Spain Notes, Sept 7: gangsters and judges

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1/ Is Sánchez getting ready to play the grassroots vote card in the PSOE to ram through his deal with Puigdemont and thus appear more legitimate? COPE reckons he is; Vozpópuli reckons the vote will only be about a coalition with Sumar, not the agreement with the Catalan separatists.

2/ Old socialists are up in arms. After Felipe González’s comments the other day about Diaz’s meeting with Puigdemont, Alfonso Guerra said on the radio this morning that the idea is “intolerable”, adding that he was “rebelling” against it, “this amnesty is the death of the Transition”.

3/ Guerra called Puigdemont “a gangster”.

4/ Asens, who was with Diaz in Brussels, has said the amnesty is the “payment” for Junts supporting the reappointment of Sánchez as PM. Junts says it is just the price of sitting down at the negotiating table.

5/ The judicial year began formally at the Supreme Court in Madrid today, with the King presiding. After FIVE YEARS, political parties have still not renewed appointments to the Judicial Council.

6/ Hopes must not be high among senior judges reading the headlines this week. The separatist leaders tried by the Supreme Court were pardoned by the politicians, one of the crimes they were convicted of, sedition, was repealed by the politicians and now the politicians are talking about a huge amnesty, which at first glance seems pretty unconstitutional.

7/ Indeed, just before sending these notes to you today, the speech from the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court arrived. I shall summarise it in another notes post this evening, it is interesting. He is not a happy chap: “saddened”, “desolate” and democracy in Spain “is at serious risk”.

8/ Basque separatists don’t want to be left behind, especially the conservative PNV after losing ground to far-left Bildu. PNV chairman Ortuzar has said “the Basque Country’s national situation” must be on the table for talks and that “serious negotiations [with the PSOE] have not yet begun”.

9/ Bildu is talking about the Basque Country as “a nation of seven provinces that has the right to decide its future”.

10/ Catalan separatist MEP Diana Riba said on Twitter that the Rubiales scandal at the World Cup would be debated next week…all the way up in the European Parliament.

11/ This summer was the hottest on record, tied with 2003, the Spanish weather service AEMET announced. Formally, there were just two heat waves, across 16 days. Certainly the hottest summer I can remember in half a lifetime here. Where I am in Murcia, there were 73 nights above 20ºC…