A year ago we closed 2022 with the death of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI and we began the year we are about to close with his funeral in the Vatican. Also far away are the entry into prison of the soccer player, Dani Alves, for a sexual assault, the crisis of the Chinese spy balloons in the United States or the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, which left thousands of dead.
Unfortunately, wars have stolen the spotlight from the rest of the year's events. February marked one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine and during the following months the rebellion of the Wagner group marked the conflict. The insurrection was born of tensions between its leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, and the Russian Ministry of Defense. Finally, the rebellion ended with Wagner's withdrawal from Rostov after negotiating with the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko. On August 23, two months after the events, Prigozhin died when the plane he was traveling in crashed north of Moscow.
But this war, which was significant in 2022, has not been the only one that has marked the year. On October 7, the terrorist group Hamas carried out an attack against Israel that sparked a war in the Middle East. The massive attacks by the Israel Defense Forces on the Gaza Strip have caused a major humanitarian catastrophe in the area, where its inhabitants are trapped and without access to humanitarian aid.
In Spain, the political news has been frenetic. At the end of May, the municipal and regional elections were held, giving a large victory to the Popular Party. Given these results, the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, called elections for July, which the PP also won but without enough support to achieve an investiture. After months of negotiations, the PSOE signed an agreement with Junts per Catalunya to agree on an amnesty law in exchange for their votes in favor of Sánchez's investiture. Finally, with the confidence of the majority of the Congress of Deputies, Sánchez was re-elected as President of the Government in mid-November.
The great protagonists of the summer were the players of the Spanish National Team when they won the Women's Soccer World Cup in Australia and when the 'Rubiales Case' broke out. The kiss without consent of the president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Luis Rubiales, to the national team player, Jenni Hermoso, caused endless indignation that ended with the president's resignation and a great social uproar.
In this compilation that can be seen on these lines, we show some images of everything that has marked this year 2023, with our sights set on 2024.
