Together, they are putting the law against multiple recidivism on track in Congress with the support of the PSOE and PP.

MadridTwo days after Pedro Sánchez would acknowledge the "breaches" with Junts and express a willingness to "restart" the relationship With the support of Carles Puigdemont's party, Junts has secured one of its key parliamentary demands. The Socialists have agreed to unblock Junts's law on multiple recidivism, which in turn had the backing of the People's Party (PP). Junts has reached an agreement with both the Socialists and the PP on modifications to the legislation, and the changes have been endorsed by all three parties, as well as Vox and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV). At a meeting this Thursday, the report from the drafting committee was approved, a first step before finalizing the last details in the Justice Committee, scheduled to meet in a couple of weeks. Junts celebrates that the main body of the text and the philosophy behind its proposed law have been preserved and now have the necessary majority. The commitment is for it to be voted on in the first plenary session of next year, which will be the first week of February.

In the vote to consider the legislation in September 2024, the initiative already had the support of both the PSOE and the PP, the latter of which has its own law against repeat offenders currently being processed. However, since then, the Junts proposal had been shelved. Amidst the Spanish Prime Minister's attempt to reach out again to Puigdemont's party in the face of the parliamentary deadlock they have created, the PSOE has decided to accelerate the process and allow one of Junts' demands to pass, despite the rejection it generates among the rest of the plurinational majority. EH Bildu and Podemos have already positioned themselves firmly against it, while ERC, for the moment, is reserving its vote and asking for time to thoroughly study the proposal. Sumar has also not clarified its position.

The toughening of penalties

The Junts text proposes punishing the theft of "mobile, computer, or communication devices, or electronic or technological devices" with between one and three years in prison. This adds this type of theft to the aggravated offenses, as it is not currently included in the Penal Code. Furthermore, in the case of petty thefts—amounts less than 400 euros—which are currently punished only with a fine, more than three offenses would also be punishable by imprisonment. Junts proposes eliminating the current requirement that the accumulated value of the offenses must exceed 400 euros. The modifications introduced in six compromise amendments—four agreed upon between Junts and the PP and two between Junts and the PSOE—are primarily minor. The PP, for example, has added to the section establishing that the theft of mobile phones or electronic devices will be punished with imprisonment, the condition that they be "capable of containing personal data or information." Those for sale in commercial establishments are excluded. At the initiative of the Popular Party, penalties for fraud are also being toughened. While the Penal Code currently only stipulates fines when the amount defrauded does not exceed 400 euros, the new wording follows the same steps as with theft. When the perpetrator has already been convicted "for at least three offenses of the same nature," they may be sentenced to between six months and three years in prison.