Congress validates the response plan for the Middle East crisis

The Permanent Deputation of the Congress of Deputies agreed on October 16, 2026, to validate Royal Decree-Law 25/2026, of September 29, by which certain measures are adopted and extended within the framework of the Comprehensive Response Plan to the Crisis in the Middle East. The agreement, adopted under Article 86.2 of the Constitution, is published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) no. 260, of October 20, 2026, section I, page 139780, by means of a resolution signed by the President of the Congress, Francina Armengol Socias (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21788).

From the March plan to the September extension

The validated regulation was published in BOE no. 241, of September 30, 2026 (ref. BOE-A-2026-20265), and provides continuity to Royal Decree-Law 7/2026, of March 20, which approved the comprehensive plan as an emergency response to the conflict that began on February 28, 2026, with a joint military operation by the United States and Israel against the Iranian regime, and which extended to Lebanon, Bahrain, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and a British base in Cyprus, resulting in more than 4,000 deaths.

Royal Decree-Law 18/2026, of June 29, had transitionally extended the actions until September 30, 2026, in a context that appeared to be one of de-escalation following the memorandum of understanding signed on June 17, 2026. That stabilization did not consolidate: according to the September report from the International Energy Agency, oil exports from the Gulf stood in August at around half of the pre-conflict levels, and the full recovery of supply has been pushed back to 2027.

The text consists of an explanatory part and a dispositive part with six chapters, 37 articles, five additional provisions, one transitional provision, and nine final provisions. It was signed by King Felipe VI and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón, on September 29, 2026.

The energy shield: gas, butane, and fuels

The macroeconomic framework justifying the extension is one of sustained pressure on prices. The National Statistics Institute placed the general CPI for August 2026 at 4.3% year-on-year, seven tenths higher than in July, with the transport group at 9.5% and core inflation at 2.9%. The European Central Bank forecasts a peak of 3.6% in harmonized inflation in the eurozone in the fourth quarter of 2026.

The main measures are:

• Natural gas last resort tariff (TUR): the Cn term would have increased from 2.65 to 5.63 c€/kWh on October 1, a rise of over 45%; the increase is limited to 35% in that review and to 15% in the January 2027 review, with subsequent recovery of the difference by the marketers. It affects more than three million consumers (3.1 million, 39.5% of the total).
• Liquefied natural gas storage: the Winter Action Plan obligation increases from 16.5 to 21 days between November and March, with a tolerance margin of 15% in daily compliance. The filling level of Spanish regasification plants was at 51% in mid-September.
• Bottled butane: maximum price of 19.55 euros per 12.5 kilogram cylinder in the peninsular territory until June 30, 2027.
• Hydrocarbons Tax: reduction of 20 cents per liter in October, 13 in November, and 6 in December, with a safeguard mechanism if the CPI for gasoline or diesel exceeds that of the previous year by more than 15%.
• VAT and Special Tax on Electricity: the safeguard to recover the 10% VAT and the 0.5% rate is maintained if the energy CPI deteriorates in November and December.

Aid for transport, agriculture, and fishing

Chapter IV extends until December 31, 2026, the extraordinary aid for agricultural diesel, calculated as up to 70% of the difference from the price prior to the conflict and with a cap of 0.2 euros per liter, and the compensatory aid for fishing vessel operating companies. Chapter V extends the aid for professional diesel for transporters for October, November, and December, with amounts of 5, 12, and 19 cents per liter depending on the month, and adds a line for holders of VDE, VT, VTC, VSE, MDLE, and MDPE authorizations, urban buses, and adapted taxis not registered in the refund census.

In the economic sphere, the Company Internationalization Fund (FIEM) is made more flexible to accept Spanish guarantees, and the annual approval limit for operations of the Foreign Investment Fund (FIEX) is raised to 500,000 thousand euros, compared to the 350,000 in effect since 2021. Beneficiary companies may not carry out layoffs or cease activity until December 31, 2026, when justified by causes derived from this situation.

Entry into force and parliamentary control

The ninth final provision sets the entry into force on the day following publication, that is, October 1, 2026, except for Article 1, which did so on the day of its publication, and the modification of Royal Decree 413/2014 on the power factor, which applies in three months. Validation by the Permanent Deputation closes the constitutional process of the decree-law, which lapses if Congress does not validate it within 30 days.

The resolution is published alongside that of Royal Decree-Law 24/2026, regarding the reconstruction following the 2024 DANA (ref. BOE-A-2026-21787), in the same session of October 16.

The impact for readers is direct on three fronts: gas and butane bills, fuel prices, and aid for transporters, farmers, and fishermen during the final quarter of 2026. The regulation arrives with the gradual withdrawal of support already designed and with the official warning that the normalization of the energy supply is not expected before 2027.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 260, of October 20, 2026, section I, page 139780 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-21788).