<p>Spain's fragmented parliament gave final approval Tuesday to the biggest budget in the country's history, with billions of euros from EU's huge Covid-19 recovery fund.</p>.<p>Passage of the 2022 spending plan boosts the chances that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government will survive until the end of its mandate in late 2023.</p>.<p>Lawmakers voted 281-62 in favour of the budget, which calls for a record €240 billion ($269 billion) in spending next year as the government seeks to spur activity in an economy badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.</p>.<p>It includes 26.3 billion euros from the European Union's economic recovery fund.</p>.<p>Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of the fund, with the country set to collect a total of 140 billion euros in grants and loans from it over six years.</p>.<p>Sanchez's Socialists and its junior coalition partners, hard left party Podemos, hold only 155 of the 350 seats in Spain's highly fragmentented parliament.</p>.<p>But the government struck deals with smaller leftist and regional parties to get their support for the budget, including one with Catalan separatist party ERC that sets a quota for regional languages on streaming platforms.</p>.<p>In a tweet sent just after the budget was approved, Sanchez said the budget is "key to consolidating a fair and inclusive recovery".</p>.<p>"Hopefully this will be the prologue to many more agreements. We will be working on that," he added.</p>.<p>Sanchez is betting the expansive budget will stoke an economic rebound from the Covid pandemic that has lost some momentum due to weak domestic consumption and a slower than expected recovery in its key tourism sector.</p>.<p>Among the measures financed by the budget is a payment of 400 euros to all those who turn 18 to spend on cultural activities, and a monthly rent subsidy of 250 euros for low-income youths.</p>.<p>Civil servants will get a 2.0 per cent pay increase while old-age pensions will be increased in line with inflation.</p>.<p>The budget sees Spain's public deficit to fall to the equivalent of 5.0 per cent of Spain's economic output next year, down from 8.4 per cent in 2021.</p>.<p>But it is based on a prediction that Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 7.0 per cent next year, a forecast many analysts say is unrealistic.</p>.<p>Spain's economy contracted 10.8 per cent in 2020, one of the worst results among industrialised countries, as pandemic travel restrictions crippled its tourism sector.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>
<p>Spain's fragmented parliament gave final approval Tuesday to the biggest budget in the country's history, with billions of euros from EU's huge Covid-19 recovery fund.</p>.<p>Passage of the 2022 spending plan boosts the chances that Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's minority government will survive until the end of its mandate in late 2023.</p>.<p>Lawmakers voted 281-62 in favour of the budget, which calls for a record €240 billion ($269 billion) in spending next year as the government seeks to spur activity in an economy badly hit by the coronavirus pandemic.</p>.<p>It includes 26.3 billion euros from the European Union's economic recovery fund.</p>.<p>Spain is one of the main beneficiaries of the fund, with the country set to collect a total of 140 billion euros in grants and loans from it over six years.</p>.<p>Sanchez's Socialists and its junior coalition partners, hard left party Podemos, hold only 155 of the 350 seats in Spain's highly fragmentented parliament.</p>.<p>But the government struck deals with smaller leftist and regional parties to get their support for the budget, including one with Catalan separatist party ERC that sets a quota for regional languages on streaming platforms.</p>.<p>In a tweet sent just after the budget was approved, Sanchez said the budget is "key to consolidating a fair and inclusive recovery".</p>.<p>"Hopefully this will be the prologue to many more agreements. We will be working on that," he added.</p>.<p>Sanchez is betting the expansive budget will stoke an economic rebound from the Covid pandemic that has lost some momentum due to weak domestic consumption and a slower than expected recovery in its key tourism sector.</p>.<p>Among the measures financed by the budget is a payment of 400 euros to all those who turn 18 to spend on cultural activities, and a monthly rent subsidy of 250 euros for low-income youths.</p>.<p>Civil servants will get a 2.0 per cent pay increase while old-age pensions will be increased in line with inflation.</p>.<p>The budget sees Spain's public deficit to fall to the equivalent of 5.0 per cent of Spain's economic output next year, down from 8.4 per cent in 2021.</p>.<p>But it is based on a prediction that Spain's gross domestic product (GDP) will expand by 7.0 per cent next year, a forecast many analysts say is unrealistic.</p>.<p>Spain's economy contracted 10.8 per cent in 2020, one of the worst results among industrialised countries, as pandemic travel restrictions crippled its tourism sector.</p>.<p><strong>Watch latest videos by DH here:</strong></p>