The list of bills promoted by the Spanish government that remain stuck in Congress is quite long. The most recent to join the reforms being processed is the organic law project to regulate the right of reply. To this, however, are added various bill projects that have also begun their processing in 2025: the law to strengthen information exchange between the security and customs services of the EU member states; the law that modifies the criteria that establish the financial information that companies must provide; the fishing law; the law to improve digital services and the regulation of media outlets; the consumer and user protection law or the law to control lobbies or interest groups. Some, however, have been in a drawer for a long time before. This is the case of the law to recover the National Energy Commission (CNE), which is now part of Competition; the law to reform the National Health System, or the new law on cinema and audiovisual culture, all of them presented to Congress in 2024.
Sánchez challenges electoral calendar and weakness in Congress with new laws
Reforms pile up in the lower house due to lack of support in the final stretch of the legislature
MadridThe Spanish government is piling up bills in Congress and this week some of the parties in the investiture bloc reminded them of it. With the declassification of the 23-F documents, the partners, particularly the Basque formations, have demanded that they dust off a reform that began its parliamentary process in the summer of 2025, that is, more than half a year ago: the Francoist law of official secrets. The comings and goings with this norm have been constant, to the point that there are two proposals on the table, that of the executive of Pedro Sánchez and that of the PNB, a party that has historically championed the need to leave behind the 1968 secrets law. In fact, the jeltzale initiativepassed its first test in Congress in February 2024. These timesare just a sample of what is happening with many other laws that have been hovering over the Spanish lower house for a long time. For example, the industry law entered Congress in December 2024 and passed the first plenary vote, but since then it has been stalled in the amendment phase, a process that can be extended sine die.
Sánchez has encouraged parties to unblock a new official secrets law before the current session ends (in the summer). But to the calendar we must add the parliamentary weakness that the Spanish government is experiencing, especially after Junts' break with the socialists, and which has become evident again this week: the votes of Carles Puigdemont's party, along with those of the PP and Vox, have derailed the social shield, the limitation of prices in emergency situations and a bill from Sumar, the minority partner in the coalition government, to protect dismissals when a company relocates.
These two facts –the calendar and lack of support– lead the proceedings in Congress to become tortuous paths and, consequently, for many laws to be born (and grow) mortally wounded. But the head of the Spanish executive defies it. In a few days, the Council of Ministers has approved two preliminary bills in their first reading: on the one hand, the anti-corruption plan promoted by the Cerdán case. And on the other, the norm that provides for, among other things, limiting the income from institutional advertising received by media outlets. To both of these should be added, at a minimum, the preliminary bill of the General State Budgets (PGE) for 2026, as the Spanish executive has committed to.
Months with stalled laws
That the two texts have been approved in their first reading means that the public hearing period is just beginning. This means that contributions can be made to them for a time. Afterwards, they will have to return to the Council of Ministers – it will be the second reading – to be able to jump to Congress, where the processing will begin. If no amendment in its entirety is successful, the period for parties to introduce amendments would begin. As has been seen with the industry law, time can begin to pass without haste, and laws such as the one controlling the consumption of alcoholic beverages by minors are in the same situation; the organic law on criminal prosecution, also known as the Bolaños law after the minister who promoted it and which seeks to reform justice from top to bottom; the one on the forgiveness of regional debt, negotiated between the PSOE and ERC; and the one on the protection of children in digital environments.
All of this clashes head-on with the horizon of general elections in 2027. Although there is no date, on June 28 of next year it will be exactly four years since the start of the legislature, so before then the executive would have had to dissolve the Courts. In fact, Sánchez's gestures for this new 2026 academic year contradict venturing into legislative journeys that lead to almost impossible negotiations.
In December, the Spanish president asked his ministers for "disruptive" proposals that did not require going through Congress to regain, thus, the ability to set the agenda, but also the pulse for the regional electoral cycle. In this regard, the Council of Ministers has recently approved proposals that do not require the approval of the lower house (the National Strategy Against Energy Poverty and the Strategy to Combat Loneliness), but which are not materialized in concrete reforms – they are, for now, policies that the government wants to promote –. At the same time, it modified the last addendum to the Recovery Plan for European funds tocircumvent the examinations of the Spanish Courts.
The dilemma
Behind all this is a dilemma that has been pursuing the two partners in the coalition government, the PSOE and Sumar, for some time: if they promote important laws in Congress that end up derailing, they cannot avoid the photo of the lack of support, despite the message they strive to send of stability and continuity of the legislature. At the same time, not acting opens a perfect crack for the opposition to poke at the wound of inaction and blockade. The defeat to reduce the working day to 37.5 hours per week, one of the star measures of the Ministry of Labor, under the leadership of Yolanda Díaz, was one of the last major thermometers to assess the preference between a failed vote and the constant darts from the right. For now, the acid tests are the royal decree-laws with urgent measures – such as the social shield itself.
