The left-wing Sumar party, former far-left ally Podemos and the Catalan separatist party JxCat are stepping up pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to accept their political demands in exchange for supporting him in passing the 2025 national budget, which is key to government survival.

While the fragile stability of the Sanchez government between the PSOE and Sumar seemed assured thanks to the crucial support of the right-wing Catalan party JxCat and the left-wing ERC, things have become extremely complicated for the Spanish prime minister in recent weeks.

Relations between Sanchez’s PSOE and JxCat have been strained of late, however, as JxCat leader Puigdemont and his closest associates face obstacles to the much-coveted immunity that the amnesty law would grant them in court for alleged crimes related to secession attempt in October 2017.

Last July, JxCat already rejected a first draft of the 2025 budget. This was seen by many experts as a key tool to secure Sanchez’s legislative power, which would theoretically last until 2027.

The government’s second attempt to approve the first draft of the 2025 budget was also unsuccessful, with JxCat again rejecting the text in September, arguing that it was “totally inadequate” because it did not prioritize Catalonia’s economic interests.

However, the seven coveted votes of JxCat MPs, the other seven of the ERC and the votes in parliament of the two Basque pro-independence formations, PNV and EH Bildu, are needed to keep the government from falling.

So now the separatist parties – mainly JxCat – are increasing pressure on Sanchez in exchange for not losing power because of them. Among their demands is the creation of a “Catalan tax agency” that would collect and manage taxes autonomously, similar to what the communities of Navarre and the Basque Country now do.

Far-left “rebellion” within the government

“We are not partners. We will only consider whether what will be voted (in parliament) benefits Catalonia or not,” JxCat sources recently said, as reported by La Sexta.

The separatist party argues, among other things, that Catalonia will not benefit from next year’s budget plan as, according to its calculations, the central state will keep 90% of the 40 billion euros it plans to spend each year.

Some members of Sumar – including Labor Minister Yolanda Diath, Social Rights Minister Pablo Bustindey and Education Minister Ernest Urtasun – have been clear and vocal in their criticism.

Some prominent members of Sumar have even joined Podemos in expressing their disagreement. The party has made it clear it will no longer support the executive unless the government pushes through more social policies, including measures to stem the relentless rise in house prices to buy or rent.

Sumar’s leaders have distanced themselves from the government to such an extent that some media outlets, including El País, reported on Thursday that “Sumar opposes Sánchez within the government.”

According to several analysts quoted in the media, the radical left – including some in Sumar – is concerned about the PSOE and the government’s “right turn”, as it describes it, on some aspects of the social agenda.

The sentence uttered last week by Pablo Iglesias, founder of Podemos and former minister of social rights, is a concrete example of the gradual deterioration of relations between the far-left camp, the PSOE and the government.

If all left-wing parties unite in parliament, they will have “enough power to bend Pedro Sanchez’s arm,” he said, according to the Spanish news agency.