Spain will continue without regulating lobbies

MadridThe Congress of Deputies has once again made it clear to the Spanish government that it does not have a majority to legislate. The Moncloa takes another defeat in the Spanish lower house, which has struck down the royal decree-law to regulate pressure groups or interest groups, popularly known as lobbies. These are groups that seek to influence the legislative agenda of politics by weaving ties with political parties, parliamentary groups in the Congress of Deputies or the Senate, or the Spanish government itself.

PP, Vox, and Junts voted against it. The PNV and Podemos abstained, and ERC, Bildu, and the BNG were in favor, although all three were critical of Pedro Sánchez's executive, which was left alone in its unwavering defense of the text. The commotion, however, was generated within Sumar, the minority partner in the executive, which was also critical of the text and did not specify its position until the last minute, not even internally. This meant that not all of its deputies voted in favor. Aina Vidal and Gerardo Pisarello, for example, abstained.

Among other things, the regulation contemplated the creation of a state, public, and mandatory registry of interest groups. It also attributed the management of the registry and the sanctioning power to the Council for Transparency and Good Governance. "I do not understand voting against it," lamented the Minister for Public Function and Digital Transformation, Óscar López. During his speech, he announced a last-minute change to try to appease the parties, particularly Sumar, by excluding the agents of "social dialogue" from the reform – unions and employers' associations – although he did not specify the scope of the modification.

Lack of negotiation

The main complaint from Junts, but also from the rest of the political parties, has been the "lack of negotiating will" of the Spanish government. The Junts members have denied that there has been any negotiation, contrary to what the PSOE spokesperson, Patxi López, as well as the minister, has said: "Do not do acrobatics. You know that I myself have negotiated this [with your party] in Barcelona," stated López. Junts, on the other hand, ensures that their proposals have not been included. In particular, those that would allow small and medium-sized enterprises or non-profit associations or private citizens to be left out of the interest group register.

"The president of a neighborhood association is not the same as Pepe Blanco," said the Junts deputy, Josep Pagès, during his speech. Pagès did not hesitate to point out that those who should be controlled are the large corporations or consultancies that engage in lobbying and meetings with them. This would include, for example, Repsol, with whom Junts met after voting against the extraordinary tax on energy companies. During the processing of the tax, the party adopted the pressure from the oil company.

All parties, even those that indicated a favorable vote for the regulation, have reproached the Spanish government for bringing a closed royal decree-law, while a bill on transparency and integrity of interest group activities that sought, precisely, to regulate lobbying has remained in a drawer in Congress since January 2025. "This is negligence," asserted PP deputy Edurne Uriate. "The [PP's] alternative is not non-legislation, do not confuse the public. Let's reactivate the bill," proposed Uriate.

The Spanish government, however, reproaches the Popular Party, stating it is "difficult" to understand their vote against it, especially after having defended the regulation in "Brussels." López, who recalled cases such as that of former minister Cristóbal Montoro –investigated for the business dealings between his firm and various companies while he was a minister–, insinuated that deep down the Popular Party does not want there to be transparency: "I only [understand the vote against] if there is an obscure motive, if someone does not want there to be transparency."

Safeguarding social dialogue

In recent weeks, the Spanish executive had also received criticism from the majority unions, CCOO and UGT, and the Spanish employers' association CEOE for not having excluded them from the regulation, taking into account that their role is protected by the Constitution. Finally, the Minister for Public Function has announced that they will approve a modification throughout the month of October through a new regulation to exclude the "social dialogue". The lack of specificity has been denounced by ERC deputy Francesc Marc-Álvaro.

The speed of the processing –approving a royal decree instead of trying to unblock the bill– is the result of linking this reform to the arrival of European anti-pandemic funds, as the minister himself has acknowledged. Specifically, it is one of the milestones that the Spanish government must meet to receive the final disbursement (about 25 billion euros, mostly transfers).