Sánchez denies any crisis with Sumar but assumes the internal "debate" on the taxation of the SMI

MadridPedro Sanchez takes over the "debate" within the Spanish government on the taxation of the minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), but denies that there is a crisis with Sumar. "Not at all," he said from the corridors of Congress, after having the first face to face of the year with the leader of the opposition, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in the control session of the lower house. Sánchez and the second vice president, Yolanda Díaz, smiled from their seats to try to lower the tension on Tuesday due to the latest clash between the coalition partners, this time over the IRPF applicable to the SMI. In the PSOE itself, it is not understood that the Treasury inflated the changes on the day that the Spanish government could celebrate a new increase in the minimum wage and it is not ruled out that there may end up being a setback.

In the meeting of the parliamentary groups of the PSOE in Congress, in the Senate and in the European Parliament on Tuesday, Sánchez informed his people that they must fight the battle against X and "explain, explain, repeat and repeat" on social media their initiatives in the chambers and also in the government. All this, to counteract the power of the extreme right on social media. A few minutes later, ministers Díaz and Pilar Alegría staged the clash in the Council of Ministers room, with the Minister of Labor openly criticizing that for the first time some of the people who receive the SMI have to pay taxes through the IRPF. The main person pointed out, Minister María Jesús Montero, has a fever and this Wednesday did not attend the plenary session of Congress.

Montero, precandidate in Andalusia

The first vice-president of the Spanish government has been left in a delicate situation and in everything that surrounds her from now on it must be taken into account that she is the PSOE's pre-candidate in the 2026 elections in Andalusia. A community that, precisely, is the second in the State where more people receive the SMI. In Congress, a parliamentary majority is being forged in favour of revoking the decision of the Treasury: PP, Sumar and Podemos have already presented initiatives in this regard and ERC and EH Bildu also disagreed on Tuesday with making those receiving the SMI pay taxes, instead of raising taxes on the highest incomes. This Wednesday, the spokesperson for Junts joined in: Míriam Nogueras considers that the "image of insolvency, lack of rigour and chaos even reinforces Junts' position on distrust of the government". Despite making it clear that they are opposed to lowering the minimum wage, Nogueras has stressed that the "core point is the cost of living" and has regretted that living in Catalonia is "8 percent more expensive than the Spanish average."

Sumar sources believe that the PSOE has already lost this battle and that it will rectify even before the bills that have been presented have to be voted on. Likewise, Díaz maintains that she respects the powers that the Treasury has in tax matters and that, therefore, she does not intend to reopen an internal negotiation within the Spanish government. Rather, those around her believe that the measure will fall by its own weight given the strong opposition it has generated among the other parties. In the PSOE they do not rule out that they will end up retracting, but they believe that it is still early and that they must let the days pass to try to educate people about what Montero proposes. They are called "populism and brother-in-lawism "fiscal" certain postulates and defend that fiscal progressivity consists of "everyone contributing to the extent that they can." And in this case, they emphasize that the recipients of the SMI should pay little and that, even, in the income tax return they would probably have to pay a refund. The problem, they admit from the socialist ranks, is not.

Meanwhile, the PP admits that it wants to "enjoy the show" that the PSOE and Sumar are starring in. They dream of the hypothetical scenario that an initiative to revoke the changes in the Treasury is approved in Congress and that the ministry, alleging reasons of budgetary deviation, vetoes an initiative by its minority partner. In the Spanish government they hope not to have to reach that point. During the debate, Sánchez wanted to cut the PP's attacks short and criticised that, when the conservatives were in power, the minimum wage was not touched. "Now I understand why when they were in power they froze the SMI, so that it would not be withheld in the IRPF. They thought it was better to live on 730 euros a month as they left it in 2018 than on the 1,184 euros we are leaving it at now," he stressed, "I was with him," he added: "We have this debate. Far from supporting the increases in the SMI, Feijóo has wanted to put his hand in the disagreements within the coalition: "Keeping half of the increase in the SMI is neither progressive nor social justice."

Pensions and public transport

The session, controversial aside, will serve to approve the decree of social measures agreed between the PSOE and Junts, which includes the revaluation of pensions, bonuses on public transport and aid to the DANA. The package includes some of the measures contained in the omnibus decree that initially caused the PP and Junts to decline and that placed relations between the Spanish government and those of Carles Puigdemont at a critical moment. The executive agreed to withdraw some of the measures and the decree will have very broad support in the hemicycle, including the PP and as always without Vox.