Spain's govt clears crucial labor reform and budget for 2022
ABC News
Spain’s left-wing ruling coalition is securing its hold on power with the approval of a landmark labor reform and a new national spending plan for next year that includes a hefty disbursement of pandemic recovery funds
MADRID -- Spain's left-wing ruling coalition on Tuesday secured its hold on power with the approval of a landmark labor reform backed by both unions and employers and a new national spending plan for next year that includes a hefty disbursement of pandemic recovery funds.
An array of left-leaning and nationalist lawmakers gave the final go-ahead to Spain's 450-billion-euro ($509 billion) budget for 2022, which allocates more than half of the funds to education, health, pensions, subsidies and other forms of social spending.
The budget includes the first 20 billion euros of 70 billion euros ($79.2 billion) total granted to the country from the European Union's COVID-19 recovery funds. The European Commission, the executive branch of the 27-nation bloc, transferred to Spain an initial tranche of 10 billion euros ($11.3 billion) earlier this week.
The budget approval is seen as a crucial test of the parliamentary support of the minority coalition of Socialists and the anti-austerity United We Can party. By clearing the hurdle in a 281-62 vote with one abstention, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez dispelled pressure to call an early election and increased his chances to see out his term, which ends in 2023.
