Spanish police search ruling Socialist party headquarters – Europe live | Europe
important events
Pope Leo condemns ‘concentration’ in Ukraine and tells pilgrims ‘War does not solve problems’
as we expected Sánchez To attend a press conference at the (very large) Spanish embassy in the Vatican, We have just heard from Pope Leo, who condemned what he called a “sharp intensification” of the war in Ukraine: He told pilgrims in his weekly audience at the Vatican that he wanted to express his closeness to the civilians killed in recent attacks.
“I follow the war in Ukraine with concern,” said Leo, the first pope of the United States. “War does not solve problems, on the contrary, it aggravates them. “It doesn’t build security, but it multiplies pain and hatred.”
“Where missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles fall, so do hopes. “Houses and places of worship are being destroyed, innocent lives are being shattered,” he said.
An orange weather warning was issued in Spain as the temperature was expected to reach 40 degrees
Sam Jones
in madrid
An orange weather alert has been issued in Spain, where temperatures could reach 40C (104F) this week For the Basque Country, the mercury is forecast to reach 37C in the northern region on Wednesday. Temperatures are predicted to be between 36 and 38 degrees in the southern regions, while the highest temperature in the southwestern city of Badajoz is predicted to be 38 degrees.
Aemet, Spain’s state meteorological office, said: Temperatures normally seen in July had already been recorded across the country. He added that the current temperature is “more characteristic of dog days, the hottest period of the year.” It was also stated that such warm periods are a result of the climate emergency.
“It should be noted that Climate change is leading to high temperature events that are more frequent and more intense throughout the year than in previous decades,” in question Rubén del Campo, an Aemet spokesman.
“Both this event and the atmospheric order that caused it Part of climate change and those observed in recent years.”
Yakup Krupa
Separately, things are heating up in Spain literallymore.
Whatever it’s worth, Peter Sánchez has now arrived at the Vatican, where he is expected to meet with Pope Leo.
meeting is coming Just a week before Leo’s planned visit to SpainIt will start on June 6.
lion will visit Madrid, Barcelona And the Canary Islands and give twelve speeches, preside over four masses, and hold about ten meetings with leaders of all stripes, according to the official schedule.
One of the highlights of the trip will include the opening and consecration of the Tower of Christ in the Basilica of Christ. Sagrada Familia, The project, completed earlier this year, took the church to its maximum final height, 144 years after work began.
Sánchez is expected to brief the press after leaving the meeting.
Sanchez faces a difficult month of June as scrutiny on his closest circle deepens – instant analysis
Sam Jones
in madrid
The coming days and weeks look set to be an anxious time for Pedro Sánchez, his family, his party and his administration.
Tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s little brother David Sánchez, He will be tried over allegations that he was given a special mandate by the socialist-led council of the southwestern city of Badajoz in July 2017, when his brother was the national leader of PSOE but was not yet prime minister.
Meanwhile, a judge investigating the accusations against Sánchez’s wife Begoña Gómez, She used her influence as the Prime Minister’s wife to find sponsors for a university master’s course she was running and used state funds to pay her assistant to help with personal matters, subpoenaing him on 9 June.
David Sánchez and Gómez have denied any wrongdoing. Both found themselves under investigation following complaints brought by the pressure group Manos Limpias (Clean Hands), a self-styled union with far-right connections and a long history of using the courts to pursue political goals.
The prime minister said his family were victims of a “harassment and bullying operation” carried out by their political and media opponents, and insisted neither of them had committed any crime. Sánchez also openly questioned the independence of some members of the Spanish judiciary. “There is no doubt that there are judges who practice politics, and there are politicians who try to do justice,” he said last year.
Things took a bleak turn for the socialists once again last week with the arrival of former PSOE prime minister José. Luis Rodríguez Zapatero He is under investigation by a judge examining the state bailout of a Venezuela-linked airline during the Covid pandemic.
Zapatero, the totemic figure of the Spanish left who was prime minister from 2004 to 2011, will appear before the judge on June 18 and 19.
Part of the latest investigation an investigation Included in the €53m (£46m) state rescue of Spanish airline Plus Ultra in March 2021. Prosecutors are examining whether the company “inadequately” used public funds approved by the government for the bailout. Anti-corruption police are investigating whether the airline used bailout money to launder funds from Venezuela via France, Switzerland and Spain.
According to the investigating judge, Zapatero allegedly oversaw the “hierarchical structure of influence peddling”. whose purpose is “to obtain economic benefit by intermediation in favor of third parties, especially Plus Ultra, and by using influence in public institutions.”
Zapatero released a video last week in which he insisted on his innocence and said he was willing to cooperate with the investigation.
“I would like to reaffirm that all my public and private activities have always been conducted with absolute respect for the law,” he said, adding that he had never taken “any action” regarding the airline’s rescue.
Morning opening: Spanish police search the headquarters of the Socialist Party in Madrid, deepening Sánchez’s suffering
Yakup Krupa
Spanish police entered the headquarters of the ruling Socialist Party in Madrid on a judicial order to gather information about a possible illegal financing scheme. There is a lot of news reported by Spanish news outlets.
A spokesman for the Guardia Civil Forces told Reuters: Officers entered the building but did not release further details Because transactions are confidential.
The search comes amid intensifying allegations of influence peddling and corruption linked to the former prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and the current Prime Minister’s immediate family Pedro Sánchezcreating a somewhat precarious situation for both the party and the embattled prime minister.
However, Sánchez is in Rome today to visit the Vatican. Pope Leo this morning. A press conference is expected to follow the meeting, where he will undoubtedly face a number of questions about the searches in Madrid.
Elsewhere, I will be following the third day of the heat wave affecting much of Western Europe, the latest news from Ukraine and the Baltics, and the British-Polish defense and security agreement to be signed in London.
There’s a lot to cover.
His Wednesday, 27 May 2026his Yakup Krupa here and this Europe Live.
Good morning.
