Congress is debating and voting this Thursday on the stability goals proposed by the government, a step ahead of being able to present budgets, with no prospects going forward due to a lack of support from the People’s Party, Vox, Gents, Podemos and consensus deputy Agueda Mico. “Someone will have to give a lot of explanations” after rejecting the deficit path, according to socialist spokesman Patxi Lopez, because the initiative means “more resources for autonomous communities and local entities.”
The Finance Minister is responsible for defending budget stability goals, and at the start of her appearance she expressed confidence that the debate would serve so that “some of the positions expressed publicly by parliamentary groups can be reoriented so that we can provide more resources to autonomous communities that develop services targeting citizens in matters of health, education, dependency or housing.”
“We will govern to improve the quality of life of Spanish men and women, even now,” said María Jesús Montero. “Therefore, the spending ceiling for 2026 will reach €212,026 million. This represents an 8.5% increase compared to 2025,” the Treasury chief added, before explaining that including European funds, “the total non-financial spending limit will reach €216,177 million.”
This figure, which was negotiated with Somar, was approved by the executive branch last week in the Council of Ministers. But the yes of her partner in government is not enough for her to move forward. As the Ministry of Finance considers Thursday’s vote in Congress a loser – which must return to the House of Representatives in December – Minister María Jesús Montero wanted to transfer the pressure of this rejection to the PP and the communities governed by this party on Tuesday, which she accused of “not voting for what benefits them”: “Every day they ask for more resources, and when more resources are put on the table, they vote no,” she noted in the Senate.
While intervening in the debate, the popular Juan Bravo pointed out that stabilization objectives were being discussed which “would serve no purpose” because, in his opinion, “an unstable government cannot advance stabilization objectives” and he shamed the executive for taking the discussion into the chamber “to appear normal in the administration, to try to hide that progressive majority which they assumed no longer existed.”
The PP is not the only party that will reject the deficit path on Thursday, with executive power also being taken for granted no From the Junts, since the independents warned that their separation from the Socialist Workers’ Party would mean opposition to all their initiatives. Podemos and its compromise deputy in the mixed group, Agueda Mico, announced this week that they would not support the spending path proposed by the government.
In general, the executive branch says it is prepared to move forward with submitting 2026 budgets to Congress at the beginning or middle of the first quarter of next year, so that public accounts can be approved throughout April or May.