[embedding-shape]

> it may be procedurally simpler for the Spanish government to compel ISPs to block IPs.

The Spanish government is not the ones enforcing the ban here. La Liga and Telefonica went to the judges, who are the ones making ISPs to enforce these blocks, as an intermediate "fix" essentially.

[TheCoelacanth]

This appears to be using "government" in American English sense, where "government" refers to anyone who works for the state in any capacity, including courts, not just the executive.

[tshaddox]

Do you have an English word you can recommend that refers to what (in American English) I call the entire government of a nation?

[leadingthenet]

The state.

“The government” (what we would call “the executive”) being equated to the state as a whole is a uniquely American concept, likely because the word “state” already has a different meaning in the federalist sense.

[tomnipotent]

> went to the judges

Which are part of the Spanish government.

[embedding-shape]

> Which are part of the Spanish government.

Judges in Spain are not part of the government ("Gobierno"). They are part of the Poder Judicial, the judiciary. The Spanish Constitution separates these clearly, give it a skim if you haven't already.

[tomnipotent]

The judiciary is part of the government. Being an independent branch doesn't change that. Government doesn't just mean legislative.

[embedding-shape]

That's not what the constitution says though. "Government" ("Gobierno") is what an American would understand "executive branch" to be, I'm guessing this is why it's confusing. I tried to make it easier by adding the translations, but maybe that's just making it more confusing :)

I guess broadly in English you'd say the judges are part of the state, but they're not a part of the Spanish Government.

[amcvitty]

That’s true in America, but the word government is applied more narrowly elsewhere, including in the UK.

[tomnipotent]

What matters is what the OP was communicating with it, and in English it means all state bodies responsible for administration. No one would argue the US Supreme Court is not part of the government.

[TRiG_Ireland]

No. That's what it means in the USA. Judges are not part of the government in the UK, Ireland, Australia, or New Zealand either. They're part of the State.

[ahtihn]

The judiciary is part of the state. The government is also part of the state. They are different parts.

[felixg3]

Government means precisely just the executive branch in international English across most polities with institutions.

[benhurmarcel]

In many countries, the word “government” only refers to the executive branch

[SenHeng]

The rest are often called civil servants.