Parliament rejects the government's spending cap and forces Prohens to extend the budget.

PalmThe plenary session of the Catalan Parliament ended without surprises and rejected the government's spending cap, despite recent attempts to reach an agreement with Vox and despite the so-called in extremis The Minister of Economy, Antoni Costa, appealed to the "responsibility" of the members of parliament from all parties, ultimately accusing them of failing to help ensure that citizens "have the budget they deserve." With this setback from all groups in the Parliament, including the investiture partner, the Executive will be forced to extend the 2025 budget, a situation the PSIB (Socialist Party of the Balearic Islands) has described as a "blockade." In fact, the Socialist spokesperson, Iago Negueruela, demanded during the question period that President Marga Prohens call early elections. The plenary session served to once again stage the utter chaos between the PP (People's Party) and Vox, with constant recriminations and cross-accusations of "liars," to the point that at the end of the session, Manuel Cañadas displayed an image of Pinocchio during the speech by the PP's parliamentary spokesperson, Sebastià Sagre.

Councilor Antoni Costa strongly defended the proposed new spending cap, asserting that the €361 million increase over the previous year would allow them to "approve a budget that reflects the current reality. The Balearic Islands are the fastest-growing region in terms of population, and this puts significant pressure on the healthcare system. This needs to be addressed immediately," he said, speaking to all the parliamentary groups.

He also took the opportunity to highlight the government's actions, "with tax cuts for local residents, benefiting over 20,000 families. And people under 30 haven't paid a single euro to buy their apartments," in addition to urging the parliamentary groups to support the spending cap.

But the interventions of parliamentary spokespeople made it clear from the outset that there would be no support for approving this measure, essential for drafting a new budget for 2026. The main tension arose between the PP and Vox, given that both parties have an investiture agreement that, in principle, should also imply a commitment. "But you can't be trusted; you've deceived us several times," said far-right deputy Manuela Cañadas, explaining her opposition to the spending cap. Cañadas wanted to make it clear that they feel cheated because "you approve amendments that then don't have any budget allocation. Some of us may lack parliamentary experience, but we're not stupid," she said, also announcing that she would not support the government.

"Furthermore, you don't need an additional 360 million euros (referring to the increased spending that the new ceiling would have allowed). You want a political lifeline for patronage-based commitments; you're in a permanent campaign mode. You have 620 million euros of unused European funds," criticized the Vocal spokesperson.

Cañadas said that Minister Costa had shown no real willingness to negotiate the ceiling and that his intervention this Tuesday "makes me congratulate him on his Goya nomination." The deputy asserted that "trust" has been broken and that, therefore, there is neither a spending ceiling nor a budget.

The left is very harsh on Costa

The left has also harshly attacked the Popular Party and Regional Minister Antoni Costa, because, according to PSIB spokesperson Iago Negueruela, "you didn't really want to negotiate the budget and you haven't included anything we proposed, such as the increase in the tourist tax and the tax on rental cars. I personally took these measures from the PowerPoint presentations that you don't want," Negueruela retorted. Lluís Apesteguia (MÁS per Mallorca) expressed a similar sentiment, asserting that Costa "is misleading us" with his interventions. He explained that the eco-sovereignists cannot support a new spending cap that allows for the preparation of "unfair" budgets that maintain a reform of "millions of euros each, when this money should be in the public coffers and not in private pockets, as you say, precisely because you are investing in those with the smallest and emptiest pockets," he concluded.

Furthermore, he stated that the eco-sovereignists cannot help make possible a spending cap and subsequent budget that "relies so heavily on a tax formulated as it is currently, namely the property transfer tax, which generates 931 million euros—an excessive dependence on a tax based on speculation and Balearic income."

Más por Menorca also referred to Costa's ability to stage an attempt at negotiation that "in reality, did not exist." "You could be told 'don't let reality push a good narrative on you,'" retorted spokesperson Josep Castells, who asserted that the agreement had to do with what the PP had already done, as Apesteguía had done with the reduced tax formulas that benefit the wealthiest. Costa responded to all the groups, lamenting their failure to implement the spending cap, and reiterating the importance of investing "in the citizens of the Islands." He specifically addressed Manuela Cañadas, regretting that she had followed instructions from Madrid in rejecting the spending cap and future budgets. "They haven't put anything concrete on the table. Vox Baleares hasn't set any conditions because their refusal is part of a national Vox strategy of saying no to all minority PP governments. Vox Baleares has had no say," he said, addressing the far-right deputies.