Spanish Parliament Rejects Bill to Shorten Working Week

The measure sought to cut the maximum work week to 37 1/2 hours, while critics warned of higher costs.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez speaks during a session at parliament in Madrid on Dec. 12, 2018. Reuters/Susana Vera

Spain’s lower house of parliament has rejected a bill that would have shortened the working week, delivering a setback to Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialist Workers’ Party-led minority government as it struggles to push through promised reforms.

In a late vote on Sept. 10, opposition parties joined with Catalonia’s pro-independence Junts to block the bill from advancing to debate.