Politics · Spain · 18 hrs ago
Spain’s PP proposes limits on legislative delays and emergency decrees
Spain’s opposition People’s Party, led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo, has set out plans to change how Parliament handles laws in its election programme.
The party says the Congress of Deputies’ governing board has delayed dozens of its bills during the current legislature.
It proposes limiting repeated extensions to bill deadlines and setting maximum times to process, debate and vote on proposals sent by the Senate.
The PP also wants tighter limits on emergency decrees, including a ban on issuing a decree with substantially the same content as one rejected by Congress in the same session.
The programme would require the government to face parliamentary scrutiny and hold an annual debate on the state of the nation.
These proposals follow a dispute over housing decrees whose rejection helped bring about an early election.
The changes would depend on the PP forming a government; the programme also promises more public explanations for parliamentary decisions and assessments of laws’ costs.
Spain’s People’s Party proposes changes to parliamentary rules to prevent legislative bills from being delayed or blocked.
The PP says the Congress and Senate should face limits on repeated deadline extensions and set maximum times to process, debate and vote on bills sent by the Senate.
Its programme would restrict emergency decrees, including barring a decree with substantially the same content as one rejected by Congress during the same session.
The party also says the government should not use a lack of support or convenience to avoid parliamentary scrutiny.
The proposals are part of the PP’s programme for the 29 November election.
- Who
- Spain’s People’s Party (PP), led by Alberto Núñez Feijóo.
- What
- The PP proposes limits on legislative delays and emergency decrees, as well as measures to strengthen parliamentary scrutiny.
- When
- The proposals were reported on 8 November 2026. The programme is for the 29 November election.
- Where
- Spain’s Congress and Senate.
- Why
- The PP says parliamentary rules have allowed bills to be blocked by extending deadlines and have enabled the government to avoid debate.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The PP says the Congress’s governing body froze dozens of its proposed laws.
The government issued decrees on housing that were later rejected by Congress, according to the article.
El Mundo reported the PP’s proposed parliamentary reforms in its programme for the 29 November election.
- Election date
- 29 November 2026
- Proposed deadline changes
- Limit repeated extensions and set maximum processing, debate and voting times for bills sent by the Senate
- Emergency decree restriction
- No decree with substantially the same content as one rejected by Congress during the same session
- Legislative delays cited
- The PP says dozens of its proposed laws were frozen during the last legislature
- Annual debate proposal
- Hold a Debate on the State of the Nation every year
1 source
What people are saying
Laws will be debated without tricks or shortcuts
We will reform the rules of the Congress and Senate to limit successive extensions of deadlines, so that their governing bodies cannot block a law by unjustifiably extending them, or empty the debate by shortening them at their convenience
We will reserve emergency decrees for truly extraordinary and urgent situations
The lack of support or the convenience of the government will not justify avoiding deliberation by the Cortes