Spain celebrates the 46th anniversary of its Constitution

USPA NEWS - Spain yesterday celebrated the 46th anniversary of its Constitution, approved in a referendum on December 6, 1978. The Congress of Deputies hosted the commemorative events of said anniversary, on a festive day throughout the country. The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, attended the events, held under the shadow of the numerous judicial cases affecting prominent members of the Spanish Government and in a climate of political tension.

Despite this, Pedro Sánchez stated that Spain is living "one of its best moments in its contemporary history." Upon his arrival at the Congress of Deputies to attend the commemorative event of the 46th anniversary of the Constitution, the president highlighted in his statements the open and integrative framework of coexistence of the Magna Carta. "The best way to claim the Constitution is to comply with it," he said and insisted that all the rights and freedoms consolidated in recent decades must be protected in the Constitution.

The celebration this year came in the midst of a judicial storm caused by the latest accusations of businessman Víctor de Aldama hovering over the anniversary of the Magna Carta. In recent days, the businessman, whom the Civil Guard considers the "corrupting link" of the Koldo plot, has tightened the noose around the former minister José Luis Ábalos, by presenting to the Supreme Court a list of alleged contracts "pre-awarded by Ábalos" in exchange for commissions. According to Aldama, he would have offered the then minister a flat on Paseo de la Castellana in Madrid as a guarantee for the payments.

In addition, the alleged commission agent continues to fire and this week he has launched new accusations: in his letter to the high court, he maintains that he gave a flat in the centre of Madrid to the Minister of Territorial Policy, Ángel Víctor Torres, for "meetings of a diverse nature". An insinuation that the minister has categorically rejected.

It is not the only judicial matter that hovered over the institutional act on Friday. After the statements of those involved in the 'Koldo case' before the Supreme Court, the case that affects Begoña Gómez will also return to court. Pedro Sánchez's wife is called to testify on December 18 before Judge Juan Carlos Peinado. Two days later, on December 20, Cristina Álvarez, the advisor to Moncloa who worked for her, will do so.

And another judicial matter in focus is the case against the Attorney General of the State for alleged disclosure of secrets about the case of tax fraud of the boyfriend of the president of the Region of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso. A case of alleged leaks that last week also splashed the Government and precipitated the resignation of the then leader of the Madrid Socialist Party, Juan Lobato.

These are issues that have been present during the celebration of the 46th anniversary of the Constitution. The leader of the conservative Popular Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo, warned the Government that "the Constitution cannot be celebrated one day and despised the rest of the year" and regretted that the President of the Executive is willing to "instill the virus of constitutional destruction" for "a handful of votes" that will guarantee him La Moncloa. The leader of the opposition also stated that Sánchez's Government is the one that "has attacked the Magna Carta the most" with the amnesty for the independence leaders, the "occupation" of the Parliament or its attacks on the Judiciary.

During the event in the Congress of Deputies, its president, Francina Armengol, claimed the success of the constitutional consensus to achieve agreements for the common good, despite the "hectic" and sometimes "thunderous" current moment. In her speech, the president of the Lower House of the Parliament stressed that today Parliament does not have the absolute majorities of the past, which makes "a lot of dialogue and debate necessary when making decisions."

Thirteen regional presidents and six political parties were absent, none of which is a majority in the Spanish Parliament. The far-right Vox once again refused to celebrate Constitution Day in Congress, considering it to be a hypocrisy that legitimizes the Socialists, who they point to as the main responsible for breaking national unity and the Magna Carta. The Basque Nationalist Party, in turn, justified its absence because neither its party nor the Basque citizens "supported the Constitution", while the Republican Left of Catalonia also did not attend this year's celebration.