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02.11 - Spain Today News 12 November 2025 · Spain Today - Last Spanish News

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  Welcome to Spain Today, your daily dose of Spanish news in
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  English. We are bringing you the latest
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  updates from Spain, politics, culture, economy and everyday
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  life, all in a quick and clear summary.
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  Stay informed wherever you are. This is Spain Today.
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  Welcome to the deep Dive. That was your NEWS UPDATE.
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  And now let's really get into the source material we have
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  today. It paints a picture of Spain
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  facing, well, some pretty significant pressures.
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  Yeah, it's quite a combination. You've got these big demands
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  coming from the European Union, especially on migration.
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  Right. And then domestically, the
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  political scene is intense, doesn't quite cover it.
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  It seems like everything is revolving around the courts
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  right now. Exactly.
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  And that's what we want to untack here.
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  This isn't just about the daily headlines, is it?
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  It's about understanding the the underlying forces at play.
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  Like the mechanics of that EU pressure you mentioned?
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  Precisely. And how severe for the political
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  talk has become inside Spain. We need to look at these power
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  struggles, the structural issues and this whole theme of
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  accountability that keeps cropping up.
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  OK, let's start with that external pressure then.
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  The European Commission has officially said Spain is under
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  greater migratory pressure. What does that actually mean in
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  practice, You know, especially with this new migration and
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  asylum pact coming online? It's a formal trayer, basically.
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  This classification means Spain, along with Italy, Greece and
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  Cyprus, is seen as dealing with a disproportionate number of
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  arrivals, particularly from sea rescue operations.
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  So it's not just a label, it unlocks something.
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  It makes them eligible, yes, eligible, to ask for help under
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  the new EU solidarity mechanism. That's the core part of the
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  pact, which should be up and running by, what, June 2026?
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  And that mechanism is supposed to relocate migrants, right?
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  I think the number was 30,000 a year minimum from these high
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  pressure countries. That's the target, yeah, At
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  least 30,000 annually. On the surface, it looks like
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  you know, concrete solidarity, but.
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  You said it gets complicated. It does because the keyword
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  they're using is flexible solidarity.
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  Flexible usually means there's a way out, doesn't it?
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  Pretty much it means Member States can refuse to take in
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  relocated migrants. They can just say no.
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  Well, not exactly. Just say no.
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  If they refuse, they have to pay.
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  There's a compensation package. Pay who?
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  Pay what? They pay into a fund,
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  essentially the figure our sources mentioned is 20 thousand
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  €20,000 for every migrant transfer they reject.
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  Wait, really? At 20,000 per person.
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  Yes, or they can offer equivalent funds or logistical
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  support instead. But it boils down to a financial
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  opt out. You can calculate the cost of
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  not showing solidarity. That is stark.
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  It turns a human issue, a political commitment, into a
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  budget calculation. It really does and you can see
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  the political compromises behind it.
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  The commissioner, Marcus Brunner, even admitted it's not
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  perfect, but better than nothing.
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  That doesn't sound like a ringing endorsement.
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  No, it reflects how incredibly difficult it is to get all EU
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  members on the same page about migration.
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  It's this constant balancing act between solidarity and
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  responsibility. Speaking of responsibility,
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  isn't there a catch for countries like Italy even
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  getting this help? Yes, good point.
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  Berner made it clear before countries like Italy can fully
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  benefit from the solidarity mechanism, they need to get back
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  in full compliance with the Dublin rules.
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  Remind us what the Dublin rules are again.
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  Basically they say the first EU country and asylum seeker
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  answers is responsible for handling their claim.
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  So the EU is saying show us you're managing your own side of
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  the bargain, processing arrivals properly, then you can fully
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  access the solidarity funds and relocations.
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  It's definitely a bit of stick along with the carrot.
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  And this isn't just about the Med countries, is it?
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  The sources mentioned others too.
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  That's right, about a dozen other countries, Germany,
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  France, Poland, Belgium are listed are flagged as being at
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  risk of future pressure. They get priority access to some
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  aid instruments too. So Brussels definitely sees this
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  as a Europe wide challenge, not just a southern border problem.
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  Absolutely, it shows the scale, but for Spain, the immediate
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  issue is navigating the system where cooperation is encouraged
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  but, well, refusal has a price tag.
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  OK, let's pivot inward then, because while the EU situation
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  is complex, the domestic political climate in Spain
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  sounds explosive. That's one word for it, yeah.
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  The reports from Congress describe these incredibly harsh
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  attacks from the opposition leaders Alberto Nunez Fejo of
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  the PP and Santiago A Bascal from Vox, aimed at President
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  Pedro Sanchez. What was Faho's main line of
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  attack? Faho went hard, Yeah, very
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  personal. Accused Sanchez of having
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  disloyalty in the blood, saying he's only loyal to himself.
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  Strong words. Very.
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  And he basically drew a line in the sand, told Sanchez, don't
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  count on me for this or for anything, just total rejection
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  of any cooperation and of course demanding early elections.
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  He framed it as a political and moral obligation.
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  But it wasn't just political attacks, was it?
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  There was a specific focus on the judiciary.
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  Exactly. That was the core of it, really.
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  Fejo claims Sanchez is clinging to power out of fear, fear of
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  what the courts might do, either regarding his government or his
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  party. Fear of investigation?
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  Yes, he accused Sanchez of trying to control the State
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  Attorney's Office, the Prosecutor General's Office,
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  even dismantling the UCO. The UCO.
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  That's the Guardia Civil's main unit for tackling serious crime
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  and corruption. Right, that's the one.
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  So accusing the president of interfering there, well, that
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  ramps up the stakes considerably.
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  Did he give examples? He mentioned a specific case
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  involving a former socialist figure, Larry Diaz, who
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  allegedly offered favors from the prosecutor's office.
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  Faho directly asked Sanchez if he was also the president of the
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  Sewer of the Cloaca. It's language designed to
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  suggest deep seated corruption and abuse of power.
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  OK, so that's Faho. If his rhetoric was sharp, how
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  did Santiago a Basquel from Vox frame things?
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  Basquel's was, well, pure attack mode.
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  He called Sanchez a narcissist without scruples and then went
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  further, saying he was supported by bums and crooks directed by
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  terrorists and jihadists. When you hear language like that
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  in Parliament. It signals a complete breakdown
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  of normal political discourse. Absolutely.
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  The aim isn't to debate policy, it's to utterly delegitimize the
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  opponent. And a bascal also tried to
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  connect this to the situation in Valencia, didn't he?
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  There was a regional angle. Yes, very much so.
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  With the Valencian regional president Carlos Mazzone having
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  resigned, A Basquel saw an opening.
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  He said OK, support snap general elections.
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  But if not. If not.
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  What Sanchez should basically shut up and let the PP and Vox
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  install their own person, Juan Front Perez Yorca as the new
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  head of the Valencian regional government, the Generalitat.
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  Wow, that's quite the demand. And he didn't stop there.
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  He urged the PP to break all their agreements with Sanchez's
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  party, the PSOE everywhere, even in Brussels and Soda.
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  Total political warfare. So, facing accusations of being
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  a narcissist running a sewer, how did President Sanchez hit
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  back? Sanchez painted the opposition
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  as absolutely destructive. He accused them of being
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  surrendered to the Ultra Right. Trying to link PP to Vox
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  explicitly. Yes, and he broadened it out,
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  calling their behavior a symptom of the political, intellectual
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  failure of the European right. Then he tried to pivot back to
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  policy, asking for in spirit of agreement on things like
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  universal public health. And he used climate and public
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  services as his own counter attack weapon, it seems,
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  targeting regions where PP and Vox govern.
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  Correct. He specifically demanded
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  elections in Valencia, warning APP Vox government there would
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  dismantle climate protection measures.
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  And he brought up the Dana crisis.
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  He did. He invoked the memory of the 229
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  victims from the terrible floods in October 2024, linking climate
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  action directly to preventing future tragedies.
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  It was a powerful, if politically charged, argument.
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  And the public services angle? He went after PP run regions
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  like Madrid and Andalusia, accusing them of privatization,
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  of using the people's money to satisfy the demands of the
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  elites. He threw out that statistic
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  about Madrid sending one of every €3 of health spending to
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  private clinics. So accusations flying back and
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  forth often focused on control and integrity, which brings us
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  nicely to accountability and specific legal cases.
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  Yeah, the political fight isn't happening in a vacuum.
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  It's tied to real court cases and investigations.
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  Let's start with the state prosecutor general, Alvaro
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  Garcia Ortiz. He's actually on trial, isn't
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  he? He is back before the Supreme
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  Court just recently, November 12th.
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  He's maintaining his innocence over those alleged leaks about
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  Isabel Diaz Ayuso's partner Alberto Gonzalez Amador.
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  The accusation being he leaked details of Gonzalez Amador
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  admitting to tax crimes. Exactly.
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  The opposition sees this as proof positive the government is
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  using the prosecutor's office politically against rivals.
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  But the trial testimony itself wasn't straightforward.
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  No, it was quite interesting, actually.
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  Several journalists testified, and they explicitly denied that
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  Garcia Ortiz was their source for that information.
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  Really. So where did they say they got
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  it? Well, many invoked professional
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  secrecy, their right not to reveal their sources, but their
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  testimony definitely complicates the narrative that the leak came
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  directly from the prosecutor general himself.
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  OK, one more accountability Flashpoint Valencia and the Dana
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  crisis fallout. Carlos Mazan resigned as
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  regional president, but then appeared before an inquiry.
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  What was his defense? Mazan drew a very careful line.
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  He said his resignation was about taking political
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  responsibility. He even called it insufficient
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  for those trying to destroy his government.
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  But he insisted he had no operational responsibility
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  during the actual emergency, essentially saying yes,
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  politically it happened on my watch, but I wasn't the one
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  making the specific operational mistakes on the ground.
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  That sounds like a difficult distinction to maintain.
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  Who did he blame then? He pointed fingers towards the
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  central government in Madrid, claimed they didn't provide
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  enough information, didn't monitor the crucial ravines, the
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  Broncos properly. How did that go down with the
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  opposition? Not well.
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  The PSOE and compromise basically said he offered
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  nothing new. The PSOE spokesman even
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  threatened to report him for potential false testimony
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  reminding him he was underoath. So the question of who is truly
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  accountable for those 229 deaths is still very much alive and
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  very bitter political issue. So if we pull all these threads
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  together, what's the big picture?
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  You see Spain being squeezed, really.
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  On one side you have these EU migration rules coming in, rules
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  that try to enforce solidarity but build in this $20,000
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  financial escape hatch. Which kind of undermines the
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  whole idea of solidarity in the first place.
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  It potentially does, yeah. And then internally and
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  domestically, you have this incredibly toxic political
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  environment where the judicial system, prosecutors, judges,
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  investigators, has become the main battleground.
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  The fight is about survival, framed through accusations of
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  corruption or abuse of power. It does seem like accountability
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  is the word of the day, doesn't it?
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  Whether it's accountability for a natural disaster like the BANA
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  crisis, or alleged legal misconduct, or even just
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  fulfilling those EU migration quotas, everyone seems to be
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  under intense scrutiny. And those accusations are the
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  main political weapons right now.
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  That's a very good summary of the situation.
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  And looking at that EU migration pact again, it really does leave
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  you with a thought, doesn't it? We're seeing the creation of a
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  formal system where governments can literally put a price that
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  20,000 figure on on not accepting migrants they're
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  supposed to under the solidarity rules.
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  I calculated cost of non compliance.
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  Exactly. So the question for you, the
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  listener to maybe ponder is this can you ever build genuine
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  lasting European solidarity on migration or anything really,
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  when there's such a clear institutionalized financial way
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  for countries to just buy their way out of participating?