Few laws and many decrees: the balance sheet of a fragmented Parliament

PalmThe government is heading into another crucial vote for the continuation of the legislature without any guaranteed support. Next Tuesday, the spending ceiling will be debated, an essential step before any discussion of the 2026 budget can begin. At the time of writing, the People's Party (PP) was the only party defending it. Although it has held talks with Vox and the Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands (PSIB), the current feeling is that the government has given up hope. This deadlock has been the general trend of the legislature, in which the Executive has too often found itself cornered by its partners and even unable to reach agreements on legislation. In response, it has legislated primarily through royal decrees, a measure intended for "cases of extraordinary and urgent need," according to Article 86.1 of the Spanish Constitution, and has submitted fewer bills than in previous legislatures.

As calculated by ARA Baleares based on data from the Balearic Parliament, in two and a half years the Executive has ratified 14 decree-laws and is processing another (the one on urgent measures in social services). So far, Vox has only rejected one: the decree-law on accelerating projects. Furthermore, the Government has only approved nine bills, five of which were decree-laws that the Parliament subsequently agreed to pass as bills, and five bills (those promoted by a parliamentary group) have been passed.

There's still a year and a half left in the legislature. However, the relationship with Vox is increasingly strained, both at the regional level and nationally—Extremadura has already called elections due to the inability to pass the budget—and the government is prepared for the possibility of retreating to a more conservative approach and avoiding non-essential negotiations. When she came to power, President Marga Prohens anticipated that negotiations with Vox would become more complicated as the legislature progressed and focused her efforts on passing as many laws as possible during the first half of her term. Therefore, the expectation is that parliamentary activity will not intensify in the time remaining until the next elections.

How have things gone with the other parties? The left is not a preferred option for the PP. For example, although the PP reached an agreement with MÉS per Mallorca on the decree-law to regulate factory farms, when it was drafted as a bill, they opted for Vox to pass it. Regarding the proposed laws, the Parliament unanimously approved the PSIB's taxi law and a law to prevent illegal parties, promoted by Més per Menorca, as well as Vox's amendment to the law allowing minors to attend bullfights. The other two proposals—the law to eliminate the Anti-Corruption Office and the law regulating vehicles in Ibiza—were presented by the PP.

Change compared to previous governments

The pace at which the People's Party (PP) has passed legislation is marked by a tendency to prioritize decree-laws and a low ratio of bills compared to the two previous legislatures. During Francina Armengol's second term (2019-2023), 26 bills and five proposed laws were passed. This term was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, and consequently, there was also a surge in the approval of decree-laws: 38 in total. Most of these, around 30, lapsed shortly afterward because they were exceptional measures, while seven were later developed into bills.

On the other hand, during Armengol's first term (2015-2019), 47 bills and 21 proposed laws were passed, while eleven decree-laws were enacted, according to aggregated data from the Parliament's registry (two of which were later converted into bills). "It reflects the parliamentary arithmetic at any given time," explains political analyst Toni Forners: "The Balearic Islands' governments have been in the minority since 2015; the difference lies in the attitude of the minority partners." Thus, Armengol formed two left-wing coalitions that, in turn, relied on support in Parliament, and yet she still managed to pass significant legislation, especially during her first term. "There was a consensus on the left to dismantle the work of the previous government, led by José Ramón Bauzá (PP), and to reverse legislation on educational and social issues, as well as the Law of Symbols," he recalls. In contrast, during the 2019-2023 legislature, the reaction to Covid-19 was the most important thing: "There were more decree laws and less ordinary legislation."

"The COVID-19 era distorts the statistics; it should be given less weight because it was exceptional," notes political scientist Guillermo Bezzina. Although none of the three governments reached the 30 seats needed for an absolute majority without parliamentary support, Bezzina draws an important distinction. "Armengol governed in coalition, and her parliamentary partners were more loyal," he explains. "It's not the same to depend on a like-minded group as it is to depend on Vox, which is much more fragmented, unreliable, and has erratic behavior," he argues. Furthermore, the fact that three parties formed the two governments of the Socialist leader meant that "they all had a great deal of initiative in turning their campaign promises into law," he emphasizes.

The government was formed by the PSIB, MÁS per Mallorca, and Más per Menorca in the first legislature, with external support from Unides Podem and, specifically, El Pi for the investiture. In the second legislature, it was formed by the PSIB, Unidas Podemos, and MÁS per Mallorca, falling just one seat short of an absolute majority. "Now, there is a single party governing in minority and constantly having to negotiate its policies with Vox," the expert continues. "It is more difficult for the PP to negotiate with the far right; there is less likelihood that its proposals will be approved, and it must make more concessions," he explains. "This discourages bringing so many initiatives with the force of law to Parliament."

"Previous governments had a more transformative will, which translated into a great deal of legislative activity, although this has not always been reflected in reality," states political scientist Julián Claramunt. "This doesn't only happen in the Balearic Islands; between right-wing and left-wing governments, the left tends to legislate more and is also more interventionist in the private sector," he states.

Vox doesn't benefit from making things easier for the PP.

In this sense, he believes that "Vox is not proving to be a comfortable partner for the PP." "The polls are increasingly showing them in better results; they lack incentives to facilitate negotiations," he explains. However, the political scientist believes that if the PP wanted to be more legislatively active, they could try. "There are issues on which they clash with their partners, but laws can be passed on many other matters: the PP has not been willing to seek out Vox to bring about change," he asserts.

So why don't they? On the one hand, the far right has used some of these initiatives as bargaining chips to demand concessions on other issues. For example, Vox rejected the decree-law on accelerating strategic projects, which, according to the government, had been agreed upon word for word. The reason? It was retaliation because the PP refused to process Vox's education law aimed at marginalizing Catalan. However, Claramunt points to another cause: "The PP has concluded that if it doesn't make much of a move, it will win again." "Every new law implies opening negotiations, has an impact on the media, and this is a government that, aside from having little will to transform, has no incentive to insist, unless it's on important issues like the budget, where it always loses the first thing brought up," he says.

On the other side, Vox has learned that it thrives on confrontation. "It knows that minority parties, after facilitating governments, if they don't distance themselves and differentiate themselves, end up losing electoral utility and, therefore, their campaign narrative," Forners points out.

"The parties apply a parliamentary logic that ends up deviating from the constitutional principle of seeking the general interest, but they do so with a very clever narrative," he continues: "When Vox argues that it won't facilitate a budget until the PP fulfills the agreement on the previous one, it's telling the voter what those agreements are."