The negotiation took until the last minute. Even within the extraordinary Council of Ministers that was held this Saturday. There was tension between the coalition partners, the PSOE and United We Can. The blockade reached such a point that the decision was left in the hands of the Prime Minister. Finally, the Executive’s anti-crisis plan, which will run until the end of the year, includes direct aid of 200 euros to workers and unemployed people with low incomes, specifically those with an income of less than 14,000 euros.
The thresholds required by United We Can have not been reached, but the PSOE has agreed to articulate this direct aid, although leaving the amount at 200 euros and not the 300 as United We Can wanted and placing the threshold at 14,000 euros; the purples had pushed to elevate it to reach the middle classes.
The plan also contemplates a discount on transport vouchers, which will reach 50% on the services provided by the Administration, and direct aid for a 30% reduction on those provided by communities and municipalities, which they can complete with their own resources up to that 50 %.
One of the main points of friction in the negotiations in extremis in recent days was to establish or not an aid check for families and, if so, what income threshold to establish to grant it. The blockade reached the point that the decision of the conflicting measures and their impact, such as the aid check for families, remained in the hands of Pedro Sánchez, as confirmed by several government sources. That is, the aid check, for example, resulted in a political decision and not a technical one.
The PSOE, reluctant to the measure, wanted to allocate it to the most vulnerable incomes. United We Can pressed for it to be granted to higher incomes, to the middle classes. Sánchez on Friday from Brussels did not get wet publicly but he did leave the door open by saying that his government works “to protect families that have become much more vulnerable due to the rise in the cost of living.”
The Ministry of Finance, which should be a key actor in this possible check, during the day on Friday was not aware of whether the measure would finally be approved or not. The sources consulted did confirm that it was President Sánchez who had taken direct responsibility for the decision and, although they pointed out the difficulties in defining the thresholds and conditions on time and even show some distrust that it materializes, they did not rule out any scenario.
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