Edition Date: 20/10/2026

The Spanish Government is announcing, or allowing details to emerge, of a succession of packages of social measures in the run-up to the elections on 29 November. We examine what is currently known, what amounts to little more than a pre-election announcement, and the aspects that should be approached with particular caution.

Those of us who, by now, have a few grey hairs in this field will remember the spring of 2019. With Parliament dissolved and the elections of 28 April fast approaching, the Spanish Government launched, and indeed itself coined the term, which is particularly telling, the so-called “Social Fridays”: Council of Ministers after Council of Ministers, package after package of Royal Decree-Laws containing employment and social measures. Those weeks gave rise, among other measures and focusing exclusively on employment matters, to the extension of paternity leave, the obligation to record working time and the reinstatement of the allowance for persons over the age of 52. At the time, we already noted, in our Circulars 8/2019 and 9/2019, that this approach appeared legally questionable and that some of those measures could hardly be described as urgent. The fact that many of them had been gathering dust for years, only to be revived, almost miraculously, in the midst of the pre-election period, was evidence enough.

Seven years later, with Parliament dissolved and the general election called for Sunday, 29 November, the Spanish Government has expressed its intention to repeat the exercise. Since meetings of the Council of Ministers are now held on Tuesdays rather than Fridays, the term has become “Social Tuesdays”. The day of the week may have changed, but we fear that the legislative technique will remain broadly the same.

It is essential to point out that none of the matters examined here has been published in the Spanish Official State Gazette.

This assessment is based on press reports, public statements and pre-election briefings: material that, at this time of year, must be treated with the utmost caution. Experience shows that there can sometimes be an entire parliamentary term between what is announced at a press conference and what ultimately finds its way into the Official State Gazette, if indeed it ever does. These observations are therefore strictly preventive in nature and, it must be said, contain a considered element of criticism.

It should also be recalled that the main trade unions have called a general strike for 11 November, two days before the start of the election campaign. We will shortly publish a separate circular on this matter.

Can the Spanish Government legislate once Parliament has been dissolved?

Yes. The dissolution of Parliament does not bring the Government’s term of office to an end, nor does it prevent the adoption of Royal Decree-Laws, which, during this period, must be ratified by the Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Deputies. Thus far, there is nothing that departs from constitutional orthodoxy.

A very different question concerns Article 86 of the Constitution and its requirement of “extraordinary and urgent necessity”. The availability of a legislative instrument does not mean that any content can legitimately be channelled through it. An urgency that has remained imperceptible for years, only to emerge suddenly five weeks before an election, is enough, at the very least, to raise an eyebrow, or perhaps to place an index finger upon it; the allusion is sufficiently clear.

This is not, however, a criticism of the objectives pursued by the measures, on which we refrain from expressing any view, but rather of the legislative technique employed. Repeatedly intervening in employment and social security matters through Royal Decree-Laws, without consultation or supporting reports and with almost immediate entry into force, comes at a cost borne not by those announcing the measures, but by those required to implement them: businesses.

What is expected to be announced today

The first “Social Tuesday” is expected to take place today and would focus primarily on social security matters. According to published reports, the package would include a new temporary incapacity protection measure for women suffering from conditions associated with menopause; an equivalent improvement for victims of gender-based violence; amendments to the benefit for the care of children affected by cancer or another serious illness, including the possibility of both parents receiving it simultaneously or alternately, as well as its extension beyond the age of 26 in cases of particular vulnerability; more flexible access to survivors’ pensions for unmarried couples with children in common; and improvements to certain extraordinary pensions arising from acts of terrorism and to protection for orphans in cases of gender-based violence.

We will not, on the basis of these reports, produce a technical analysis that may already be obsolete tomorrow. We can, however, anticipate where the key issues will lie if these measures do ultimately reach the Official State Gazette: not in the recognition of the right itself, which can be stated in a few lines, but in determining when it takes effect, who qualifies, how entitlement is to be evidenced and who will bear the corresponding financial burden.

Of the remaining issues, only the minimum wage merits attention; as for the rest, we will have to wait

As already noted, there is discussion of a timetable of measures to be adopted on subsequent Tuesdays, although it remains to be seen whether they will ultimately materialise. What is certain, however, is that the National Minimum Wage will increase in 2027. This increase will take place in any event and, of the proposals as a whole, is the only measure with a direct and certain impact on businesses. The most representative trade unions are calling for a 7% increase. The Spanish Government has yet to adopt a position and the non-binding opinion of the expert committee is awaited. With October’s preliminary Consumer Price Index standing at 4.9%, our expectation, and it is no more than that, is that the increase will be close to that figure. The uprating of pensions, as well as the contribution bases and rates for the coming year, follows the usual December process; presenting it now as a “social measure” is, quite simply, a communications strategy.

And what is taking shape behind the scenes, without always reaching the press

There is also a second, less visible layer which we consider it appropriate to place expressly on record precisely because it has not emerged in the media. In discussions between the social partners, familiar proposals are resurfacing with varying degrees of intensity: a reduction in the statutory maximum working time; the digitalisation and tightening of working-time recording requirements; the rules governing compensation for dismissal in light of decisions by the European Committee of Social Rights; and possible further measures concerning employment contracts. None of this has been formally put in writing, none of it has been confirmed, and it may well remain merely hypothetical. Nevertheless, the “Social Tuesday” format is, by its very nature, an ideal vehicle for introducing into the Official State Gazette, with very limited debate, provisions that might have struggled to make their way through the ordinary parliamentary process. We mention this subject to all due reservations, and it is precisely for that reason that we consider it appropriate to flag it.

In summary

Until 29 November, it will be important to keep a clear head: not to treat as law what has merely been announced; not to change any internal procedure before reviewing the Official State Gazette; and to approach media headlines with a healthy degree of scepticism. The Employment and Social Security Law Department will monitor, Tuesday by Tuesday, what is actually approved and will keep you promptly informed of any provision capable of having practical operational consequences.

Because, in light of the above, between now and the election, Tuesdays will be anything but uneventful.