Valencia approves 'national priority' welfare rule and tax cuts for top earners in omnibus law

What the law contains

The Ley de Acompañamiento a los Presupuestos de 2026, approved with the 53 votes of PP (40) and Vox (13) against the 42 of PSPV-PSOE and Compromís, introduces 'prioridad nacional' into the Valencian regulatory framework for the first time in Spain. The concept was already inserted into the Generalitat's budget law and is now extended to social assistance and public housing. The text requires a reinforced minimum period of residence, padrón registration, and territorial ties for access to benefits, subsidies, and public services. It also envisages 'the exclusion from access to structural social benefits and services of persons in an irregular administrative situation, limiting their access exclusively to cases of vital urgency permitted by the legal system.' For public housing, the law adds a 15-year accumulated padrón history in Spain as a scoring criterion, though the Third Sector Platform stressed it is not an automatic exclusion.

La configuración y aplicación de las prestaciones sociales debe atender a la necesidad y la vulnerabilidad, sin introducir diferencias de trato carentes de una justificación objetiva, legítima y proporcionada.

The law also restricts 'the use of garments or accessories that substantially conceal the face, for security reasons', targeting the burka and niqab, in schools, public transport, and health centres. Civil servants must enforce the ban, which falls under the supervision of local police.

Welfare shift and Third Sector reaction

The Third Sector Platform of the Valencian Community announced it will review the final text 'article by article' once published, offering all parliamentary groups and the Consell technical dialogue so that implementation respects the equality and non-discrimination framework. The platform insisted that 'equality of treatment is a right in force, not an option,' citing the Constitution and international human-rights law. It urged deputies to reject any provisions that substitute need-based assessment with criteria of residence or administrative status for the Valencian inclusion income, social services, and integration programs.

La igualdad de trato es derecho vigente, no una opción.

Tax cuts for higher incomes and large estates

PP accepted all but one of Vox's amendments. On personal income tax, IRPF rates drop retroactively by 0.15 percentage points for income above 100,000 euros in 2026, with a further 0.10-point cut across all brackets in 2027, a cumulative reduction of 0.25 points for the top bracket. Wealth tax (Impuesto de Patrimonio) sees the minimum exemption doubled from one million to two million euros. Under the previous threshold of one million, set by former president Carlos Mazón, about half of the taxpayers liable for the levy stopped paying it. Finance ministry figures cited by Europa Press show that only around 4,200 Valencians will now pay wealth tax, compared with nearly 28,000 in 2023 before PP and Vox reached their governing agreement.

The PP's spokesman Nando Pastor said the measures would simplify bureaucracy and lower taxes, adding that 350 million euros would be devoted to housing. Vox's spokesman José María Llanos called the amendments 'the start of a new stage in the Valencian Community by turning national priority into a principle with real effects on public policies.'

Opposition response

PSPV-PSOE deputy José Muñoz attacked the fiscal rebates for those earning more than 100,000 euros annually and accused the PP of passing laws hand in hand with a party that, he said, speaks of unaccompanied minors in dehumanising terms. The left-wing bloc also pointed to the contrast between the tax cuts and the persistent refusal of the Valencian government to negotiate a new regional-financing model that, according to the opposition, would bring an additional 3,700 million euros to the Generalitat's coffers plus substantial debt forgiveness, a stance one opinion piece described as rejecting a salary rise from 1,700 to 3,700 euros.

The sole disagreement

Throughout the parliamentary session, PP and Vox displayed near-total alignment, one PP deputy privately acknowledged tough negotiations but the public record showed the PP voting for every Vox amendment except the one demanding nearly one million euros in further cuts to the Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua. PP held firm on a more than 6% increase in transfers to the AVL. Vox ultimately backed the full budget, including the AVL line.