Labor reform wins narrow victory in Spain

The Spanish left-wing government this Thursday (3) got a very tight approval of its labor reform in the Chamber of Deputies. The measure was demanded by Brussels and seeks to reduce precariousness in the labor market.

With the refusal of several of its usual allies, the coalition government received the support of the liberals of Ciudadanos and some right-wing deputies, which allowed the text to be approved by just one vote: 175 in favor and 174 against.

In force since January 1st, after an agreement between the government, employers and unions, reached in December, the reform needed to receive the green light from the Chamber under penalty of becoming a dead letter.

A minority in Parliament, the executive of socialist Pedro Sánchez, who governs in coalition with the radical left of Podemos, has not been able to get the yes of several of his traditional supporters, such as the Basque nationalist party (PNV) or the Catalan independentists of the ERC.

This forced Sánchez to join Ciudadanos (center-right) and small regional formations like PDeCAT (Catalan independentists), which generally remain in opposition.

The labor reform was demanded by the European Commission, which conditioned its approval to the delivery of part of the resources of the great post-Covid recovery plan.

Spain will be one of the main beneficiaries, with 140 billion euros.