There is a political earthquake Spain: the leaders of Catalonia’s Junts per Catalunya party, led by self-exiled Carlos Puigdemont, have decided to propose to their members the severance of the alliance with his government Pedro Sanchez.
The internal party vote, which will be held on Wednesday and Thursday (29-30.10.2025), is expected to ratify this decision, depriving Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of seven crucial votes in Parliament.
While Junts’ departure will not immediately bring down the government, it will make it significantly more difficult for Sanchez, who already governs with a fragile minority coalition and needs constant negotiations to pass every bill. The passing of the 2026 budget, which has already been delayed, thus turns into a real political impasse.
Puigdemont accuses Madrid of betrayal
From Perpignan, France, where he has lived in exile since 2017, Carlos Puigdemont explained his party’s decision in stark terms: “We don’t want to support a government that doesn’t help Catalonia,” he said, accusing the Socialists of failing to keep any of their commitments.
According to him, Madrid reneged on several agreements it had made with the separatists, such as the transfer of responsibilities for managing immigration to Catalonia and the recognition of Catalan as an official language of the European Union.
“The Socialists can stay in power, but without the ability to govern,” he added, arguing that the current governing coalition has reached its limits.
An increasingly volatile political landscape in Madrid
Pedro Sanchez, who has just 146 seats out of a total of 350, depends on the support of smaller regional parties. The Junts, which had played a key role in his re-election in 2023, have until now supported the government on a case-by-case basis in exchange for concessions in favor of Catalonia.
The deputy prime minister, Maria Jesus Montero, tried to play down the importance of the crisis, speaking of “a political relationship with its ups and downs”, but expressed hope that a solution would be found. However, in Madrid the tension is palpable: without the support of the Catalans, Sanchez risks governing in near total political paralysis.
As for a motion of impeachment, it is considered unlikely: to topple the government, the Junts would have to ally with the conservative People’s Party (PP) and the far-right Vox — two parties strongly opposed to any form of Catalan autonomy.