The Congress of Deputies has approved the reform of the Penal Code to toughen penalties against multi-recidivism, especially in minor offenses such as thefts below 400 euros. The modification changes the current approach by allowing the repetition of crimes to have greater penal weight, opening the door to more severe sanctions, including prison, when continuous conduct is proven.
Until now, these crimes were judged individually, which allowed many repeat offenders to accumulate multiple convictions without proportional criminal consequences. The reform seeks to correct that void and respond to a growing demand from merchants and security forces, especially in large cities, where the economic impact of repeated thefts has been reported.
The law has been backed by PSOE, PP, Vox, Junts, PNV, Coalición Canaria and Unión del Pueblo Navarro, while ERC has abstained. In contrast, the minority partner of the Government and the rest of the left-wing allies —Bildu, Podemos, BNG and Compromís— have voted against, marking a clear division within the bloc that supports the Executive of Pedro Sánchez.
During the processing, the Government has also vetoed several amendments due to their budgetary impact. In the case of the one related to immigration, the Executive has indicated that it would require deploying 400 additional civil servant positions in police stations, with an average cost of 42,000 euros per position, which would mean an increase of 16.78 million euros.
Likewise, the veto of the proposal to expand the prosecutor's staff has been justified on the grounds that it would imply calling for 491 new positions, with an estimated cost of 53.79 million euros, a figure that the Government has considered unaffordable within the current budgetary framework.
