Spain's parliament approved new spending ceilings on Thursday in a first step to approving a new budget, thanks to the abstention of Catalan separatists whose support is key for the survival of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government.
The vote came a day after Spain's central government began talks with the separatists to try to defuse tensions sparked by Catalonia's failed 2017 independence bid. The ERC, Catalonia's oldest separatist party, had demanded the dialogue in exchange for its continued support for Sanchez's government and as a precondition for possibly backing his 2020 budget.
The new spending ceilings were passed in the lower house of parliament with 168 votes in favour, 150 against and 19 abstentions, including by the ERC's 13 lawmakers who helped get Sanchez confirmed as prime minister for a second term in January.
The plan calls for the deficit ratio to narrow from 1.8 percent of gross domestic output this year to 0.9 percent in 2023. EU member states are required to limit their deficits to 3.0 percent of GDP and to balance their budgets in the medium term.
Madrid estimates that its deficit ratio stood at 2.0 percent last year. ERC lawmaker Joan Margall said ahead of the vote that while his party did not like the new deficit targets, it had abstained from voting because "we have come to Madrid to solve a political conflict" in Catalonia.
"You have respected for now our agreement. With our vote, we are giving you a margin of confidence for the dialogue and negotiations to continue," he said. Getting a budget approved for 2020 could guarantee Sanchez several years of stability as it will allow him to roll over his existing spending plan. But if the budget is not approved by parliament, fresh elections would have to be held, as happened in 2019 when ERC withdrew its support for the Socialist premier.
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