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02.10 - Spain Today News 28 October 2025 · Spain Today - Last Spanish News

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  Welcome to a new episode of Spain Today News, where you can
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  find Daily News from Spain dot in English.
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  Today we're diving deep into, well, a pretty turbulent time
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  across Spain. We're going to focus on three
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  main areas, a major political split that's shaking the
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  national government, some ongoing questions about how
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  parties handle their money, and, sadly, the continuing struggle
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  against gender violence. Yeah, and what's really striking
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  is how these things are connected.
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  Yeah, you know what happens regionally, like an extreme
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  adore with the budget or the political back and forth in
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  Borosi, it directly impacts the stability of the national PSOE
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  government. Right.
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  It feels like every single decision, whether regional or
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  financial, suddenly has these huge national implications for
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  Pedro Sanchez's government. So our aim today is to give you
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  the essential breakdown. We'll unpack what this gents
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  PSOE split really means, look at the details of how the
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  socialists are responding to those funding accusations, and
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  cover the urgent social crisis unfolding in Murcia.
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  OK, before we get into the thick of the politics, we have to
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  start with some critical news. The Guardius Civil is
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  investigating A suspected gender violence death in La Brilla,
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  Murcia, a 19 year old woman found deceased.
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  Yes, and her partner has been detained.
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  It's just a terrible situation, The.
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  Reports mentioned investigators had to force entry into the
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  home. That's right, and a really key
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  detail highlighted in the sources is that the victim
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  tragically wasn't registered in the Viogen system.
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  The Viogen system. That's the state's specialized
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  protection mechanism, isn't it? It is.
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  It's designed to protect victims, assess risk, but she
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  wasn't in it. And that's the recurring
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  challenge, right? The system is there, but if
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  someone isn't known to it or hasn't reported precisely, it
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  can't act proactively in those cases.
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  And the context here is Grimm. If this is confirmed as Valencia
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  Machisa, male violence against women, she would be the 34th
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  victim in Spain this year. 34th that number, it's staggering.
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  You would bring the total since 2003 when records began, to 1328
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  and it would be the second victim this year just in the
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  Mercy region. Devastating.
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  It really underscores the scale of the problem, even with the
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  support networks available. It does.
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  It makes it even more important to talk about the help that is
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  out there for anyone listening or if you know someone who might
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  need it. The support network is
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  comprehensive. It's available 204 seven.
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  Can you run through those resources, especially maybe the
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  ones people might not know about?
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  Sure. The main one is the 016
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  helpline. It's free, confidential,
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  operates in 53 languages. Crucially, it doesn't leave a
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  trace on your phone bill. That's.
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  Vital and digital options. Yes, there's e-mail 016 dash
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  online at Eagle dad dot gob dot ES and also WhatsApp.
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  That number is 600-0000, zero 1/6.
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  OK. And what about immediate
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  emergency situations? Well, obviously there's 112 for
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  any emergency and the specific police numbers, 09/1 for
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  National Police, 06/2 for Guardia Civil, but there's also
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  the Alert Cops app. The app.
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  How did that work? It lets you send a silent alert
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  directly to the police and it includes your location.
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  This is so important if someone is in a situation where they
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  can't speak or make noise without increasing the danger.
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  Got it. A silent alert with geolocation?
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  That could be a literal lifesaver.
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  Absolutely. These tools are designed
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  precisely for those terrifying moments.
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  OK, let's shift now to the national political scene.
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  A real earthquake here. Jonce Karl's pig.
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  Dumont's party deciding to break their agreement with the PSOE.
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  This isn't just a minor disagreement, is it?
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  No, this is huge pig. DuMont announced.
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  The party leadership wants to move into the opposition now.
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  The party members still need to vote on it.
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  We should know the results soon, I think Thursday evening.
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  Right ratification by the militancy, but the intention is
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  clear. Absolutely, and Pig Dumont's
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  reasoning is pretty harsh. He's basically saying the
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  Socialists lack the will to follow through on the political
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  deals they struck back in November for Sanchez's
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  investiture. He accused them of ignoring
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  their own weak position in parliament.
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  Yeah, and focusing only on power tactics for power's sake, as he
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  put it. Basically just trying to cling
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  to power without delivering on promises.
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  So what are the immediate consequences if this break is
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  confirmed? Well, it's pretty critical for
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  the government. Jones only has seven MP's, but
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  they were absolutely essential for Sanchez's majority.
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  If they pull out, the government loses that majority instantly,
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  which means it means they likely won't be able to pass the 2026
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  national budget. That's a massive problem for any
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  government. Governing without a budget is
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  incredibly difficult. So OK, a minority government
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  facing a budget blockade, but this can't just be about general
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  dissatisfaction. What specific things did just
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  say the PSOE failed on? Right, it's not just vague
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  feelings. Piedmont pointed to concrete
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  failures. One was lack of access to
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  documents related to the investigation into the Barcelona
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  and Cambrills terror attacks. OK.
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  That's significant. And the other major point, the
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  one tied directly to the budget? That's the balances, fiscales,
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  the fiscal balances. This is the data showing how
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  much money flows between Catalonia and the central
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  government, Gents says. Getting this data is absolutely
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  essential for negotiating the 2026 budget and the whole
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  regional funding model. So for you listening, this is
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  key. Gents isn't just asking for
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  numbers. They're using this demand to
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  force a bigger discussion about Catalonia's financial
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  relationship with Spain. Without those balances, they
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  argue, they can't negotiate fairly.
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  Exactly, Pudamont basically said.
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  We won't negotiate blindfolded while they hold all the
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  financial cards. He also brought up the failed
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  attempt earlier this year to transfer immigration powers to
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  Catalonia. And he didn't stop there, did
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  he? He also took aim at the
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  opposition parties. No, He talked about the
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  tripartite alliance of Spanish ISM, grouping together VOX, the
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  PP and interestingly, the Catalan Socialists, the PSC.
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  He used the recent deal between the Socialists and PP and
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  Barcelona City Council as proof they're all aligned against
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  Catalan interests. Wow.
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  So it's a major escalation, really drawing new battle lines.
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  Definitely, it sets a very confrontational tone for
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  whatever remains of this legislative term.
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  And sticking with finances but shifting focus, the PSOE itself
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  has been pushing back against accusations of irregular
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  funding. This idea of a kaja bee or slush
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  fund. This came out of the UCO report
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  linked to the Coldo case, right? Yes, the UCO, the Guardia Civils
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  Investigative Unit. Their report flagged about
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  €95,000 in expenses in the accounts of former minister Jose
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  Luis Avalos that they said lacked documentation.
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  The PP immediately seized on this, accusing the PSOE of
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  running an illegal parallel fund.
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  So how did the PSOE officially respond to the judge handling
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  the Coldo investigation? They submitted a large amount of
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  paperwork, justificance or receipts and explanations to the
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  Supreme Court Judge Leopold Apuente.
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  They claimed this documentation covers not just the period
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  questioned, but actually a much longer time frame to show
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  transparency. OK, let's breakdown their main
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  defense argument here because they're not denying cash was
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  used, are they? No, they're not.
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  Their core argument has two parts.
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  First, they say making small expense payments in cash is
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  perfectly legal and actually quite common, not just for
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  political parties but even for institutions like the Senate
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  itself. Legal and common.
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  What's the second part? Second, they insist that every
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  single one of these payments was properly recorded internally
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  and, crucially, audited and approved by the Court of
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  Accounts, Spain's official auditing body.
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  They also framed the €95,000 as a tiny fraction of the party's
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  overall budget, especially in election years.
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  But I mean, even if it's technically legal and audited
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  using cash for party expenses, it doesn't exactly scream
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  transparency, does it? That seems to be the political
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  vulnerability. That's exactly the issue.
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  Legality aside, the perception is problematic.
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  Cash is harder to trace, and the Khaji Bee accusation plays on
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  public distrust. And look, the political pressure
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  clearly had an effect. The sources note that after all
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  this controversy, the Senate itself actually voted to stop
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  using cash for Senators travel allowances specifically to
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  improve transparency. Interesting.
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  So, legal or not, the practice itself became politically toxic
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  enough to force a change. At least in the Senate, that's a
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  significant outcome. It really is.
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  It shows how public scrutiny can shift norms, even if the
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  underlying legality wasn't challenged successfully in court
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  yet. All right, let's pivot now to
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  the regional level because a lot of the national tension is
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  mirrored there. We're looking at Murcia, where
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  the regional president Fernando Lopez mirrors from the PPE,
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  commented on the snap election called in neighboring extreme
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  Madura. Yeah, mirrors described the
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  decision by extreme. Madura's president also PP as
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  coherent. His point was, look, if you
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  can't get your budget passed because the opposition blocks
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  everything, calling an election is sometimes the only logical
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  step to try and find stability. And he pushed back against the
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  idea that this was ordered from PP headquarters in Madrid, from
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  Geneva. He did.
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  He strongly defended the autonomy of regional presidents,
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  saying the national leader, Faye Joe, respects that.
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  Mirrors argued that Fijo, having governed Galicia with absolute
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  majorities, understands that regions need to make their own
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  calls. But Mirrors didn't just defend
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  his counterpart, he used it to launch an attack on his own
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  opposition in Murcia, didn't he? Accusing PSOE and Vox of working
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  together against him. That's right, he used the term
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  Acer la pinta, which means making a pincer movement.
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  He's accusing the Socialists and Vox, despite being political
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  opposites nationally, of coordinating votes in the Mercia
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  parliament specifically to obstruct his PP government.
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  A pincer movement? What does that actually look
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  like on the ground? How does it disrupt things?
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  He gave a specific example. He claimed they agreed to
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  schedule parliamentary scrutiny sessions on the exact same days
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  as his cabinet the council government was meeting.
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  So basically forcing the government team to be in two
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  important places at once. Exactly.
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  It's a procedural tactic designed to disrupt the
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  government's workflow and make governing more difficult.
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  Pure political maneuvering, according to Maris.
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  But despite these alleged tactics, Maris still projected
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  an image of stability for his region, particularly on the
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  budget front. Yes, he defended his 2025
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  budget, which he managed to pass with support from Vox.
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  He pointed out that the specific budget items negotiated to get
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  Vox's backing amounted to less than 1% of the total budget.
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  So his argument is he secured overall stability for Murcia
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  through what he admitted was a frankly complex negotiation.
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  And finally, there was a brief mention of health services in
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  Murcia. Yeah, likely Responding to news
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  about issues elsewhere, Mirrors made a point of highlighting
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  Murcia's performance and breast cancer screening.
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  He stated there's currently no waiting list for screening in
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  the region, and the maximum wait for a necessary follow up
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  mammogram is just 19 days. So positioning Murcia as
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  efficient and reliable in delivering crucial health
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  services. Precisely contrasting regional
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  competence with perhaps the instability scene at the
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  national level or problems in other regions.
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  OK, let's try and bring this all together.
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  What we've seen today is this intense political instability,
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  mainly driven by Junts breaking their pact with the national
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  government, that immediately throws the 2026 budget into
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  doubt. Yeah.
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  And alongside that, you've got this ongoing demand for
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  financial transparency shown by the scrutiny over the PSO ES
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  cash payments, even when they're arguing it was all above board
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  and audited. And all this political
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  maneuvering is happening against the backdrop of really urgent
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  social issues. The terrible tragedy in Librella
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  underscores the need for effective gender violence
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  protection, for the Viogen system to work better, and, as
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  Mirrors highlighted, the basic need for essential services like
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  healthcare to run smoothly. It's that contrast, isn't it?
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  High level political drama versus critical on the ground
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  realities. So looking ahead, with gents now
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  effectively out of the government's coalition, leaving
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  it without a clear majority, what's the one thing listeners
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  should really keep an eye on in the coming weeks?
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  What's the crucial factor now? It has to be the budget, or
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  rather the lack of a guaranteed budget for 2026 because that
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  failure immediately puts gents core demands back on the table
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  with immense leverage. You need to watch how the
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  government tries to navigate this without a majority.
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  Keep an eye on discussions around the amnesty laws status
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  and especially those balances fiscals.
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  The fiscal balances. Those financial demands are
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  going to be central to almost every political fight from here
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  on out. The government is in a really
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  tight spot and how they handle these specific technical demands
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  will define their ability to govern at all.
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  Thanks for following our podcast and see you soon at Spain Today.
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