Spain: Working time will not be reduced to 37.5 hours per week, a setback for Pedro Sánchez

Led by Labor Minister Yolanda Diaz, a figure of the far-left Sumar party, an ally of the Socialists in Pedro Sánchez's government, this bill resulted from an agreement signed with the two main employee unions, UGT and CCOO, which had called for a protest outside Parliament during the vote, but without the employers' organizations, which opposed the reform. According to the government, it was expected to affect more than 12 million private sector employees, mainly in the retail, catering, and agricultural sectors, as the 37.5-hour week was already in effect in the civil service and most large companies.

The failure to pass it once again illustrates the uncomfortable position of Pedro Sánchez, who does not have an absolute majority in Parliament and must rely on several regional parties to pass the bill, including the Catalan pro-independence Junts per Catalunya, which opposed the bill. Addressing Parliament, Yolanda Díaz assured that the government would "insist" and resubmit the proposal.

He asked the Junts deputies to "rectify" their position so as not to have to confront "12.5 million workers in our country" who could benefit from this law. "Yes, we will lose a vote," she predicted before the vote. "But the reduction of this working day and the increase in wages have already been won in the streets. We have already won, the whole country wants this vote to pass."

In mid-July, the government suffered a crushing setback when it attempted to push through a package of measures aimed at preventing another massive blackout on the Iberian Peninsula like the one the country experienced at the end of April. In another blow to the Spanish prime minister, this setback on the reduction of working hours also comes on the day that his wife, Begoña Gómez, was questioned again by a judge in an investigation into her misappropriation of public funds.