Spanish conservatives thwart crucial Senate budget vote

In a surprise twist, the opposition People's Party backed a proposal by regionalist parties to increase funding to minority languages, making a U-turn from their traditional stance on the issue and effectively torpedoing the vote. The political manoeuvering harks back to 2016-2020 period when Spain's deeply polarised parliament prevented successive governments from securing a majority for a full-year budget.

Conservative Spanish senators dealt a last-minute blow to the minority leftist government's plans to approve the 2022 budget on Tuesday by voting in favour of a minor amendment and forcing the bill back to congress where lawmakers must vote again. In a surprise twist, the opposition People's Party backed a proposal by regionalist parties to increase funding to minority languages, making a U-turn from their traditional stance on the issue and effectively torpedoing the vote.

The political manoeuvering harks back to 2016-2020 period when Spain's deeply polarised parliament prevented successive governments from securing a majority for a full-year budget. Had the Senate passed no amendments the budget would have been approved. The document could still be voted in the coming weeks and signed into law for the new year, but parliament is yet to set a specific date for the lower house vote.

"If this serves to make the People's Party reconsider its policy towards co-official languages, it is welcome," Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez told reporters outside the Senate Chamber, where most of his cabinet had prematurely gathered to celebrate the approval. Since coming to power in early 2020, the ruling coalition of Sanchez's Socialists and the far-left Unidas Podemos have relied on support from left-wing Catalan separatists ERC to pass legislature, including last year's budget - the first in four years.

However, ERC and the other parliamentarian allies - like Basque nationalists - backed Tuesday's amendment, which would direct 1.6 million euros to promote regional and minority languages in the Basque Country, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. Historically staunch defenders of Castillian Spanish, the PP raised some eyebrows by lending its support to the proposal and backing the constellation of mostly left-leaning groups.

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