Surprise demand by Torra could scuttle Catalan talks
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez left a meeting Thursday in Barcelona with Catalan regional President Quim Torra thinking he had a deal with…
Politics
Ministry moves to quell VOX support within military
The Ministry of Defence has sacked the commander of a military base in Logroño in La Rioja province after the base hosted…
Puigdemont & Co are ‘personae non grata’ in Strasbourg
Former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont and two other separatist politicians from Catalonia now fully credentialed as European Parliament legislators (MEPs) are getting…
Sánchez flip-flops over dialogue on Catalan conflict
In the space of just six hours on Thursday afternoon, President Pedro Sánchez performed an inelegant about-face on an earlier surprise decision…
Catalan president Torra loses seat in regional assembly
Catalan President Quim Torra was divested of his seat in the regional Parlament in a raucous session on Monday that drove a…
PSOE re-introduces euthanasia law in Congress
Spain’s Socialist party has re-introduced legislation in Congress to legalize euthanasia, with the government’s new Health Minister Salvador Illa saying he anticipates…
Twitter suspends VOX account for ‘incitement to hatred’
Spain’s ultra-right VOX party has had its official account on Twitter suspended by the social-media platform after claiming falsely in a Tweet…
Sánchez to Davos: social justice, growth must co-exist
Spanish President Pedro Sánchez put forward a contrarian message Wednesday to the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland — that social…
Calvo tells Vatican envoy church owes property taxes
Spain’s 1st Vice-President Carmen Calvo met with the Vatican’s new envoy to Spain Wednesday, telling him that the coalition government led by…
Coalition gov’t creates new animal welfare directorate
Spain’s new PSOE-Unidas Podemos coalition government has created a new animal protection directorate, coordinating jurisdictions over the protection of the welfare of…
Andalucian Socialist first female Guardia Civil director
Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska has named an Andalucian Socialist and longtime government administrator, María Gámez, to become the first woman ever to…
Clock ticking on Puigdemont EU parliament immunity
The European Parliament (EP) announced last week that it has begun proceedings that could result in the withdrawal of parliamentary immunity from…
Robles unceremoniously sacks military chief of staff
Just one day after the first Consejo de Ministros cabinet meeting of the new coalition government of President Pedro Sánchez, Defense Minister…
LGBT activists land key posts in new Equality ministry
Spain’s new Equality Minister, Irene Montero of Unidas Podemos, has named two longtime LGBT activists and former presidents of the National Federation…
Marlaska sacks officials, launching police reorganization
In his first act since being reconfirmed as Spain’s Interior Minister, Fernando Grande-Marlaska has initiated an anticipated shakeup of Spain’s national police…
New coalition cabinet approves 0.9% rise to pensions
► Spain’s first coalition cabinet since 1936 ‘Frente Popular’ government ► First time a gov’t ministerial cabinet has had four Vice-Presidencies ►…
Euro Parliament withdraws immunity from Junqueras
The European Parliament announced on Friday that it was reversing its decision to decision to recognize jailed Catalan separatist leader Oriol Junqueras…
Fourth V-P to push transition toward green economy
Incoming President Pedro Sánchez revealed on Thursday that the cabinet of his new progressive coalition government will be headlined by four vice-presidencies,…
Gender equality prioritized to ministry level in new gov’t
Equality among the sexes will assume top-line ministerial priority in the formation of the new progressive coalition government between the Socialist party…
Iglesias to coordinate ‘Agenda 2030’ for coalition gov’t
In one of the final interventions of the congressional debate Tuesday that saw Socialist party general secretary Pedro Sánchez re-elected to a…
Sánchez wins bid to form progressive coalition gov’t
► Socialist leader wins Congress vote 167-165, with 18 abstentions ► ‘YES’ votes (167): PSOE, Unidas Podemos, PNV, Mas País, Compromís, Nueva…
POLITIFILE :: ‘Who’s Who’ among Spain’s political parties
Confused by the ABC’s of Spain’s political parties? That’s understandable, given that the Spanish political landscape is now more fragmented that at…
After bruising debate, Sánchez key vote set for Tuesday
After a grueling two-day investiture debate in Spain’s Congress that lasted all of Saturday and into Sunday morning, acting President Pedro Sánchez…
ERC-PSOE accord gives green light to Sánchez election
After weeks of negotiations, the national executive council of the Catalan separatist party Esquerra Republicana (ERC) has approved a pact with the…
What does the EU court ruling on Junqueras mean?
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Strasbourg has issued a far-reaching and unprecedented ruling that overturns a widely accepted norm as…
Sánchez accepts King’s request to form new government
Acting President Pedro Sánchez announced Wednesday evening that he has accepted the request made to him by Spain’s head of state, King…
Esquerra puts kibosh on new government before January
Catalonia’s pro-independence Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) party on Monday dashed the hopes of acting President Pedro Sánchez to quickly have a…
Felipe VI kicks off two days of consultation with parties
Spain’s head of state, King Felipe VI, embarked Tuesday on a two-day marathon round of consultations with leaders of political parties represented…
Right splits, Left gets six seats on new Congress ‘Mesa’
Parties on the progressive left managed to pick up an unprecedented six seats on the nine-member executive Mesa del Congreso of Spain’s…
Gender-violence judge to preside over Spain’s Senate
The Socialist party (PSOE) majority in the Spanish Senate is set to name a career judge specializing in gender-violence crimes to preside…
Survey ranks Spain’s democracy at 13th best worldwide
A global survey on democracy conducted every year since 1995 has ranked Spain 13th worldwide in democratic values and practices, a jump…