The Junts-Díaz clash over the working day further complicates Sánchez's stability.

MadridIn the coming weeks and months, the consequences of the speech delivered by the Second Vice President of the Spanish government, Yolanda Díaz, against Junts this Wednesday during the debate on the reduction of the working day in Congress will be felt. The PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) is always careful not to raise its tone too much against Carles Puigdemont's party because it knows that the continuation of the legislature depends on its seven deputies, but the leader of Sumar (Sumar Party) took a direct stand with a harsh intervention that she personalized against the spokesperson for the Junts party in Madrid. "Ms. [Míriam] Nogueras, you and I represent something that moves history: the class struggle. You represent capital. I and the government of Spain represent the working people of Catalonia and Spain," Díaz said. The reduction of the working day failed with 178 votes against and 170 in favor.

"On the eve of the Diada, they put themselves in the opposite position of the best of the Catalan people. Spain was the first country to approve the 8-hour day in 1919 thanks to the historic strike at the Canadiense. [...] They think they are representing the Catalan independence movement and I will say there that it is not true, the reactionaries.

Nogueras has turned around, emphasizing that "the only argument" that Díaz has given is to place Junts on the right. "She does this because she has neither data nor grounds to defend the indefensible," replied the pro-independence spokesperson, who predicted that "the people who open their blinds every day should not give credit to their ignorance about the reality of the middle and working classes of Catalonia." "You always say that you never lie. Today she has done nothing else," Nogueras confronted Díaz, and reminded the leader of Sumar that she does not even have a majority in Congress and that "the polls place her in a residual position."

The political fight has left in the background the arguments given by the deputy of the Junta Josep Maria Cervera, who has defended that a reduction in working hours - to which he has said he is not opposed - established by law harms productivity and the increase in salaries. In fact, he recalled that the Minister of Economy, Alícia Romero, herself admitted the "difficulties" that this measure would entail for SMEs. Juntos had announced its No This Tuesday, in an appearance in which Nogueras shifted the blame for the failure onto Díaz and for rushing the vote without allowing much room for negotiation. The pro-independence parties maintain that talks had been reopened this September, but Sumar maintains that Junts lacked the political will to reach an agreement, although the minister had been open to providing additional resources for the self-employed and SMEs. "I appreciate the willingness to dialogue. Let's start tomorrow," Díaz finally proposed to Nogueras.

The reduction in working hours has once again sparked a confrontation between the two Catalan pro-independence parties in Madrid. During the debate, Republican Jordi Salvador emphasized the importance of salaried workers, but also maintained that the bill introduced aid for the self-employed, and lamented that Junts had blocked the process from starting. Salvador placed Junts within the perimeter of "the extreme right and far right" and pointed out that 80% of the Catalan population supports shorter working hours—72% of Junts voters, according to the CEO. "This term has shown in crucial votes that the PP, Vox, and Junts are the political arm of the most rancid Spanish employers' association in Europe," the Republican denounced. "When they lump us in, it's because they have no arguments to debate," Nogueras insisted.

The PSOE leaves Díaz alone.

The second vice president enjoyed the support of the majority unions, which demonstrated this Wednesday, and predicted that "the reduction in working hours was won in the streets" and that they would win it in Congress. Left-wing forces agreed that this "Pyrrhic" defeat, in the words of Oskar Matute (EH Bildu), could serve as a catalyst for a mobilization that "dignifies working conditions." However, today Díaz is politically affected. Of all the PSOE ministers, only the Minister of the Presidency, Félix Bolaños, witnessed this unprecedented confrontation between Sumar and Junts. He was even absent at times during Díaz's speech, and only the other ministers from her party accompanied the second vice president. The Socialist MP who spoke, Alberto Mayoral, avoided referring directly to Junts so as not to fuel the conflict.

Sources from the Moncloa consulted by ARA are outspoken and hope there will be no consequences for the legislature. "It was a political debate in which we do not agree with Junts. There will be others who do," they point out. In the first plenary session of the new political year, Pedro Sánchez once again finds himself in the minority against the alliance of the PP, Vox, and Junts, and he confirms the fragility of the Spanish government, which intends to approve a budget for 2026 despite the adverse climate. During the morning control session, in response to the ERC spokesperson, Gabriel Rufián, Sánchez pledged to "fulfill the investiture agreements," that is, with the unique financing that ERC demands as a necessary condition to begin negotiating the accounts. The Spanish president has promised that the Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, will put a new proposal for regional financing on the table and has demanded theApproval of debt forgiveness by the Council of Ministers.

The face to face with Feijóo

The one who put his finger on the weakness of the Spanish executive this morning is the leader of the People's Party (PP), Alberto Núñez Feijóo. The control session was once again a tense face-to-face between the head of the State's executive and the leader of the opposition, in which Feijóo recalled the spiral of corruption surrounding Sánchez, and he retorted that his is a "clean" government. "Corruption hasn't gone away because you're here," said the PP leader. "You're only driven by fear. Fear of the judges for what they know, of the media for what they publish, that your partners will let you down, that people will speak at the polls, or that you yourself will appear in court," he added.

The day his wife, Begoña Gómez, testified in court, Sánchez has dodged the attacks and tried to divert the debate towards government initiatives, such as the proposal for a state pact against the climate emergency or the tightening of measures against Israel –"Repeat after me: 'It's genocide'", he said to Feijóo–, shortly before Feijóo–, shortly before Feijóo–, Leyen, He moved closer to the Spanish theses, hardening his position against Benjamin Netanyahu..