Sánchez will blame members if the legislature continues without a budget.

MadridPedro Sánchez made it clear this Monday in an interview on Spanish National Television (TVE) that the legislature will continue even if he fails to approve the 2026 state budget. Without underestimating the political value of the budget, he considers it an "instrument" to carry out the government's actions, but "not an end in itself," and that he can continue to deploy his two with the two. In this way, he anticipated a hypothetical parliamentary defeat—at this point, the numbers don't add up, and it doesn't seem like Podemos is willing to give the PSOE any breathing space—and the Spanish government is already beginning to construct a narrative in which its partners will also have to assume responsibility for the legislature continuing without updated accounts.

"The time has come for the political consequences demanded of the government to be accompanied by what is demanded of the groups that support the government and the opposition," stressed the First Vice President of the Spanish Executive, María Jesús Montero. At the press conference following the Cabinet meeting, the Minister of Finance stated that the Spanish government alone cannot approve the budget, but that a majority in Congress is necessary. She outlined this speech in which the allies of the plurinational majority will have to explain any hypothetical opposition to new budgetary measures. From EH Bildu, its general coordinator, Arnaldo Otegi, has already announced that he will approach her "with all the will in the world," but other parties such as Esquerra, Junts, and Podemos have expressed more reservations.

Montero has assured that she will "give it her all" to secure the favorable vote of her investiture allies and that she is already "underway" with the initial contacts. Her plan is to approve the spending ceiling this month, as well as the stability path—the deficit and debt targets—which must be voted on in Congress. This is what Junts rejected in July 2024, which discouraged the Spanish government from presenting the budget because it did not want to risk a parliamentary defeat. Now things have changed, and Sánchez knows he can no longer wait another year without even presenting the draft budget—Yolanda Díaz is also pushing for it—and will risk a full debate in Congress in which he could eventually suffer a major setback. The Socialist leader accepts this and intends to shift part of the responsibility for this legislature without new budgets to those he votes against.

The Minister of Finance, who this Wednesday will sign the order to prepare the new budgets—a formal procedure by which departments must submit their requests to her—has asked the groups to sit down and negotiate the accounts and not link them to other files. "These instruments are used to request issues unrelated to the draft," Montero lamented. For example, ERC wants progress on one-off financing for Catalonia, and Podemos is demanding intervention in the rental market and a reduction in military spending. Sources at the Moncloa party assume that the purple party's demands are very complicated.

The Sánchez-Puigdemont meeting

Will it be necessary for Sánchez to negotiate with Carles Puigdemont for Junts' vote? The former president said a few days ago at the Catalan Summer University in Prada that this fall "perhaps things will happen that haven't happened until now" and the Spanish government doesn't want to anticipate scenarios. Of course, the meeting will take place, although there's no date yet. "When it has to happen, we'll inform you," said the spokesperson for the Moncloa, Pilar Alegría. The Minister of Finance has not denied that the meeting Meeting between the leader of Junts and the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, is a way to "continue building mutual trust," but he wanted to distance himself from the budget negotiations. Montero wanted to make it clear that the discussions regarding the state accounts with Junts will be held by his ministry, not Isla.