It was backed by Sánchez’s Socialists and hard-left junior coalition partner Podemos with the support of smaller regional parties including the Catalan separatist ERC in exchange for greater regional investment.

“This is the third budget we have approved with a large majority, a budget with historic levels of welfare spending,” Sánchez tweeted after the vote.

Hoy damos un paso más hacia la aprobación definitiva de los #PGE.

Serán las terceras cuentas públicas consecutivas que aprobamos con una amplia mayoría. Unos presupuestos con un gasto social histórico para avanzar hacia un país más igualitario y sostenible.

¡Seguimos! pic.twitter.com/n2POBdkbNp

— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) November 24, 2022

The budget still needs to be rubber-stamped by the Senate within the next month but its passage there is guaranteed given the support it has won from the government’s allies.

It outlines plans for a record spend of €198 billion ($206 billion) in 2023 that will mean higher pensions and public worker salaries, as well as increased funding for higher education and health.

It also extends free travel on commuter and medium-distance trains and some long-distance buses into 2023.

READ MORE:

• GUIDE: How to get free train tickets in Spain
• Spain’s free long-distance buses in 2023 and how to get tickets

The travel scheme was introduced on September 1st, with hundreds of thousands of people signing up for a measure initially slated to run until the year’s end in a bid to ease soaring costs.

Budget Minister María Jesús Montero said six out of every €10 in the budget will go towards social spending, the highest proportion allocated for that purpose in Spain’s history.

The budget will be partly financed by tax increases for high earners and cash from the European Union’s Covid-19 pandemic recovery fund.

Spain is due to receive €140 billion from the fund over six years, making it one of the main recipients.