Government and opposition ERC agree to 'more time' to negotiate 2026 budget

Catalonia is still without a 2026 budget. 

In February, the governing Socialist Party, who need the support of two other parties to reach a majority in parliament, struck a deal with left-wing opposition Comuns over the spending plan. However, they still required the support of investiture partners Esquerra Republicana (ERC) to be able to pass the budget law. 

This week, the budget bill was set to go before parliament for lawmakers to vote on it, despite no deal having been announced to pass it. 

On Wednesday, the government withdrew the budget bill from the parliamentary agenda after reaching an agreement with ERC to "give themselves more time" to negotiate.

Therefore, the spending plan will not be voted on on Friday, ensuring that the vote is not lost.

In a joint statement from the Socialists and ERC, the two parties commit to continuing to promote the "necessary legislative modifications" to make the investiture pacts effective.

An agreement from the deal struck between the parties to name Socialist leader Salvador Illa president of Catalonia, the deal over the collection of personal income tax, is what is blocking the budgets agreement. ERC feel as though insufficient advancement has been made on complying with that past deal.  

The executive will "immediately" approve a single credit supplement to have the resources necessary to make public services function "properly."

The Socialists and ERC agree that Catalonia needs a new spending plan to "protect" public services and make the investiture agreements effective.