More cash for regions, defense, science: Spanish government details expansive budget plan

The document includes an 11.5% rise in funding for Catalonia, viewed as a bid to secure parliamentary support from Catalan separatist lawmakers.

Finance Minister María Jesús Montero with the 2022 budget plan.

Details of the draft budget that the center-left government of Pedro Sánchez presented to Spanish parliament on Wednesday show a record-setting public-spending program for 2022 thanks largely to an influx of European funds to mitigate the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

The leader of the Socialist Party (PSOE), who heads a minority government with junior partner Unidas Podemos, is hoping to attract parliamentary support for an expansive budget aimed at fuelling the recovery following a record contraction of the economy last year. The spending plan includes more than €27 billion from EU funds that will go toward defense, industry, energy, science and infrastructure projects.