#spanish-politics

#spanish-politics

Police officers entered the PSOE premises on Wednesday, the Reuters news agency reported, quoting a Civil Guard spokesperson. The Civil Guard told The Associated Press news agency that the police were under judicial orders to find material relevant to a National Court inquiry into accusations of corruption against former party members and other individuals. The police said the search is strictly limited to the inquiry, led by National Court judge Santiago Pedraz, into the possible wrongdoing of PSOE member Leire Diez.

Zapatero, a socialist who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, has been ordered to appear before Spain's highest criminal court, the Audiencia Nacional, on 2 June. Although other former and serving Spanish prime ministers have been called to testify in corruption cases, this is the first time a former prime minister has been placed under criminal investigation. The latest investigation is part of an investigation into the 53m (46m) state rescue of the Spanish airline Plus Ultra in March 2021.

Some say we've gone too far, that we're going against the current, he said. But I would like to ask you, when did recognising rights become something radical? When did empathy become something exceptional? It comes days after the Socialist-led coalition government approved a decree that it said would regularise half a million people. The initiative, expected to come into effect in April, made headlines around the world for its rejection of the anti-migration policies and rhetoric seen across much of Europe and the US.

Hundreds of Spanish fascists marched through Madrid on Friday, a day after the country marked the 50th anniversary of divisive right-wing former dictator Francisco Franco's death. The Falange -- an organisation that sees itself as the successor to defunct fascist movements that helped bring Franco to power in a devastating 1936-1939 civil war -- protested against what it calls democratic Spain's 1978 constitutional "regime".

It's Thursday morning and Spain's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, 53, arrives at the Miro Room in La Moncloa, the seat of government, dressed in a blue suit and in good spirits. He seems eager to continue the fight. Neither the fierce legal pressure nor the withdrawal of parliamentary support by the Catalan separatist party Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), announced just an hour earlier, appear to have affected the Socialist Party (PSOE) leader.

As an alderperson in northwestern Spain, Rosana Prieto tends to the running of her tiny village and is far removed from major cities, often rocked by protests over geopolitical issues. But with one of the world's biggest cycling races coursing through the bucolic hills nearby, she and hundreds of like-minded townspeople sensed a chance to make their small voices heard, denouncing Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

Miriam Gonzalez Durantez is contemplating a move into politics, following a gap in the liberal space in Spain after Ciudadanos' decline. She aims to launch a new liberal party.