PP, Vox y Junts derogan en el Congreso el decreto de aumento de pensiones y ayudas de transporte y DANA.
PP, Vox, and Junts combined their votes on Wednesday in the Congress Plenary to overturn the omnibus decree-law that included, among other things, the revaluation of pensions, the extension of aid to public transport, the prohibition of cutting off basic supplies to vulnerable people, and assistance to those affected by DANA and the eruption in La Palma.
The rest of the Chamber voted in favor of the decree, while UPN abstained. The former socialist minister now integrated into the Mixed Group, José Luis Ábalos, did not participate in the vote.
With that vote, 177 against and 171 in favor, the decree-law that the government approved in December and that was already in force was repealed, along with all its measures.
This result means that the 2.8% increase in contributory state pensions and passive classes in 2025 will be nullified, pending the government’s decision on what to do. Neither minimum nor non-contributory pensions will increase by 6%, nor will the minimum income vital (MIV) increase by 9%.
The decree also included the extension of aid to public transport until June 2025, as well as the prohibition of interrupting essential supply and the evacuation of vulnerable people and other assistance for those affected by the DANA storm.
The Minister of the Presidency, Justice, and Relations with the Courts, Félix Bolaños, defended from the Congress podium the «extraordinary and urgent» need for the measures included in the decree.
The PP justified their vote against it by including a provision in the law that cedes a mansion in Paris to the PNV that houses the headquarters of the Cervantes Institute in France. During the debate in the Congress plenary on the omnibus decree, the Deputy Secretary of Economics of the PP, Juan Bravo, anticipated that the Popular Group would not support it, but without revealing whether the vote would be «no» or abstention. «We will not support a project of cuts and blackmail,» he emphasized. Furthermore, Bravo urged the government to seek support among its parliamentary partners. «If you have a progressive majority, subject yourself to a vote of confidence, if you have the support of the Chamber, present the budgets, but if you cannot govern, call elections and return power to the citizens,» he declared. Moments after these statements, the Junts spokesperson, Miriam Nogueras, stated in the debate on another decree that her party would vote against all texts debated in Congress on Wednesday. Following this decision, the PP confirmed their vote against the omnibus decree. Although many groups expressed their support for the validation of the decree, they also criticized the government for the «excessive» use of this figure and for including different types of measures in the same text. From the Mixed Group, Cristina Valido, from Coalición Canaria, pointed out that these two events make it difficult for the rest of the Chamber to take a position and subject society to the «anxiety» of not knowing if the measures will work or not. Regarding the BNG, Néstor Rego criticized the government for using the decree «too frequently.» Representing EH Bildu, Mertxe Aizpurua emphasized that citizens «should not pay for the partisan calculations of one side or the other.» «If pensions do not increase, if cuts in public transport do not decrease, if cuts in basic supplies and evictions of vulnerable families are not prohibited, the losers will be the citizens,» he stated from the podium. In Esquerra Republicana (ERC), Inés Granollers criticized the government for «putting everything» into a single decree, forcing parliamentary groups to have a «very important» debate on the sense of their vote in a package of measures that accept «very relevant» issues for citizens in their daily lives.
