The Popular Party and Vox in Extremadura have approved the general budgets of the autonomous community for 2026, budgets that pass with the sum of the 40 votes from these two parties, partners in María Guardiola’s government, out of the total 65 seats that make up the Assembly of Extremadura.
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The Budgets were debated in a marathon session of more than 13 hours during which almost 700 partial amendments presented by parliamentary groups were considered. In the Extremaduran chamber, the government partners used their majority to reject nearly 600 amendments presented by PSOE and Unidas por Extremadura, in opposition.
The governance agreement between PP and Vox, signed last April, states that the far-right committed to approving the four budgets of the legislature in exchange for two ministries, one of them with the rank of vice presidency. Last December, Extremadura held its first early elections, called by the Popular president María Guardiola precisely due to the impossibility of reaching an agreement with Vox to approve a Budget.
The new regional Budget has a total amount of 8.854 billion euros, an increase of 9.3% compared to the previous year, about 755 million euros more. The Junta of Extremadura has highlighted that these Budgets are the largest in the history of the community.
Of the 8.854 billion euros, around 66.6%, about 6 billion euros, are allocated to health, education, and social services. Specifically, the Ministry of Health and Care for Dependency increases its budget by 500 million euros, and 170 million euros more than the previous Budgets are allocated to education.
Among the social measures, the allocation for birth aid receives an increase, rising from 1 million to 2.1 million euros. In terms of housing, the Budgets include investments for the Regional Housing Plan 2026-2029, to which 110 million euros are allocated.
As stated in the pact between the Populars and the far-right, the project includes a reduction in the first two regional brackets of the IRPF (personal income tax), with the aim, according to the regional government, of alleviating the tax burden on low and middle incomes.
The Budgets are heavily influenced by the policies Vox wants to develop in Extremadura: Extremaduran international cooperation suffers a cut of almost nine million euros, dropping from 11 to 2.7 million euros. Subsidies to the major unions and employers’ associations are also reduced by 50%.
From the Junta of Extremadura, the Minister of Finance and Public Administration, Elena Manzano, has defended that the approval of the budgets represents “one of the most important days” for the region and recalled that the call for early elections in December was precisely due to the need to unblock budgets.
Manzano emphasized that the budgets are the largest in the history of the community and assured that they will strengthen public services, consolidate the policy of tax cuts, and continue promoting support measures for families, self-employed workers, and companies. Additionally, she highlighted that the government will return 43 million euros to taxpayers through IRPF reductions and new tax deductions, and assured that the government is already working on the execution of budgets that, according to her, will serve to “continue making Extremadura grow.”
Meanwhile, from the opposition, the PSOE claims that this is a Budget that “is born dead,” considering that it will have an effective validity of barely two months and that it responds more to an “accounting exercise” than to a genuine budget law. The socialist spokesperson, Isabel Gil Rosiña, maintains that the approval of these budgets represents the materialization of the governance agreement between PP and Vox and the “toll” that, in her opinion, President María Guardiola has paid to remain in government.
From Unidas por Extremadura, their spokesperson, Irene de Miguel, has called these Budgets a “bluff” and used the same argument as the socialists, considering that they will barely have a two-month run. Furthermore, she accused Guardiola’s government of processing them without dialogue with the opposition and of governing only with the support of their parliamentary majority. De Miguel also criticized the tone of the debate during the plenary session, denouncing a climate of “insults” and “disqualifications” by the groups supporting the government.
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