The Valencia Football Club has resorted to the Supreme Court to avoid a payment of 2.3 million to the Tax Agency for alleged irregularities with the VAT between 2011 and 2014. The National Court already rejected their arguments a year ago, but the Contentious Chamber of the Supreme Court will review the case considering that the Treasury could go too far. “There is no undue income,” defends the club.

The claim of the Tax Agency points to two different issues: on the one hand, its payments to “agents or representatives of soccer players” as a result of the signings, transfers and contracts of soccer players and, on the other, the transfers of those same players to other clubs established in Spain.

payments to agents

The Treasury has been chasing clubs for several years for payments to footballer representatives. The Tax Agency defends that the agents only work for the players and, therefore, these payments are still a way of increasing the salary of the latter. The agents' invoices include VAT and the clubs deduct it later, but when applying the reasoning that it is a hidden payment to players, the Treasury points out that it is irregular.

The National Court has welcomed these types of claims in recent years, but the Supreme Court has just changed the rules. His new doctrine does not go into the substance of the debate on payments to agents, but in a procedural aspect to conclude that the Treasury should have claimed the money in another way.

The key is found in article 13 of the General Tax Law (LGT): “Tax obligations will be required in accordance with the legal nature of the acts, facts or business carried out”. The Supreme Court concluded in February that the Tax Agency should not have based its claims on this article, since its inspections went beyond an examination of “the legal nature” and entered to assess the three-way relationship between clubs, agents and soccer players.. To pursue this type of practice, legal sources point out that it should have been based on article 16, which opens the door to inspections for “acts or businesses in which there is simulation”.

The Supreme Court has not yet made a decision regarding Valencia, but by admitting its appeal, it points out that this will be the central question: “Determine if the tax administration can, in exercise of the qualification power provided for in article 13 LGT, isolate the economic flow of the business that is said to be classified, and place it in another parallel business scheme”, agrees in a car to which El Confidencial has had access. In recent months, the courts have already annulled claims against Real Madrid, Barça and Atlético de Madrid for this reason..

The transfers of players

The second part of the debate will focus on the transfers of players to other clubs. The Tax Agency considers that these report “benefits to the transferor (Valencia CF) to the extent that the player's salary and social contributions were saved and the player was trained”. Taking into account the “residual gain due to that training and experience”, he argued that the club had not passed on the corresponding VAT amounts.

In this case, the debate revolves around article 4 of the Value Added Tax Law (LIVA): “Supplies of goods and services carried out in the spatial scope of the tax by businessmen or professionals for consideration will be subject to tax”. Although in these assignments a monetary price is not set, the Treasury considers that they fit with this article: “It is not a free loan without obtaining anything in return”.

The National Court approved this reasoning in March 2022, but warned that it had hardly any practical effects for the club: “If, as has been reasoned, Valencia has carried out a provision of services for which the corresponding VAT has not been paid, nor has it been passed on to the transferee club, and no VAT has been passed on for the player's training, the hypothesis of the deduction of VAT not paid is purely theoretical,” he explained in his ruling..

Despite this, the Supreme Court has also now agreed to review this issue, which could have consequences for other cases: “Clarify whether the assignments or loans of soccer players to another club on a temporary basis and in which no price is set for the assignment, constitute services rendered for consideration for the purposes of article 4 of the [LIVA] and, therefore, are subject to tax.”

A little over a decade ago there were three: Seville, Jaén and Barcelona. Jaén turned blue in 2011, when the socialist power collapsed before the absolute majority of Mariano Rajoy. And Barcelona fell into the hands of En Comú Podem in the best moments of Pablo Iglesias. Seville remains an impregnable French village, but the legions of the Andalusian PP believe that this time, they will be able to beat the best-oiled socialist machine in the country. And for this they have the magic potion of Juanma Moreno, the only political leader without the PSOE card who has managed to win in this territory, although it was in the regional elections on June 19. And the truth is that both parties believe that the battle will be settled by a handful of votes..

Seville is the Andalusian province that distributes the most deputies, a dozen of the 61 that leave Andalusia on their way to Congress. The current distribution is unreal, they admit both in the PSOE and in the PP. And that is due to the weakness with which the popular arrived at the November 2019 elections. This made it easier for the PSOE to achieve 5 of the 12 seats, by 2 from the PP, 2 from Unidas Podemos, 2 from Vox and 1 from Ciudadanos.. And it was Juanma Moreno himself who said in an act in Mairena del Aljarafe that his party was “in a position” to win in Seville in a general election for the first time. Socialists admit that this possibility exists.

A few days ago, the numbers of the Socialists predicted a tie between 4 deputies in the province, with the fifth in dispute between the two big parties. This responds to the absorption of Cs voters by the PP and the capture of a seat for Vox or the left. Also to the possibility of snatching that fifth seat, which will be settled in a handful of votes. To achieve this challenge, Alberto Núñez Feijóo has the inertia of that absolute majority of Juanma Moreno. A little over a year ago, the popular ones surpassed the socialists in 143,000 votes in the “PSOE cathedral”, as the current leader of the party of the fist and the rose, Javier Fernández de los Ríos, defined the province..

The Sevillian leader is the new name on the rise in the Andalusian PSOE. And this is so because, despite that defeat, the Socialists managed to prevail over the PP in the municipal elections on May 28, although they lost an absolute majority in the Provincial Council for the first time. The provincial entity, chaired for a couple of weeks by Fernández de los Ríos, is the main bastion of institutional power of the party led by Juan Espadas at the regional level, together with the Jaén Provincial Council, which is still in the hands of Francisco Reyes.

This match is the first outside of Andalusia, let's go out and convince.

We are going to win Seville in a general for the first time in history.

For Andalusia and for Spain!

🗣 @JuanMa_Moreno#EsElMomento#VotaPP pic.twitter.com/BEZDiQXaTu

– PP of Andalusia (@ppandaluz) July 18, 2023

It is no coincidence that the rally to close the PSOE campaign in Andalusia will be held in La Rinconada, the city of almost 40,000 inhabitants in which Javier Fernández de los Ríos has been mayor since 2007. There will be the provincial leader together with Espadas and the number one on the Seville list, María Jesús Montero.

Shoemaker and Rajoy in Seville

“If the PSOE wins, the reading is that in Seville we do not have a structural problem, that the problem was in the autonomous regions,” says a party source in the province, who, however, admits the need for the Socialists to review their current strategy and discourse to reconnect with the public.. The Sevillians will have the support of the star of the PSOE campaign, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who closes in Seville after passing through Cádiz. The presence of the former president in Andalusia acquires even more relevance if one takes into account that Pedro Sánchez has not passed through Andalusia in the last 15 days after opening the pre-campaign in his stronghold of Dos Hermanas.

To achieve its objective, the PP placed Juan Bravo, Finance Minister in the first legislature of Juanma Moreno and economic manager of the Genoa management, as number 1 for Seville.. Inspector of the Treasury and father of the tax reduction of the popular government, he has demonstrated in the campaign his ability to intersperse political messages with the technical knowledge of a senior official. His path to 23-J has not been without controversy and the phrase about the difficulty in finding “ham cutters” despite the high unemployment figure has earned him some criticism.

What happens in Seville will be a clue to what happens in the rest of Andalusia. The socialists consider that it is very difficult to come back in the bastions of the popular east, with Malaga and Almería as the best examples. The loot of deputies distributed by the most populous community in Spain causes all the spotlights to be on the south in these days of the campaign. Juanma Moreno, at that rally in Mairena del Aljarafe, slipped that 5 of the 15 seats in dispute are played in the region that he presides over.

The objective of the PP is to go from the 15 deputies that they achieved in 2019 to close to 30. If they succeed, they will be the main pillar of the hypothetical victory of Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who will be in the capital of the Costa del Sol on the last day of the campaign before traveling to A Coruña. Exactly the same thing happens in the PSOE. Victory seems difficult, but the floor of the socialists in Andalusia is at 20 seats. Now they have 25. The resistance of the largest federation in the party would be key for Pedro Sánchez to achieve the numbers that would allow him to continue in Moncloa.

• General elections in Spain 2023: latest live news
• What did the candidate for the elections, Pedro Sánchez, do before he became a politician?

July 21 is World Dog Day, and on the internet there are many who share images with their most faithful friend. Pedro Sánchez has joined the users who have shown their pets on social networks. This celebration has coincided with the last day of the electoral campaign that the current President of the Government will close with an act in Getafe.

Sánchez has published a photograph with his two dogs that he spoke about on the podcast La Pija y la Quinqui. The song chosen to share the scene has caught the attention of many, although the socialist candidate had already commented that he likes the song Perra by Rigoberta Bandini and had included it in his Spotify music list..

HE HAS UPLOADED IT ON IG LIKE THIS HAHAHAHAHAHAHA pic.twitter.com/0C3wBLpK5c

—Mr. Handsome (@pdrsnche) July 21, 2023

The most viral meme of Sánchez arrives at the PSOE

But this has not stopped here, since from the PSOE Twitter account they have wanted to take advantage of one of the most famous memes of Pedro Sánchez. The image with his dogs and the tweet of his formation have set fire to the networks.

Users could not believe that the official PSOE account had decided to echo the most viral meme. What began as a nickname given by the opposition after becoming Prime Minister has become an occurrence that has been turned around. Congratulations to the community manager have filled the viral post.

Happy #WorldDogDay pic.twitter.com/79WQZqgBcw

– PSOE (@PSOE) July 21, 2023

the lady who has given the dog to caress it???? already has the blessing of sanxe dog https://t.co/6xgSd89anP

— My name is not Vicenta (@kansaita_) July 21, 2023

“I live in a simulation” or “the strangest campaign in history” are some of the answers that can be read. The PSOE leader revealed in La Pija y la Quinqui that he was aware of the joke that was circulating on networks.

The moment at the Lugo rally in which a sympathizer presents her dog to Sánchez has not gone unnoticed either.. Upon arrival at the event, the candidate stopped to touch the animal that accompanied an assistant. “The lady who has given the dog to caress it? It already has the blessing of a sanxe dog,” joked a twitterer.

The National Police have identified the individual who allegedly attacked a postman who was distributing electoral material in the Malaga municipality of Vélez-Málaga. This event, the proceedings of which have been transferred to the judicial authority, was denounced by the CCOO and served as a basis for the PSOE to accuse the PP of “sowing hatred” for its repeated complaints about incidents in voting by mail..

Police sources informed this newspaper that the alleged attacker slapped the Post Office worker, who was delivering in the Carabanchel area, a conflictive neighborhood that has been the scene of numerous anti-drug operations and where a shooting took place at the beginning of the month..

The aforementioned union, in statements to the EFE agency, explained that the public employee was rebuked from a balcony, but believed it was a joke and agreed to the block to carry out the distribution.. According to CCOO, the neighbor went downstairs, approached the postman, punched him, took the pile of envelopes that the victim had in his hand, threw them and threw the delivery car onto the road..

The event occurred last Saturday on Autumn Street in the town of Veleña and the injuries suffered by the worker were minor, a circumstance for which the person investigated was not arrested and, after being identified, the judicial authority was informed..

The postman, who was hurt by the punch and was shocked by the events, chose to continue working “by virtue of his commitment to the neighbors” so that they receive the documentation on time and “out of camaraderie” with the employees of his unit, said the aforementioned union sources..

The events occurred during a distribution for the elections in overtime and forced Correos to activate the planned protocol, communicate what happened to Occupational Risk Prevention and offer the employee psychological assistance.

This alleged aggression was used by the PSOE to harshly charge the PP for their complaints about the operation of voting by mail. The person in charge of verbalizing the reproaches was the number one to the Congress of Deputies for Malaga, Mari Nieves Ramírez, who accused the popular of “sowing hatred”.

“I want to express my solidarity on behalf of the entire PSOE with the Post Office worker who was attacked in Vélez-Málaga when he was doing his job, when he delivered the votes, the ballots, to be able to vote freely on Sunday,” he said at a campaign event in which the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, participated..

The candidate explained that “a madman has attacked her”, but added that “the person responsible is the PP and Feijóo, who are spreading hatred and questioning public institutions such as the Post Office”. “We are not going to allow it”, because “Spain does not deserve so many lies or so much hate”.

I'm Loving You Madly is one of those films that moviegoers call sleepers, that is to say, it is moderately successful and more than expected after a modest start.. The portrait of the first movements in defense of LGTBI rights in the Seville of the Transition has a lot to do with the relationship that the people of the group have with their family. And the PSOE clings to these ties and their electoral effect in this final stretch of the campaign, as María Jesús Montero herself revealed in an interview on Lebrija TV. The number two of the party refers in it to the gays and lesbians who will opt for the ballot of the fist and the rose after the pacts that PP and Vox have reached after the regional and municipal elections. But what is striking is that Montero is not only referring to these people, but also to their families and their closest circle.. The objective is to take advantage of this multiplier effect, as confirmed by experts, to improve their expectations in the days before the general elections this Sunday, July 23.

“It makes perfect sense,” explains political scientist Alberto López, one of the leading experts on LGTBI voting in Spain.. This man from Cádiz is a postdoctoral researcher at the Free University of Amsterdam and alludes to the so-called contact hypothesis, formulated by Gordon Allport, which has to do with the influence on opinion caused by knowing someone with a specific condition. “What most predicts support for the LGTBI collective is meeting someone who is, support can triple,” López details.. And that has electoral consequences if one takes into account that the studies on the collective vote have as “main consensus” that it is a social group that votes more to the left..

These studies, according to López, have been carried out in Europe for five years and have traveled in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, France and the United Kingdom.. The researcher also points out that it is more correct to refer to the vote of lesbians, gays and bisexuals, since the questions are usually directed more to sexual orientation or sexual behavior than to gender orientation. “The little that there is about the trans collective reveals that their bias is even more to the left,” qualifies the political scientist, who reveals that the LGTBI collective is more prone to political participation because, due to their socialization processes, they consider that their rights depend on “what happens in politics.”.

This is how the commitment of the socialists to involve this group in their attempt to overcome the polls is understood. Especially with the trickle of news such as the removal of LGTBI flags in town halls governed by the PP with the support of Vox or the elimination of the rainbow flag benches in the Madrid town of Galapagar. In Ferraz they assure that they have tracking with a good positioning of the socialists among the group in recent weeks. It was an issue that appeared in the 3-way debate between Pedro Sánchez, Yolanda Díaz and Santiago Abascal. And it is also related to the media tour of the socialist leader, who in his foray into the La pija y la quinqui podcast earned the following nickname from Carlos Peguer: “you have the musical taste of a depressed homosexual”.

Mr. Abascal's speech on the Trans Law says it all.
It is not possible for someone from the LGTBI collective or the people who love them to vote for the PP or VOX…#DebateFinalRTVE

— María Jesús Montero (@mjmonteroc) July 19, 2023

The future of the PSOE campaign has also played in favor of this objective of mobilizing the LGTBI collective. With Sánchez focused on the media, the star of the socialist rallies is José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, rehabilitated as a benchmark for the party and precisely valued for the advances in civil rights that occurred during his mandates. “Sometimes leftist voters become loyal to the parties that have won them rights, but the normal thing is that this effect fades over time,” says Alberto López. The PSOE has been the main beneficiary of this phenomenon and the approval of the equal marriage law was very influential in the significance of the group with the Leonese politician. But the political scientist recalls that studies on the LGTBI vote indicate “the vote is more social democratic or rather green” depending on the country. In Western Europe, the bias is usually towards social democracy, but the people from Cádiz focus on the role of the forces of the “new left”, where Sumar and Unidas Podemos are framed..

The PSOE-Sumar struggle

In this legislature, the witness of Rodríguez Zapatero has been received by Unidas Podemos, with Irene Montero at the head for her promotion of the trans law. The role of the classic feminists of the PSOE also influences here, with Carmen Calvo and her criticisms of the norm as the best example.. But the disappearance of the Minister of Equality from the Sumar cartels has returned the focus to the Socialists thanks to the relevance that Rodríguez Zapatero has acquired. And it is striking that the former socialist president has vindicated the purple leader after being left out of Yolanda Díaz's project. The coalition headed by the vice president has tried to cover this leak with the appointment of Elizabeth Duval as spokesperson for Equality and LGTBI. “I am not so sure that voters see Yolanda Díaz ahead of Pedro Sánchez in defense of the collective,” says López, who thus explains the rise of the writer and her role alongside the Galician, who performs better in economic matters or that are related to her ministry.

“In Italy, legal and legal rights are already being withdrawn from non-pregnant lesbian mothers,” warns Duval. The Sumar Equality spokesperson shows her concern about the decisions that are already being made, but above all with “the installation of a social climate that is more permissive with hatred and violence”. “There are pronouncements that are beginning to go unpunished with this emboldened right,” criticizes Duval, who is “firmly convinced that the majority of society is not like that.”. What he does reject is appealing to fear and is committed to turning “rage into hope” after admitting how he spent a large part of the footage of I'm loving you madly with a “lump in my throat” thinking “what would the loss of the rights won since the 70s mean”.

The role of the right

The preponderance of the leftist vote in the LGTBI collective does not mean that there are no gay, lesbian, bisexual or transsexual people who do not opt for PP and Vox. Alberto López even points to a phenomenon called “homonationalism” that has “some penetration” among gay men in Germany or the Netherlands. In these countries, the researcher points out, the ultra-right associates LGTBI and women's rights with European and Western values, which is why they “associate immigration with the danger for these groups”.

“Vox has played this card a bit,” admits the man from Cádiz, who is about to publish a paper in the American Political Science Review where he investigates this phenomenon. Together with his colleague Stuart J. Turnbull, have verified that citizens show more support for policies in favor of the LGTBI collective when they are exposed to the rejection of non-Western people to the rights of gays, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals or intersex.

López defends that Santiago Abascal's party is aware that the LGTBI or feminism debate “divides” the center-right voter. And that in this niche of votes the aforementioned hypothesis of contact influences more. “On the right, it matters much more if you know someone from the group to become proLGTBI,” settles this researcher from the Free University of Amsterdam, who admits that center-right voters are likely to reconsider their vote for options from that ideological spectrum if they believe that a government of that political color can promote setbacks for the group.

The General Directorate of Agri-food Quality and Local Product, which depends on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Natural Environment of the Balearic Government, has immobilized more than 500 ensaimadas sold fraudulently at the airports of Mallorca and Ibiza.

As reported by the Ministry in a press release this Friday, based on a complaint from the Ensaïmada de Mallorca Protected Geographical Indication Regulatory Council, a series of inspections were carried out. Thus, the first one took place at the Palma airport on July 10, and 34 plain ensaimadas and 21 cream ensaimadas were immobilized. On the other hand, at the Ibiza airport, the inspection was carried out this Thursday and 328 plain ensaimadas and 135 angel hair ensaimadas were immobilized.

From the General Directorate of Agri-Food Quality and Local Product they verified that the ensaimadas had been prepared and frozen by an industry outside the Balearic Islands, that they were transported to the Islands frozen, and that they were marketed as a fresh product, without indicating on the label that it was a thawed product. In addition, a sign with the indication 'Ensaïmada de Mallorca' was found at the Palma airport and, as explained by the Ministry, these products are not covered by the IGP.

Likewise, the General Directorate of Health has been notified, since both at the Ibiza and Mallorca airports, they found cream ensaimadas with an eight-month shelf life and this “could be a health risk”. For this reason, the DG for Agri-Food Quality and Local Product has begun to process the corresponding disciplinary proceedings. Finally, the Ministry has reminded that to buy an Ensaïmada de Mallorca it is essential that the consumer check that there is the mention 'Mallorca' on the product label, as well as the official logo of the IGP Ensaïmada de Mallorca.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are investigating the violent death of a 37-year-old man at a home in Vilafranca del Penedès (Barcelona) following the results of the autopsy.

Catalan police sources have detailed to Europa Press that “it does not show obvious signs of violence”, so they rule out the use of bladed or firearms, as well as strangulation.

The Mossos received the notice of a dead person in the house at about 5:00 p.m.

The PP of Vitoria has denied having reached an agreement with EH Bildu after the popular and EH Bildu took over this Friday with the presidencies of the City Council commissions, and has announced that it is resigning from them “after the misrepresentation” that has been made of the facts.

After the plenary session held in the capital of Álava for the distribution of the presidencies of these municipal bodies, the PNV has denounced that EH Bildu had agreed with the PP to distribute the presidencies of the eleven municipal commissions of the City Council of the Álava capital.

In a statement issued this afternoon, the PP of Vitoria-Gasteiz has recalled that in this Consistory the parties that make up the municipal government do not preside over the commissions, but that these always fall between the opposition parties. In this legislature that has just begun, the opposition is made up of the Popular Party, EH Bildu and Elkarrekin Podemos.

In the last legislature, the presidencies of the Commissions fell to the three parties: Partido Popular, Bildu and Elkarrekin Podemos. However, in this legislature, Elkarrekin Podemos, which has gone from three councilors to two after the last municipal elections, cannot preside over Commissions due to a lack of sufficient members, as it is necessary to have a minimum group of three members (president, vice-president and Commission spokesperson) to be able to preside over them..

The popular have explained that, in the Board of Spokesmen held yesterday, both PNV and PSE-EE, in addition to the rest of the parties, gave the go-ahead to the presidencies of the commissions. However, at the time of the vote and coinciding with the last day of the electoral campaign, “they have changed their vote”.

As indicated by the PP, the presidency of a commission in the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council does not mean more than establishing the order of the debates and the turns of intervention of the different initiatives that in most cases are questions that the opposition formulates to the municipal government, in addition to citizen participation initiatives. In this sense, it has stressed that it does not have any executive function nor does it imply any extra remuneration.

without pact

“There is no agreement or pact or alliance with Bildu to preside over the Commissions of the Vitoria-Gasteiz City Council. This is nothing more than a ruse by the PNV and the PSE-EE, who are very nervous on the last day of the electoral campaign to try to visualize something that is not true,” he asserted..

The Popular Party has recalled that its votes have prevented EH Bildu from governing in Vitoria, and that socialists and jeltzales form a Government in Vitoria right now “thanks to the votes of the six Popular Party councilors”.

“It is unfortunate what the PNV and the PSE-EE can get to. Not everything goes in politics”, stressed the spokesperson for the PP of Vitoria, Ainhoa Domaica. For all these reasons, given the “misrepresentation of the facts today”, they have announced that they are resigning from the presidencies of the commissions so that the PSE-EE and PNV preside over them..

A total of 11 migrants of North African origin have been rescued this Friday in a boat that was located in the southeast of Mallorca, as reported by the Government Delegation.

The incident occurred at 12:40 p.m. this Friday, when the Provincial Maritime Rescue and Maritime Rescue intercepted the patera-type vessel.

The 11 migrants are in apparent good health.

The Balearic Islands will distribute this Sunday in the polling stations information on how to treat, if they occur, heat strokes due to the forecast of high temperatures during election day.

The spokesman for the regional government, Antoni Costa, explained it at the press conference after the Government Council, in which he encouraged the population to follow the usual recommendations in cases of high temperatures.

In addition, SAMU 061 will reinforce the coordination center during election day with more health personnel to attend to all queries that may arise at the polling stations as a result of the high temperatures that can be reached throughout the day..

In addition, the Government Delegation has provided SAMU 061 with the exact location of all polling stations in case of any eventuality.

With the aim of facilitating mobility for people with some type of functional disability who want to exercise their right to vote in person, the scheduled medical transport will make 12 ambulances available to citizens in the Balearic Islands to transport people who request it.

It should also be remembered that in the case of Palma, the City Council will install fans and water machines in the polling stations to combat the heat and relieve the members of the polling stations and those who go to vote.