MADRID — The Spanish government, led by Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, is under increasing pressure from the hard-left party Podemos, which has made its support for this year’s budget conditional on two significant demands: severing ties with Israel and implementing measures to drastically reduce rent prices.
Members of Podemos began voting on Tuesday to decide whether to withhold their crucial support for the budget unless these demands are met. The party, which controls four seats in the lower house of parliament, holds a pivotal position in the fragile coalition government, where Sanchez relies on the backing of smaller parties to pass legislation.
Podemos’ Secretary General Ione Belarra, a former social rights minister, publicly criticized the government’s stance in a video message, urging her party members to demand that Spain “immediately break off diplomatic and trade relations with the genocidal state of Israel” in exchange for their support. She also called for sweeping housing reforms, including a 40% reduction in rent prices, a ban on house purchases by non-residents, and measures against private companies involved in evictions.
While the Spanish government has previously navigated coalition challenges, Sanchez must also secure the backing of two center-right parties—the Catalan separatist group Junts and the Basque regionalist PNV—both of which are expected to impose their own conditions for supporting the budget.
Spain continues to grapple with a housing crisis driven by rising rents and the increasing prevalence of tourist rentals, which have exacerbated gentrification in many urban areas. Podemos has long campaigned for housing reforms, and protests over high rents are expected across Spain in the coming weeks.
Podemos, a former coalition partner with the Socialists from 2018 to 2023, left the ruling platform in December after internal disagreements and the exclusion of its leaders from ministerial roles within the new leftist Sumar coalition.
The party’s internal vote on whether to conditionally support the budget will run until October 27, and the result will be binding.