FREE nursery school places, a clampdown on rocketing rent and a new labour reform are among the 370 points on acting president Pedro Sánchez's new programme plan, which he hopes will seduce left-wing Podemos into voting in his favour when he attempts to become invested as president.
The plan comes in six blocks and runs for 75 pages – 'Fair employment and pensions', 'Feminism, the fight against social inequality, and quality democracy', 'Climate emergency, environmental transition, farming and fishing', 'Scientific and technological progress and digital transition', 'Spain open to Europe and the world', and 'Territorial structure' are the headings of each block.
As well as ensuring free day-schooling and care for all children from birth to three years old, when they start infant school, and stopping rent prices spiralling upwards – especially in large cities – the PSOE (socialist) leader proposes to scrap a labour reform brought in by the previous right-wing PP-led government in 2012 which made it easier and cheaper for firms to fire staff or make them redundant.
He proposes a Penal Code reform in which 'only yes means yes' and 'anything else means no' in the case of rape or sexual abuse, and intends to improve the work-life balance for parents by equalling paternity and maternity leave at 16 weeks each on 100% of the mother's or father's salary.
Sánchez includes the so-called 'Google Tax' or 'Tobin Tax' in his document, plus a minimum company profit tax figure of 15% for large firms, rising to 18% for banks, and the creation of a 'green tax'.
One of Podemos' most-desired measures is for the soi-disant 'Public Safety Law', known popularly as the 'Gagging Law', to be abolished, meaning protests without written provincial government organisation, or taking photos or videos of police in the course of duty, would not be subject to fines of up to €30,000.
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