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The Spanish Congress will vote today on a law to tighten the penalties for repeat offenders

Government opposition support is expected in this final vote. Junts' reform tightens the penalties for mobile theft.

MADRID, 12/11/2025.- El presidente del Gobierno, Pedro Sánchez tras intervenir en el pleno que celebra este miércoles el Congreso. EFE/ ZIPI ARAGON
Stock image of the Congress of Deputies. Photo: Europa Press

The criminal reform promoted byJunts, one of the demands of Pedro Sánchez's government, will come to the plenary of Congress on Thursday for the final vote, and it will do so with the support of the opposition rather than the support of members of the executive.

In fact, this bill has confronted the PSOE, the Suma, its government partner, and the usual partners Bildu, Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and Podemos, who, in addition to disagreeing with Bildu, Esquerra Republicana (ERC) and Podemos, claim that Pedro Sánchez only wants to please Carles Puigdemont's group.

The breakup between Junts and the Spanish Government

The Junts Party registered this bill amending the Criminal Code and the Criminal Procedure Act (LECn) in March 2024 and was approved by the plenary half a year later. It was kept in a drawer for several months, until partial amendments were finally tabled in March 2025. However, the reform was reintroduced into hibernation because the members of the left wing of the government disagreed with it.

But as a result of the breakdown of the dialogue with the government announced by Junts, the PSOE relaunched it and, in just a week, the Justice Committee approved the legislative reform. The text will now be debated and voted on by the plenary on Tuesday and then forwarded to the Senate to complete its procedure.

In the committee, all the groups supported thereform of Junts , unlike Sintre, Bildu and Podemos (who voted against) and ERC (who abstained).

Punishments

In particular, the criminal reform shall impose a fine of oneto three months if the amount of the theft does not exceed EUR 400, but the penalty of theft may be extended to one to three years' imprisonment if certain circumstances arise, such as the imposition of an executive penalty for three other less serious offences.

And another aggravating factor in increasing the penalty was the theft of a mobile phone or other computer device containing personal data, which does not apply when new mobile phones are stolen from a store.


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