In the absence of a week for the first game to be resolved on the new political board that left the scrutiny of the polls, there is only one safe bet: Meritxell Batetno will once again be the PSOE candidate for the presidency of Congress. The distribution of both the main post of the Board of the Lower House and the remaining eight that will be made official on Thursday of next week is still being decided in negotiations against the clock and under the wrapper of discretion, but whose result will be a indicative of what can happen next with the investiture.

At this time, the block of forces on the right that support Alberto Núñez Feijóo is tied at 171 deputies with the “plurinational” that is expected to align monolithically with Pedro Sánchez. The direction that the legislature takes will depend on what Junts per Catalunya (JxCat) and the Canary Islands Coalition (CC) do on August 17, including the possibility of a repeat election.

But to reach that point, the first thing that the different interlocutors in Congress have to do is agree on the composition of the Table and since Sumar, the brand with which Podemos and 14 other political forces presented themselves to the elections, has begun to slip the idea that the presidency “does not have to be yes or yes for the PSOE”. The clearest voice that has been heard is that of Joan Baldoví, deputy for Compromís in the Valencian Parliament, who this Tuesday pointed out that the fact that any other party held it “would reflect the plurality of the results” of 23-J, reports Europa Press.

Until now, the highest position in the Lower House, which is supposed to be the third authority in the State, had always been occupied by a member of the party in charge of La Moncloa, which, in turn, had been the most voted in the last elections. The only exception occurred in the period from the motion of no confidence against Mariano Rajoy in May 2018 until the first call for elections in 2019, in which the popular Ana Pastor continued in office.

Assuming that Sánchez -who has not been the winner of the elections this time either- now agrees to cede the presidency of Congress to another formation in exchange for support for his eventual inauguration, it would be the first time that this coincidence of political acronyms would not take place. in both institutions. The request made from the ranks of Sumar is also joined by the number two of ERC for Barcelona, Teresa Jordà, who in an interview published on Monday in El Periódico suggested that one of the nine chairs of the Table, without specifying which, ” could belong to the independence movement or the PNV”, to which he added: “That is open and is part of the negotiations.”

Distribution

The distribution of posts in the body that organizes parliamentary work and sets the calendar of activities has always been the subject of agreements regardless of the representation of each of the forces to shield, as appropriate, a majority of left or right. In the distribution of 2019, the PSOE was left with three positions, the same as United We Can despite having been the fourth political force behind the PP, which obtained two, and Vox, with one.

In the framework of the negotiations that are taking place now, the popular had offered the PNV one of the positions of the Table in exchange for its support for the investiture of Feijóo after the Santiago Abascal party publicly announced that it was resigning from demand to enter the Government as the price of their votes. “We are going to do everything possible to make that happen,” stressed the vice president of Political Action for the formation, Jorge Buxadé, in an interview on Cadena Cope.

conversations

From the PP, they warn that they are not going to give up “to fight any battle” and stress that they have the ability to “talk to everyone and agree with almost everyone”, “to the right and left”. And in the PSOE they insist that they are holding “many conversations”, but they appeal to “discretion and prudence” so as not to reveal their claims, not even that of who their candidate for the presidency of Congress will be after the “personal” resignation of Batet.

The announcement came a day after the former spokesman for Podemos in the Lower House, Pablo Echenique, called the possibility of the Catalan politician repeating in office as “recklessness” and also called for a person to be elected of another party that “gathers the consensus of the different forces that make up the majority.”

From the mandate of Batet, who had led Congress since May 21, 2019, the controversy surrounding deputy Alberto Rodríguez stands out, convicted in October 2021 for attacking authority after assaulting a police officer in 2014. The controversy arose when, after ordering it by the Supreme Court, the president withdrew her seat, which led to the announcement of the filing of a complaint by the purple formation against her that remained a threat.

The agreement for the reissue of the tripartite government of Navarra was signed yesterday by the acting president and candidate for re-election, the socialist María Chivite, and the leaders of Geroa Bai and Contigo-Zurekin, Uxue Barkos and Begoña Alfaro. The three referred to this legislature pact as “ambitious” and “progressive”, which will enable Chivite to attend the investiture session with 21 supports from the 50 parliamentarians of the Chamber. Meanwhile, the president of Parliament, Unai Hualde, began the procedures to convene the plenary session of investiture.

For his investiture to be a reality, EH Bildu will have to, at least, abstain in the second vote. For this, the abertzale formation consults today its militancy whether to facilitate the formation of the Executive “through abstention”, an option for which its Political Table of Navarra is committed. “In Navarra there are progressive majorities and the citizens do not want the right to govern neither in Navarra nor in Madrid,” argued the formation in a press release to mark a position before the consultation raised with the militancy.

Among the most outstanding political proposals of the tripartite agreement is a firm commitment to “linguistic diversity”, a nod precisely to EH Bildu. «Navarra claims its diversity, in defense of its heritage and culture. And, of course, their own languages. Hence, we show the greatest respect for the Basque language in the context of the law from sociolinguistic logic,” Chivite stressed.

Regarding the rest of the agreement, this included that the government have three vice-presidencies -one for each formation- and that Geroa Bai will propose to the regional senator that he has to elect the Parliament of Navarra, as happened four years ago.. Barkos did not elaborate on who the senator might be, saying it is something the coalition will have to discuss.

In her speech, the socialist also highlighted the principles of political action that the new Executive will take: “Continue delving into an economic model that combines economic development and a social model”, in addition to “strengthening public services as a key element of equality of opportunities”.

In the labor field, Chivite stressed that “they will place emphasis on public employment policies, with special emphasis on the most vulnerable groups” and also on “women, youth and migrants”.. To which he has added that his objective is focused on “creating quality employment.”

In terms of social policies, Chivite affirmed that she will lead “a feminist government that empowers women, that respects affective-sexual diversity, the rights of LGTBI+ people, that works for non-discrimination and against all kinds of violence”. To which he added special attention “against sexist violence.” “A new regional health law” will also be promoted from a council that will now depend on Geroa Bai.

Regarding the industry: “Bet on digitization, artificial intelligence and being a transforming lever that must be fulfilled by the public, from a public-private collaboration.”

Finally, the acting president threw a dart at the pacts between the PP and Vox: «Our path, unlike that of other communities, will be to advance in rights, public services, equality and coexistence. Neither cuts nor setbacks ».

For his part, the president of the Navarrese PP, Javier García, warned of the consequences of the agreement: “The only thing it will bring is more instability and further setback for Navarra.”

Four months after approving the law for the right to housing in Congress, together with Bildu and the votes of the then Government of the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, ERC has decided that the text invades the powers of the Generalitat. For this reason, in a plenary session to be held in Parliament on September 1, the Republicans will request the filing of an appeal of unconstitutionality against this regulation despite its initial endorsement.. They will do it together with JxCat who voted against the law and who will now join in asking for this resource.

Undoubtedly, this change of opinion will be one of the issues to be discussed if the PSOE leader Pedro Sánchez can obtain support for his investiture and revalidate the presidency of the Government.. ERC argues for an opinion from the Statutory Guarantees Council, which had two individual votes from its members, to rectify its initial decision in the middle of the negotiation process with the Socialists. For the moment, the president of Parliament, Anna Erra, convened the plenary session for the first of September after JxCat's decision to file an appeal for unconstitutionality.

In July, Junts urged the Council of Statutory Guarantees to pronounce itself and the body concluded that the law for the right to housing violates the exclusive competence of the Generalitat in this matter, such as the principle of financial autonomy and the autonomy of spending of the Government. ERC joined the Junts request and will also support the appeal to the Constitutional Court of this regulation to “defend the self-government of Catalonia and, at the same time, maintain progress in housing matters.”

In addition, the Republicans allege that their work in Congress “allowed fundamental social advances in the area of housing”, such as “capping rental prices or curbing speculation and abuses that affect citizens”. However, they point out that, despite “all the improvements in jurisdictional aspects that could be shielded during the parliamentary process in the Spanish Courts, the Council of Statutory Guarantees details that in some articles the law affects the self-government of Catalonia in aspects such as urban planning or financial and spending autonomy”. That is why ERC and JxCat will join efforts to justify the appeal of this law.

Specifically, ERC proposes to challenge articles 2, 15, 27, 28, 29, and the seventh final provision of the Law for the right to housing, although Junts goes further and claims to withdraw three more articles, 16, 17 and 18, and the first and second transitory provisions. “Esquerra once again vindicates its commitment on all those fronts that mean defending Catalonia, both its self-government and those laws and measures that entail progress and improvements in the day-to-day life of Catalans,” they emphasize.

In October 2010, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros y de Simón was about to turn 40 and did not hesitate to pose for this newspaper with an impeccable suit and the beard that still accompanies him along with his father, Carlos. At that time, he was only the businessman son of the four Marquis of Valtierra, a title granted by Alfonso XIII to his grandfather in 1907 for his military and diplomatic collaboration.. This “man, Spanish, Christian, straight, married, father of a large family, patriot, capitalist, conservative, bullfighting and Madridista” showed an interest in politics but it was not yet predicted that, nine years later, he would become a founder and spokesperson in the Vox Congress of Deputies, a newly created party as a scourge of the left and separatism, and even the Popular Party, defender of the unity of Spain against nationalisms “incompatible with democracy.”

With a family name, his father had carved out an impressive business career linked to power. He went from commercial attaché in Chicago in the throes of Francoism to president of Iberia with Felipe González, director of Inditex, president of Mercedes Benz-Spain and, as a last position, high commissioner of the Government of Mariano Rajoy for the Spain Brand until 2018. At that time, Iván, one of his five children, had already approached politics through a training that stood out in 2013 and had not yet achieved any institutional representation.. Its visible head was the popular leader Alejo Vidal-Quadras.

Iván and Carlos Espinosa de los Monteros, in a report for El Mundo Magazine in 2010. BEGOÑA RIVAS

His working life had long been spent straddling the United States. He graduated in Economics and Business from ICADE, with an MBA from Northwestern University in Illinois (USA), speaks three languages and held positions of responsibility in various auditing, venture capital management and real estate companies in Spain and New York and Miami, where he did not always have good fortune, and had real estate investments in Warsaw and Madrid. It was in the capital where he successfully opted for the conversion of industrial spaces into luxury homes, a task he shared with his wife, Rocío Monasterio, an architect with Cuban and anti-Castro origins whom he had met on his American journey.. They were married on May 15, 2001, the day of San Isidro, in Esclavas de la Moraleja with the blessing of Pope John Paul II and a celebration at the exclusive Real Club Puerta de Hierro. Together they had four children and together they launched themselves to promote Vox wrapped in their conservative, Catholic, monarchical and economically ultra-liberal values.

Espinosa and Monasterio, on their wedding day in 2001. @monasterioR Departure from the PP, “like drugs”

It was in January 2012, when he personally met Santiago Abascal at a dinner for Intereconomía gatherings a few days before the Basque appeared at the National Court to testify about the harassment of nationalists he suffered when he was elected PP councilor in Llodio (Álava).. Espinosa de los Monteros, in what can be interpreted as his first public political gesture, accompanied him before the court. By then, he had already become disenchanted with the Popular Party, from scandal to scandal over corruption. “I was a PP voter, but you get out of everything, like drugs,” he confessed in 2019.

Between 2014 and 2016 he was secretary general of Vox, he became deputy secretary general for international relations and in 2019 he obtained a seat that made him the visible parliamentary face of the party. At the time, his wife took the reins of the party in the Community of Madrid. For Joan Baldoví, a Compromís deputy, both became the perfect example of the “caviar ultra-right”.

Rugby, Nadal and Real Madrid

As a good soccer fan -although he played rugby, loves tennis and suffers with Rafa Nadal-, his style has been an attacking game, assuming that the rival could catch him in a counter. He has had scuffles in Congress with the nationalist parties, “who want to end the unity of Spain”, with Podemos, “enemies of Spain, for any policy that came from the purple, especially those related to democratic memory, the violence of gender or the Trans Law, and with the PSOE, among others, for immigration policy, “because there is no money but there is money to support 'menas' throughout Spain and the stay of illegal immigrants in the Canary Islands”. The last of her controversial phrases was addressed to the vice president and leader of Sumar, Yolanda Díaz, during the electoral debate prior to 23J, referring to her physical appearance: “A very sweet, very nice leader, with a very attractive tone, who has improved his personal appearance a lot and that's all very well”.

Espinosa and Abascal, in an act in defense of the Constitution. JAVIER BARBANCHO

The left. In a broad sense, he has been objective and defined her in an interview in Miami 2019 as “dirty, underdressed and with a ponytail” and, in his opinion, “we should analyze whether they have the right to be in the political game”. But neither was Ciudadanos spared, whom he defined as “neat, well-dressed, shaven left, pretty girls, young, good-looking and the right is seduced by that aspect.”

In response to the verbal, and sometimes radical, lashes of the former Vox leader, his ancestors, soldiers close to Franco, present at the meeting between the Spanish dictator and Adolf Hitler in Hendaye, were aired. He was the brother of his great-grandfather, Eugenio Espinosa de los Monteros, who was also the Spanish ambassador to Nazi Berlin between 1940 and 1941.

Controversial real estate deals

However, the real controversy has not only surrounded him because of his words, but also because of judicial matters carried out with the real estate activity of Espinosa de los Monteros and his wife.

In 2019, the actor and comedian Arturo Valls sued Rocío Monasterio after hiring her in 2005 to reform a commercial premises in the Lavapiés neighborhood of Madrid destined to become his home. The works were carried out without a license and without proving the change of use, for which reason the Provincial Court sentenced Monasterio last January to compensate the actor with 8,043 euros because he was “aware of its illegality.”

In December 2021, the Supreme Court sentenced Espinosa de los Monteros for trying to avoid paying 63,000 euros for the works on his house in Madrid, a modern and luxurious single-family home in the Chamartín district that the family acquired in 2014 with a mortgage of 1.2 million euros. The couple not only did not pay the builder, but also declared bankruptcy to the company through which they had to pay. When Espinosa de los Monteros was required to resign in Congress after being convicted of not paying for the renovation of his four-story home, he simply replied: “It doesn't have four floors, but five.”

In addition, the house did not have an occupation and habitability license and was about to be sealed by the Madrid City Council. That led to being reminded in Congress that he was “an occupier with K” for years.

His judicial problems increased in April, when the Treasury discovered that together with his wife he had allegedly invented false invoices for a value of 169,000 euros for real estate advice that, according to the Tax Agency, never existed.. In addition, they revealed that they tried to tax the sale worth 25 million through two companies without activity.

If the month of July was especially bloody with nine violent deaths, August starts with a new escalation of sexist murders that is difficult to digest. In just 24 hours, two young women and a 91-year-old woman have been murdered by their husbands, in the capital of Almería, Pozoblanco (Córdoba) and in Tenerife.

The first, Zouhr, was of Moroccan origin like the father of her children, the same one who slit her throat with a kitchen knife with a 10-centimeter blade in front of the three minors.. The second, Juani, is originally from Villanueva de Córdoba, and was about to leave her home in Pozoblanco as a result of the breakdown of her marriage.. Hours before being murdered, she was desperately looking for a rental apartment to move in with her three children.

Apparently his partner, whom years ago he had denounced for ill-treatment, could have ended his life and then committed suicide. A three-year-old daughter found the bodies of her parents and went out into the street to seek help from the neighbors, who notified the Local Police and the Civil Guard around 8 in the morning.

The minor children of the marriage were also witnesses to the murder of Almería. Two of them, just 7 and 10 years old, asked for help after witnessing the death of their mother at the hands of their husband, who was arrested hours later.. They have another younger brother, six months old.. The three have already been placed at the disposal of the social services, which will look for a relative who can take care of the children or will initiate the procedures to provide them with a new home.

The case of Almería was confirmed yesterday as a case of gender violence, since the evidence was many. Apparently, the man put up some resistance to his arrest and came to use one of his children as a shield, according to data from the investigation to which Efe had access.

The one in Pozoblanco will initially be a more complicated case, given that the main suspect has also died.. The hypothesis that was considered hours after the two bodies appeared, she 32 years old and he 39, along with a long weapon (shotgun or carbine type), was that the man would have committed suicide after ending the life of his wife, who had taken steps to separate and was about to leave home.

Police sources confirmed to EL MUNDO that the man had previous complaints for ill-treatment but currently there was no protection order in force for his partner, probably due to withdrawal of the complaint.

The couple also had three young children, who have already been welcomed by their closest relatives without the intervention of the Andalusian social services having been necessary.

But the macabre picture of this beginning of the month of August was not completely complete.. Early yesterday afternoon, another violent death was also known, that of a 91-year-old woman, who was allegedly murdered by her partner, a 92-year-old man, in Valle Guerra, in La Laguna (Tenerife).. The suspect was arrested hours later.

In the latter case, there were no previous complaints of ill-treatment, nor were the victim or her executioner registered with the Viogen victim protection program.

A little over a week ago there was also news of the murder of another woman, this time in Utrera (Seville). It was about Erica Vanessa, a 22-year-old Nicaraguan girl who died on July 31 at the hands of her partner at her home.

She had come from her hometown of Telolinga, in eastern Nicaragua, to meet her sister, who had managed to settle in this municipality after escaping in 2008 from the political and social situation in her country.

The victim's family confirmed yesterday that they had already managed to raise 4,000 of the 6,000 euros they need to repatriate his body to Nicaragua and asked their neighbors and relatives for one last effort to achieve their goals.

With regard to the latest deaths registered in just 24 hours, the Ministry of Equality has only confirmed the one that occurred on Monday in Almería as a case of gender violence. But, if the other two are confirmed, we would already be adding 35 women killed by their partners or ex-partners so far this year in Spain, and a third would have occurred in Andalusia.

The chain of allegedly sexist murders triggered the alarms again yesterday after an equally bloody month of July. The reactions of condemnation followed one another. Thus, the acting President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, called for continuing to work “with unity and firmness” to end any form of sexist violence.