Brussels deposits 6.234 million from the Recovery Plan to Spain and leaves pending the last large payment of 25.862 million

Spain received 6.234 billion euros this Tuesday, corresponding to the sixth disbursement of the Recovery Plan. The payment raises the European funding that has reached the country to 78 billion euros since the launch of the Next Generation EU funds. The figure is net and discounts the part anticipated by Brussels through the pre-financings of 2021 and 2023.

Of the amount paid now, 5.226 billion correspond to transfers and 1.008 billion to loans. The first block includes 265 million that had been suspended in the fifth request and that the European Commission has released after validating the digitalization of regional and local administrations and a part of the tax reform.

The payment arrives five months after the Government submitted the request, on March 3rd. Brussels has so far recognized the fulfillment of 338 milestones and objectives related to housing, health, sustainable mobility, social protection, digitalization, industry, and modernization of public administrations.

Among the reforms examined are the Sustainable Mobility Law, the creation of the public housing company CASA 47, the extension of birth and care leave, and the new Public Policy Evaluation Agency. The Commission has also certified investments of 2.242 billion for industrial transformation and more than 1.800 billion in digitalization and cybersecurity.

The 78 billion euros received are distributed among about 61 billion in transfers and more than 17 billion in credits. They represent 76.5% of the funding that Spain has assigned within the Recovery and Resilience Mechanism. This percentage is calculated on a package close to 102 billion after successive revisions of the plan and the reduction of the volume of loans that the Government intends to use.

Three milestones still pending

The sixth disbursement has received partial approval. Brussels keeps another 537 million on hold, linked to three objectives whose fulfillment it has not yet been able to certify. These affect bilingual Vocational Training, the deployment of telecare services, and several projects aimed at vulnerable groups, entrepreneurs, and micro-enterprises.

The Commission raised doubts in July about the mechanisms used to verify the execution of these actions. The Government has negotiated a new wording and more precise verification criteria within the latest addendum to the Recovery Plan. Brussels has already issued a favorable preliminary assessment of these changes, which will allow the three objectives to be re-examined in the last request.

The 537 million remain available while this review is completed. The precedent of the fifth disbursement shows that suspended amounts can be recovered when Spain provides new evidence or completes pending commitments. The 265 million released this Tuesday come precisely from that process.

The last request

The Government is already preparing the seventh and last disbursement. The request will include 148 milestones and objectives and will allow requesting 21,462 million in transfers and another 4,400 million in loans, a total of 25,862 million, which makes this phase the largest pending evaluation of the Spanish plan.

The Minister of Finance, Arcadi España, has defended that behind the approved commitments is "the effort of a country that complies, advances and demonstrates that, when we work together, results arrive." He has also confirmed that work to prepare the last request is underway.

The European calendar requires completing the pending objectives before the end of August and submitting the last payment request before September 30. The Commission must then evaluate all the documentation and authorize the final disbursement before the closure of the mechanism, scheduled for the end of 2026.

If Brussels fully approves the request, Spain will have received more than 100,000 million euros from the European financial contribution. In the coming weeks, ministries, autonomous communities and the bodies responsible for executing investments must finalize the compliance evidence that will accompany the request. The Commission will then decide how much of the pending 25,862 million finally arrives before December 31.