"40 Hours Is Too Long... Spain Pushes for 37.5-Hour Workweek"

Spain's Socialist Workers' Party and Left Alliance Push to Form Government
Gradual Reduction from Current 40-Hour Workweek by 2025

The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE), given the opportunity to form a government, is pushing for a coalition with the left-wing alliance Sumar and has decided to introduce a '37.5-hour workweek.'

Pedro S?nchez, acting Prime Minister and leader of the PSOE, and Yolanda D?az, acting Minister of Labor and leader of Sumar, announced the coalition agreement containing this plan, AP News reported on the 24th (local time). This is to form a new government in the upcoming November.

The agreement centers on gradually reducing the weekly working hours from the current 40 hours to 37.5 hours. Initially, the workweek will be reduced to 38.5 hours in 2024, followed by a further reduction to 37.5 hours in 2025. Additionally, the agreement includes about 230 policies covering climate change response, artificial intelligence (AI) regulation, education, housing, and more.

Spain is a parliamentary system where the leader of the largest party in the legislature becomes prime minister and forms the cabinet. However, last month, the prime ministerial approval proposal for Alberto N??ez Feij?o, leader of the right-wing People's Party (PP), the largest party in the legislature, was rejected twice in parliament.

As a result, the opportunity to form a government passed to acting Prime Minister S?nchez, leader of the second-largest party, PSOE. However, to secure the parliamentary majority needed to form a government, support from several smaller parties, including separatist parties from Catalonia and the Basque region, is required.

Furthermore, if acting Prime Minister S?nchez fails to gain the support of the Catalan separatist parties and does not receive prime ministerial approval, Spain will have to hold another general election in January next year.

Spain held an early general election in July, but no party secured a majority, leading to political turmoil. Out of the total 350 seats, the People's Party won 137 seats and the PSOE 122 seats, falling short of the 176 seats needed to form a single-party government. Consequently, discussions on forming a government through party coalitions are actively underway.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.