'A theft from citizens': Spain hits 1,000 days without a new budget

The Spanish government has reached 1,000 days without enacting a new national budget, a policy that has prevented the country from effectively setting economic priorities and allocating public funds. Pedro Sánchez's left-wing coalition, comprising PSOE and Sumar, has governed for a full legislative term without passing a budget, instead reusing the 2022 budget for the 2023 fiscal year.

This year, both 2024 and 2025 saw no new budget proposals, with Sánchez dismissing the possibility of a new budget in 2026. Article 134.3 of the Spanish Constitution mandates that governments present the national budget to Congress at least three months before the previous year's version expires, extending it via a provision that the government has leveraged due to the challenge of garnering sufficient parliamentary support.

Financial and tax law professor César García Novoa contends that this extension is a misinterpretation of the rule, intended for a one-year maximum emergency measure. Fernando Navarrete, a Popular Party MEP and member of the European Parliament’s budget committee, deems the 1,000-day period a democratic anomaly and a theft from citizens, as they lack a platform to decide how public money should be spent.

Spain's Ministry of Finance, however, maintains that the government has approved measures to protect citizens from the effects of the Ukraine and Middle East energy price crises, including a €7 billion allocation to the State Housing Plan for 2026-2030. Despite the 1,000-day budget gap, Spain has experienced economic growth above the EU average and record employment.

Navarrete argues that the lack of a new budget hampers Spain's ability to implement EU-required fiscal reforms and undermines the country's credibility in Brussels.