BarcelonaUntil recently, political leaders filled their mouths when defining budgets as the most important law of the year. Legally they are: they are specially protected – they can only be presented by governments and are regulated both in the Constitution and in other laws that develop them. But, although they continue to be a symptom of political stability, the budgets have ceased to be the commitment to citizens that they once represented.
In Spain, only 6 out of the last 10 have been approved – out of the last 11 if we count the ones for 2026 – and, in Catalonia, the situation is even worse, with 4 out of the last 10. The two administrations have shown that it is possible to govern without budgets to the point that now they don’t even put them to the vote. Despite being a constitutional obligation, Moncloa has preferred not to submit the law to the verdict of Congress to avoid the option of losing the vote – although Sánchez has promised to present the 2026 accounts to the lower house even if he does not have the support -. The last budget presented by Pedro Sánchez’s executive dates from October 2022, three years ago now. In the case of the government of Salvador Illa, it has never yet presented a budget, although it was obliged by law at least twice, and it also continues to function with the extension of the 2023 accounts, approved during the period of President Pere Aragonès.
The laws and the Constitution oblige the rulers to present the accounts, but this obligation does not carry any associated sanction, so the presidents in the minority – no one has had a majority for years – choose not to repeat defeats like that of Aragonès himself in 2024 or that of Sánchez in 2019. On both occasions, the presidents chose to bring forward elections arguing that, without budgets, they could not continue to govern. This 2025, the PP has asked for the protection of the Constitutional Court in the face of this situation.
The weight loss of Parliament
As long as there is no problem in the revenues, the budget extensions allow the governments to continue their activity without many problems, subjecting to a vote the supplementary appropriations that are required by law. The problem, therefore, is not not having the approved accounts. The problem is that the extensions symbolize better than any other action the progressive loss of parliamentary debate and put sticks in the wheels of the control function that the legislative power has over the executive. Government is now governed by decree: the Generalitat has only approved three laws in the Parliament in the last year and a half, and, on the other hand, there are already 25 decree laws – which reduce the control of the opposition – in the same period, a situation that links with the last legislatures and also with what is happening in Spain.
It is clear that political polarization makes it more difficult to govern and that it is necessary to bring together a multitude of parties, often ideologically opposed, like the majority of Pedro Sánchez’s investiture. But if those who must enforce the laws and the Constitution do not comply, the symbol that the budgets had represented until now will disappear.
The details of the week
This week there was a strike by health workers, who demanded improvements in both the Spanish government and that of the Generalitat. As Christmas is approaching, the slogans and images that were exhibited during the day looked for a connection with this holiday and the one that attracted the most attention was one referring to the Minister of Health. “Pané, caganer!” shouted some demonstrators, who showed the image of the councilor as if she were the popular character of Catalan nativity scenes.
When he finished his appearance, the candidate to preside over the Antifraud Office, Josep Tomàs Salàs, asked to speak to point out that his name is not Salas as all the groups called him. “It’s a lost war, I love my parents very much, but I was unlucky with the surnames.” And his second surname is Darrocha. “The second is of note, they have written it to me in fifteen different ways,” he confessed resignedly.
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