Lara Hernández guarantees another year for Spain's coalition government

Sumar plays the calendar game: one year of leeway for useful policies

The leader of Movimiento Sumar, Lara Hernández, settled this week's debate over the survival of Spain's coalition by guaranteeing the government's continuity: there is one more year, and that time will be used for "useful policies". She said so at a press breakfast, in direct response to the leader of the PNV (Basque Nationalist Party), Aitor Esteban, who the day before had called it "irresponsible" to keep Pedro Sánchez's government going beyond 2026. The remark, however, raises more questions than it answers.

What lies behind "useful policies"

The phrase has been met with scepticism in political and economic analysis. For defenders of the coalition, it confirms that there is still room for action: incomes, housing, wages — there are still areas where the government can legislate. For critics, the expression is a catch-all that says little and commits to even less. Some read it as the prelude to a hoarding operation: twelve months to tie down spending items and commitments before an ending nobody controls.

The standoff with the PNV

Hernández's response is no coincidence. The PNV has set an expiry date for the government, and Sumar, the coalition's junior partner, needs to distance itself from the Moncloa strategy. "One year left" is also a message to its partners: the coalition will not break up, and anyone wanting to renegotiate the price of their support has a fixed timetable.

The underlying question remains open: whether the real window for "useful policies" is twelve months or less. Nothing in the current debate allows that to be pinned down. The year ahead could be one of endurance or of exhaustion; the only certainty is that this time, it is Sumar setting the calendar.