The Spanish government faces its first defeat of the year in Congress

MadridSpanish politics is preparing for a new déjà-vuThe Spanish government is taking the ratification of an omnibus decree, the so-called "social shield," to Congress this Tuesday. This decree includes, among other measures, the revaluation of pensions. However, as in early 2025, it does not have guaranteed support: the People's Party (PP) has already warned that it will reject it, and sources within Junts (Together for Catalonia) are also inclined to reject it, given that it incorporates other measures with which they disagree. This is the same situation that occurred at the beginning of last year when the PP and Junts rejected an omnibus decree that also included the pension increase. "It's blackmail," Junts asserted this Monday. Preemptively addressing the issue—having received considerable criticism a year ago—Junts has presented a specific bill on pension revaluation for 2026. "The Socialist Party (PSOE) is using pensioners as political blackmail: either you accept the whole package, or you'll be harmed," said Junts spokesperson Miriam Nogueras. For this reason, Junts is asking the Socialists that if they want to update pensions, they should do so through their own measure.

In addition to the 2.7% increase in these payments, the Spanish government decree being voted on this Tuesday also includes the extension of the ban on evictions and the cutting off of water, electricity, and gas for vulnerable people. Junts argues that this measure also limits evictions "for squatting or non-payment of rent" and "punishes small landlords, many of them retirees, who need rental income to supplement an insufficient pension." In fact, over the weekend, Nogueras asked the Spanish government to separate the votes, already indicating her vote via social media: "This year, raising pensions comes at a price [...] that you can't evict squatters from your home."

The PP has made a similar criticism of the PSOE. Juan Bravo has announced that the Popular Party will "obviously" vote "no" on the social shield decree, but he has also asked the Spanish government to allow the processing of his own initiative that automatically updates pensions according to the CPI. "If they allow it to be processed, the problem will be solved."

What happened last year? After defeating the measure in Congress, Junts and the PSOE ended up reaching to a new agreement to make a new decree which saved pensions with other social measures. However, it's uncertain what will happen this year, given that the Junts party broke its relationship with Pedro Sánchez's government and decided to move into opposition.

Apart from the social safety net decree, Congress, in its extraordinary plenary session this Tuesday – still outside the regular session period – will also debate another decree from the Spanish government regarding maintaining public transport subsidies amidst the railway crisis. It remains to be seen whether this will pass with the multinational majority. "We will not announce our vote beforehand," sources from Junts indicate in this case.