The European Commission yesterday pointed to the Spanish Government as one of the two in the European Union (along with Belgium) that has not sent a budgetary plan to Brussels (in fact, Spain has been without a Budget since 2023, from the previous legislature) and warned of a “critical situation” with 25.8% of the population at risk of poverty. At the same time, it warns Spain that it runs the risk of non-compliance with the fiscal path agreed upon with the EU due to excessive public spending.
Brussels warns, for example, that one-third of Spanish children are at risk of poverty, thus exceeding the threshold that led Pedro Sánchez to create the High Commissioner against Child Poverty in 2018. That position has now disappeared given the null results obtained on this front.
These figures contrast with a scenario in which the Treasury expects to shatter revenue records, surpassing €350 billion in 2026, and in which Social Security—with an annual deficit exceeding €50 billion —is adding nearly 21.8 million affiliated members for the first time.
A strange combination of GDP growth—driven by immigration (half a million people per year) and public spending—and the stagnation of per capita income. According to Eurostat data, Spain is the country where the real per capita income index has grown the least since 2004. And the average income today does not exceed 91% of the European average.
