Vote in the Spanish Parliament: Sánchez fails with package against housing crisis

The Spanish Parliament rejected two decrees that were supposed to regulate the housing market in a roll-call vote on Friday afternoon. At the last moment, former Catalan President Carles Puigdemont's Junts Catalan independence party decided to vote no. The left-wing coalition under the socialist Pedro Sánchez did not have a majority. Together with the right-wing Partido Popular (PP) and the right-wing extremist Vox, Junts brought down the proposed law. During the parliamentary debate, thousands of protesters gathered in front of the parliament building in Madrid and in front of the Junts party headquarters in Barcelona.

The first decree was intended to extend protection against forced evictions until 2030 for socially disadvantaged and particularly vulnerable people. They must not be left out without alternative housing. In addition, tenants should be able to request a two-year extension of their lease if it expires before December 31, 2028, and rents should be frozen.

A second goes beyond that. A permanent rental agreement was introduced there for the first time, unless the owner needs the apartment for themselves or relatives. The measures were divided into two laws in the hope that at least the first law - with emergency measures - would pass in parliament. Junts, unlike the conservative Basques and Canary Islands, did not agree to this. This voted for the first and against the second.

The government hastily drafted the laws after the eviction of 87-year-old disabled pensioner Maricarmen in Madrid sparked mass protests. In Madrid, hundreds of people have been occupying the central Puerta del Sol square for a week. You spend the night in over 1,200 tents. Protest camps were also set up in other cities, such as Bilbao, Barcelona and Málaga.

The disappointment in the camps was great. New demonstrations have been announced for Saturday. Last weekend, tens of thousands took to the streets across Spain. The high rents and purchase prices for apartments are the biggest social problem in Spain. Around 25,000 evictions are carried out every year.

The defenders of the decrees repeatedly spoke of “social emergency” and “social urgency”. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez urged Junts MPs to change their stance. "We have adopted 90 percent of your suggestions. Vote for it or abstain," she appealed to the seven MPs. In vain. The Junts board's announcement late on Thursday evening that it would vote no came as a surprise to the government, as it had been negotiating with the Catalans all week. Anyone who rejects the decrees is on the side of the “vulture funds”. This is what funds that speculate in real estate are called in Spain.

In a survey by the daily newspaper El País and the radio station Cadena Ser, 68 percent of Spaniards were in favor of capping rents in order to make housing more affordable. Even at the PP and Vox there are over 50 percent who support such a measure. Junts justifies itself by wanting to protect “small homeowners”. The PP demands “the construction of more apartments, instead of intervening in the market”. And the right-wing extremist Vox sees the cause of the housing shortage in massive immigration.

The defeat in the vote could have far-reaching consequences. Already in the run-up to the plenary session, a rumor emerged that Sánchez could bring forward the upcoming parliamentary elections from early summer to the end of November.