From laws stopping ‘shrinkflation’ to reforms of the healthcare system, the Spanish government will struggle to pass new legislation after Catalan separatist party Junts withdrew its parliamentary support from the Socialist-led coalition.
Following the centre-right separatist party Junts per Catalunya’s recent decision to withdraw support from Spain’s ruling Socialists (PSOE), the Spanish government is now also facing a parliamentary blockade after Junts pledged to block its legislative agenda.
Junts and the PSOE, whose fragile majority in the House of Deputies depended on 7 Junts MPs, were never natural bedfellows. Political pundits in Spain say the Catalan party only ever propped up Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s government in order to extract concessions for Catalonia, something it now says has not come to fruition.
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In return, the Catalan party will now essentially veto the government agenda.
Among the laws which could as a result be scrapped include a draft law on families which seeks to recognise the diversity of family models and improve work-life balance; new legislation on classified information; laws to improve the national health system; and a new law on the prevention of alcohol consumption by children.
Junts’ decision follows recent political horse trading with the government. The Catalan party already withdrew backing for the government, and now it has declared publicly this week its intention to veto all of the government’s key legislative agenda.
Ever since clinging onto power in the snap general election of summer 2023, Sánchez has had a fraught, fragile relationship with the Catalan party. Junts supporters have cited “clear examples of the PSOE’s lack of commitment” the amnesty law, the recognition of the Catalan language in Europe and the transfer of immigration powers to Catalonia as reasons for their withdrawal.
Míriam Nogueras, spokeswoman for Junts, stated in a press conference that the legislature “is blocked” and announced her rejection of all future bills, at whatever stage, that are in the pipeline for the Sánchez government.
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This includes both those that are currently being processed or approved in the Council of Ministers and those already on their parliamentary course. “There will be no more collaboration, no more negotiation,” said Nogueras, who said that in total more than 50 policy initiatives will remain in limbo “unless the PSOE makes a deal with PP or Vox.”
This could completely paralyse the Spanish Congress and further weaken the embattled Sánchez government, whose PSOE depended on Junts for a fragile parliamentary majority. Cynics may suggest the latest move from Junts is yet another political move to push Sánchez into action and that the party understands it is more likely to gain concessions under a left-wing government than the right-wing block, the centre-right People’s Party and hard-right Vox, something the polls suggest would be the most likely outcome in an election.
Nonetheless, exiled Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont’s party has presented amendments against 25 laws in total and has made it clear that it will not vote in favour of the 21 that are already being processed.
Without Junts’ seven MPs, the Sánchez government does not have a sufficient majority to push through its bills. The right-wing block systematically votes against any of the government’s proposals.
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Without the support of Junts in the House of Congress, the PSOE’s remaining parliamentary allies, which is made up of a rag-tag bunch of smaller leftist and separatist parties, including ERC, Bildu, PNV, BNG and Coalición Canaria, are not enough to reach the 176 seats needed to pass legislation.
This could, if the threat is carried out, effectively bring the government to a stop. The PSOE-led coalition was already struggling to get bills through the lower chamber, with the state budget rejected for two consecutive years and, now, likely a third.
Opposition parties will call for elections, as they have been for some months. The Junts decision and legislative blockade comes as corruption allegations surround Sánchez’s circle, including accusations against his wife, brother, attorney general and two former right hand men in the PSOE.
READ ALSO: Spain’s PM risks having state budget rejected for third year in a row
Now Sánchez may well also see his legislative agenda derailed, adding to the perception of him as a lame duck Prime Minister hanging desperately onto power.
The Junts veto could potentially impact on bills as varied as family law to regulations on digital services. The following laws or bills could be blocked:
- Family Law
- Law on the Universality of the National Health System
- Bill to consolidate the equity and cohesion of the National Health System
- Law to re-establish the National Energy Commission
- Law on Corporate Information on sustainability
- Law on Industry and Strategic Autonomy
- Law on Collective Actions for the Defence of Consumers
- Law on Credit Administrators and Credit Purchasers
- Law on the prevention of under-age consumption of alcoholic beverages
- Organic Law on the General Electoral System
- Law on the Social Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities
- Law on Classified Information
- Law on Digital Services and Organisation of the media
- Law on financial liability for damages arising from infringement of EU law.
- Law to Prevent Shrinkflation
- Greenhouse gas emissions trading bill
- Law to modify the University System.
- Law on the inclusion of people with disabilities in the labour market.
- Law for the protection of freedom of expression.
- Law on universal jurisdiction.
- Law on foreign trade and defence matters.
- Law for the transposition of EU Directive 2024/1226.
- Law for the control, inspection and sanctioning regime of maritime fishing.
- Law for the regulation of telematic voting in the sessions of the governing bodies of public administrations.
