During the Ceuta migration crisis, Rabat is said to have repeatedly violated Spanish territorial waters, coming close to a naval clash. The government remained silent for months and now the Prime Minister is playing down the incident. Meanwhile, Philip VI is visiting the exclaves and Morocco appears keen to facilitate a return to normality ahead of the elections

Investigating magistrate Beatriz Biedma, who has committed the Prime Minister’s brother to stand trial, has joined the proceedings as a civil party in the investigation into the ‘scandal’ surrounding the Spanish Socialist Party. Meanwhile, rumours are beginning to circulate in Madrid about a possible candidacy for Begoña Gomez in the general election on 29 November

The (suspended) arrest warrant against Puigdemont and a region where the political fate of the (Spanish) nation could once again be decided

The Socialist leader offers an original interpretation of the Constitution, stating that whilst awaiting a new Parliament, it is right for the government to provide answers to the public. However, he glosses over the second decree, and the first turns out to be decidedly more centrist than previously announced. Meanwhile, the Spanish Supreme Court has revoked the arrest warrant for Carles Puigdemont, the Catalan independence leader who has been on the run in Belgium for years.

The new elections are scheduled for 29 November. It will be a tough fight for the President’s party: the latest polls suggest that the combined votes for the PP and Vox will secure an absolute majority of seats

The rejection of the housing decrees confirms the rift with the Catalan separatists and leaves Sánchez without a majority in Parliament: Spain is heading for a snap election, whilst the Prime Minister seeks to win back the support of the radical left

The eviction of an 87-year-old woman has turned the housing crisis into an election battle. The government hastily passed a decree that has divided the Socialists and Sumar, while Yolanda Díaz once again finds herself wearing both the hats of deputy prime minister and people’s champion against the very government of which she is a member. 

The problems facing the Spanish housing market have reignited the struggles ‘for the city’ and against ‘gentrification’. The Affordable Housing Act adopted by the European Commission is also moving in the same direction

In Portugal and Spain, the conservatives have seized upon an issue dear to progressives (women’s freedom) and have backed them into a corner. The same pattern is repeating itself in Italy with Meloni’s proposal. Will the Italian left manage to avoid falling into the trap?