The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has carried out this Wednesday his appearance to defend before Congress his refusal towards the Iran war and to explain the anti-crisis plan -approved last Friday- which contains 80 measures and which will entail 5,000 million euros to solve the economic and social consequences of the military offensive. This intervention takes place one day before the rest of the parties vote on the validation or repeal of the Government's decrees. In this regard, he has pointed to Aznar for taking Spain to the Iraq war because "he wanted Bush to invite him for a cigar".
Thus, the President of the Executive, has begun his statements reiterating his "no to war", praising the 2003 demonstrations against the government of José María Aznar when he led Spain to the military conflict in Iraq. "More than 3 million citizens came out to demonstrate with a resounding and simple message: 'no to war' ", he sentenced, while he has accused former president Aznar of leading Spain to the Iraq war to "feel important" and because "he wanted Bush to invite him to a cigar". And, he has insisted that the 'popular' former president was aware that Spaniards “did not want to go to war and he dragged us along”.
Likewise, he has compared: “Instead of Iraq we have Iran.” However, he has stressed that Iran is "a country twice as populated, with great weight in the global economy" and that it possesses "more military strength with very advanced technologies."
Sánchez has continued criticizing the meaning of the war that Trump and Netanyahu have started: "All this for what? In Iran they have changed one Khamenei for another Khamenei even worse, because he is just as dictatorial but more bloodthirsty than his father. And furthermore, this one is indeed in favor of developing nuclear weapons. In summary: an absolute disaster".
Regarding the anti-crisis plan, he stated: "We do not choose crises, but we do choose how we respond to them. Protecting people. Leaving no one behind. This is the logic of the Iran War Response Plan.
We don't choose crises, but we do choose how we respond to them. Protecting people. Leaving no one behind.
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) March 25, 2026
This is the logic of the Iran War Response Plan.
During the Iraq war, the Aznar Government did nothing. Absolutely nothing. pic.twitter.com/S1jrAtNEar
The conditions of the groups to support the decrees
Pedro Sánchez's Government will have to heed the conditions that political parties are imposing on it, if it wants to carry out its anti-crisis plan, since this Thursday, the vote on the decrees to curb the economic and social consequences of the war in the Middle East, for their validation or repeal, will take place, in the event that the Executive does not have sufficient support.
In this context, Junts has confirmed that it will vote in favor of the plan provided that the Government supports its initiative to abolish VAT for self-employed individuals who invoice less than 85,000 euros annually.
For its part, Podemos has announced that it will abstain in the vote. The party led by Ione Belarra had already stated that it would not support the decree if the president did not announce Spain's exit from NATO. MEP Irene Montero reiterated this weekend that the party would only support the measures if aid was expanded with caps on food and fuel prices, in addition to insisting on the exit from the Atlantic Alliance.
Coalición Canaria has also set its conditions. Its deputy Cristina Valido considers that the plan has an impact “insufficient” for the “vulnerable Canarian economy” and has demanded that the Government guarantee a financial compensation for the archipelago, considering that the decree is “designed for the peninsular reality” and does not take into account the fiscal singularity of the Canary Islands.
Likewise, the Popular Party has conditioned its support on the Executive including new measures, among them the deflation of the personal income tax rate. In its view, the current decree falls “short” and there is “room” to deploy more support aimed at families and middle incomes.
