Pedro Sánchez and Míriam Nogueras meet face to face in Congress.

MadridPedro Sánchez and the spokesperson for Junts in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, will meet this Wednesday in the Spanish government's oversight session. The pro-independence party has threatened that "perhaps things will happen" this fall, and meanwhile, the Spanish government is working hard every week to approve initiatives in the lower house. Last week, it saved the arms embargo decree and the sustainable mobility law, although the Spanish budget is now a complicated undertaking. For now, Junts rules out voting in favor.

The latest disagreement between Junts and the Spanish government arose over the new contribution rates for the self-employed. Nogueras insisted this Tuesday that the backtracking by the ministry led by Elma Saiz also does not "solve the abuse" that, she believes, the increase in the rates represents. "It's clear that the Spanish government isn't on the streets or familiar with the reality of self-employed workers. What we're not going to do is continue strangling the middle class," warned Nogueras, who presumed that without the seven votes of Junts, this reform could not prosper—if the PP also votes against it. Carles Puigdemont's party, then, already smells a new negotiating card.

Beyond Nogueras, Sánchez will also have to answer a new question from the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. It remains to be seen how the PP leader will respond, as last week he emphasized the controversy over the self-employed. The conservative party seems to have realized that its opposition strategy cannot be limited to the constant threat that the judicial cases for alleged corruption will bring down the Spanish government and that it must also put economic proposals on the table.