Spanish Government misses constitutional deadline for state budgets

The Spanish Government has failed to meet the constitutional deadline to present the General State Budgets (PGE) to the Congress of Deputies, marking a period of continuous budget extensions. Under Article 134 of the Constitution, the Executive is required to submit the budget proposal at least three months before the expiration of the previous year's budget. However, the government has not approved a new budget project since October 2022, resulting in the automatic extension of the 2023 budgets.

Economic Vice President Carlos Cuerpo justified the delay, citing a backlog of urgent matters, but committed to presenting the project before the end of the year. During the period of extended budgets, the government has executed budget modifications totaling 330 billion euros.

In regions such as Cádiz, the lack of new budgets has led to the paralysis or cancellation of major infrastructure projects. For instance, previous allocations intended for transport and urban mobility, including road improvements and local government building projects, remain stalled due to the absence of updated financial planning. The Constitutional Court has also agreed to examine whether this continuous absence of new budgets constitutes a violation of constitutional duties.