Spain’s Congress of Deputies on Wednesday rejected a proposal to lower the country’s drink-driving limit, a move that has prompted accusations of influence from the alcohol industry and pledges from the ruling Socialists to revive the legislation. The proposal, which sought to reduce the maximum permitted blood alcohol level from 0.5 grams per litre to 0.2, was defeated by a vote of 19 to 18.
The vote saw opposition from the Popular Party (PP), Vox, the Catalan Republican Left (ERC), and the Union of the Navarrese People (UPN), effectively halting the bill’s progress after a year of parliamentary delays. The initial proposal, tabled by the Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE), had previously passed despite an abstention from the PP, but faced staunch opposition from Vox.
The proposed legislation also included a provision to ban the publication and sharing of locations for police alcohol and drug checkpoints on social media platforms. Since March 2025, amendments to the bill had been repeatedly extended, stalling progress amid ongoing negotiations between parliamentary groups.
Following the vote, PSOE Deputy Manuel Arribas accused the PP and Vox of succumbing to pressure from “the beer and wine lobbies.” “Today was not a political debate, far from it. Today, what we were debating is who decides that, having had a few drinks or a few beers, someone gets behind the wheel and takes the lives of innocent people who are on their way to work, who are going about their daily lives,” Arribas told reporters. He stated that the PSOE intends to reintroduce the initiative to the House of Deputies in an attempt to secure its passage.
The Spanish Ministry of the Interior has indicated it remains committed to lowering the drink-driving limit, despite the parliamentary setback. A ministry statement affirmed that “the direction is clear,” even though the reduction in the limit was not approved by parliament.
The outcome of the vote comes amid a period of political maneuvering in Spain, with regional elections in Castile and León scheduled for Sunday. Recent polling suggests the PSOE may outperform expectations in that region, according to reporting from Ara, though the PP is still expected to be the leading force and will likely require the support of Vox to govern. A separate report from Bloomberg noted that the Socialists have seen unexpected gains in regional ballots, potentially signaling a shift in the political landscape.
Vox, founded in 2013, is a national conservative party currently led by Santiago Abascal and vice president and secretary-general Ignacio Garriga. The party holds 33 seats in the Congress of Deputies and 6 in the European Parliament, as of March 2026, and is affiliated with the European Conservative and Reformist Party and the Madrid Forum. The party’s membership stood at 63,468 as of 2026, according to its own reporting.
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