We must continue to resist the siren calls for illiberal interventionism on housing issues coming from Madrid, Berlin and Brussels – which history has shown to be a failure – and press on along the path of pragmatism and common sense

For 2026, the government is forecasting a deficit at the upper limit of European rules (2.925 per cent). The use of the VAT windfall (170 million) to fund the diesel discount could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, pushing the deficit back up to 3.1 per cent 

 Xi Jinping’s country has a colossal surplus of production capacity, the result of subsidised investment aimed at boosting the annual GDP growth figure, but demand is insufficient and the domestic market is contracting 

This time it will be even more difficult, given the polls showing a large majority for the PP and Vox. However, the Spanish Prime Minister has built his identity on stubbornness.

In the second quarter of 2026, public spending rose to 50.9 per cent of GDP and the tax burden to 43.5 per cent. Yet politicians do not seem to realise the implications of the new regime of higher interest rates

The plan for 1,700 redundancies is being replaced by voluntary redundancy schemes, whilst the Cerreto plant gains time for reindustrialisation. The government has secured a reprieve, but the group’s future is overshadowed by the gap with Asian industry and the possible sale to Midea