborn as luxury apartments for people who definitely won’t be working from home (or maybe at all). (h/t El Confi)
The trend begins. The shift to offices kicked off quietly in 2019, when Arcano snapped up the old EFE news agency HQ at Espronceda 22 and announced plans for 50 high-end flats. That deal, pre-pandemic and pre-hybrid work hype, now looks downright visionary.
Wave 2. Five years later, we’re in the thick of it: wave two. New zoning rules, high-end demand, and a kind of spiritual fatigue with the fluorescent economy have turned once-bland office blocks into catnip for institutional investors, foreign buyers, and a very specific kind of interior designer who loves marble and creams.
Let us count the ways. Here are a few of the 15+ glossier conversions making the rounds:
🟡 María de Molina 50
FinMin go home. Bought for €205M by Grupo Lar and BlackRock (yes, that BlackRock), it’s the biggest conversion project in the city. Once home to the Ministry of Finance (who needs finance any more?), it's now slated for 158 luxury units plus a 400-bed student residence. Entry price? €650,000. Mid-range? €6,000/m². High-end? Don’t ask unless you’ve got a Swiss banker.
🟡 Velázquez 53
Who you calling a fascist? Purchased by Franco’s great-grandsons (you can’t make this up) for over €60M. Post-renovation, it’ll hold 13 luxury units—12 already sold—with prices averaging €24,500/m².
🟡 Velázquez 22
Branded resis. Bought in 2025 by Emuna Inversiones. Expected to become branded residences. Currently empty—except for a single Santander private bank branch, clinging to relevance.
🟡 Zurbarán 28
Ze price will be high. French investment giant Ardian enters the Madrid chat with this 10-unit luxury project in the current Quirónsalud HQ. Price tag: €37M including renovations.
🟡 Sagasta 31–33
Former McKinsey HQ. Bought by Impar Capital. €100M total investment. From decks to duplexes. (Don’t worry about McKinsey—their new place on Miguel Ángel is fab.)
But there’s more! Jordán 11 (ex-Telefónica), General Castaños 4 (Franco's descendants again, natch), Recoletos 14, Cedaceros 9, Alcalá 44, Génova 26… If the address sounds vaguely aristocratic, there’s probably a marble kitchen island going in right now.
So, what’s driving this?
👉 A massive price gap. Luxury residences can fetch €20,000+/m², while even the nicest office space tops out at around €12,000.
👉 A planning law break. The city quietly ditched a rule requiring “recovery of inner patios,” which used to penalize residential conversions.
👉 International capital + Madrid’s rising global cool factor = everyone wants in. 🥳
The result: Madrid, once allergic to shiny condo culture, is quietly becoming Europe’s luxury playground. For sale: one 1920s office block with original stone facade, private elevator, rooftop plunge pool, and absolutely no memory of cubicle culture.
5. 👑 More pix of Princess Leonor (in a bikini this time)
More royal drama! You probably remember how we wrote last week that the Royal Palace was suing a mall in Chile over leaked photos of Princess Leonor shopping.
Cover girl. This week she’s back in the news in what’s being called a “historic” photo (or “cover of the year”) by the Spanish tabloids and gossip magazines: Leonor at the beach… in a bikini (yes, you can roll your eyes all you want but the royalists love this stuff).
Southern loop. Early last month, Princess Leonor (who is undergoing military training with the Spanish Navy aboard the ship Juan Sebastián Elcano) spent the afternoon at a beach near Montevideo, Uruguay, with her ship companions. She was indeed wearing a bikini and no one seemed to care.
Relaxing! This week, the popular gossip magazine Diez Minutos published the first-ever photo of the future queen of Spain in her bikini, splashing it across their front page with the headline: “Princess Leonor relaxes on the beach.”
Pricey pix. The photos were reportedly taken by a Spanish paparazzo and were offered for as much as €150,000 before being sold for around €60,000.
Royal indignation. Sources close to the palace say King Felipe VI is upset, concerned that these images distract from the hard work his daughter is doing on her military training.
Angry Queen. Queen Letizia is also reportedly angry, arguing that this is a question of privacy and criticizing the constant scrutiny that her daughter faces even during moments of rest.
Spanish chatter. The publication immediately sparked a national conversation about privacy, gender double standards, the role of the monarchy in modern Spain and how far people will go to get a photo of Leonor. Some argue that this kind of media exposure humanizes Leonor and makes her more relatable. Others see it as an invasion of privacy.
No big deal. In terms of content, these photos are a nothing burger that shows exactly what you’d expect: a 19-year-old enjoying the beach with friends on a hot day. Honestly, it’s a young woman in a swimsuit, does it really justify this level of attention? But symbolically, they’ve become a flashpoint.
So where is Leonor now? Still training aboard the Juan Sebastián Elcano, now sailing along the Chilean coast. The next stops include Peru, Panama, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, and finally New York City, where the ship is expected to arrive in June—and where she probably won’t be wearing a bikini.
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