Extreme risk of a total legislative blockage

The last plenary session of the current year in the Congress of Deputies is traditionally used by the current government to push through many initiatives and prevent the summer recess from delaying their implementation by several months. However, given the extreme parliamentary weakness of the PSOE and Sumar executive, today's "sweeping plenary session" seems weak.

Yolanda Díaz was forced to withdraw from the agenda the decree approved in February as an emergency measure to reduce the working week to 37.5 hours, due to Junts' refusal to support it. The same fate befell the reform promoted by Justice Minister Félix Bolaños to modify access to the judiciary and prosecutorial professions, which led to the unprecedented and successful three-day strike by judges and magistrates earlier this month.

The decree to implement advance payments for the autonomous communities for 2024 and 2025, whose delay has put several regional governments in a financial crisis, and the urgent measures to strengthen the electricity system following the massive national blackout of April 28, which for the first time in a long time have the consensus of the sector, will be voted on. However, Podemos's refusal to validate them leaves business investments in renewable energy installations, grid deployment, and decarbonization projects totaling €200 billion up in the air.

In the current climate of extreme polarization due to PSOE corruption and the indictment of former minister Cristóbal Montoro, the risk of a complete legislative deadlock is higher than ever.