The Spanish Congress on Thursday voted down the coalition government’s proposed 2026 spending framework, dealing a blow to its efforts to return to a regular budget cycle.
The draft set a non-financial spending limit of €216.2 billion for next year – an 8.5% rise compared with the previous ceiling – but failed to win the support of the right-wing People’s Party (PP), far-right Vox, Catalan pro-independence party Junts per Catalunya (JxCat), and left-wing Podemos.
The vote ended with 178 MPs rejecting the proposal, 164 backing it, and five abstaining.
This marks the third consecutive year Spain has been unable to advance a new national budget. With no agreement among the parties needed for a majority, the 2023 spending plan was simply carried over into both 2024 and 2025.
By blocking the 2026 spending cap, parliament has further complicated the government’s attempt to break the stalemate and restore a standard timetable for budget approval.
The administration’s fiscal blueprint had tied higher expenditure to an objective of lowering the deficit to 2.1% of GDP by 2026.
Budget Minister María Jesús Montero (main image) said the government still plans to press ahead with preparing the 2026 budget and will present it to MPs in the first months of next year, opening the door to another vote on the overall fiscal framework during the winter.
Officials had argued that fresh accounts would deliver increased funding to regional and local administrations.
‘The PP must explain its opposition to needed funds for regions,’ Montero added.
Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter from Spain in English.
Click here to get your business activity or services listed on our DIRECTORY.