Rent war in Spain: Tenants are putting pressure on them

The two Spanish coalition partners, the Socialists of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the left-wing alternative electoral alliance Sumar, formally agreed at the last moment on a new regulation of the housing market. The conversations continued throughout the night. The result is two decrees.

This legislative initiative is the result of massive protests in recent days called by the tenants' union following the eviction of 87-year-old, mobility-impaired pensioner Maricarmen Abascal in Madrid. Tens of thousands took to the streets across Spain. In Madrid and several smaller cities, protest camps were set up in central squares to build pressure. This succeeded.

Among other things, protection against forced evictions will be extended to socially weak and particularly vulnerable people by 2030. Without alternative housing, they cannot be evicted. In addition, one of the two decrees provides that tenants can request a two-year extension of their rental agreement if it expires before December 31, 2028.

A second bill goes further. A permanent rental agreement is being introduced there for the first time. If Parliament passes this law, the five-year rental contracts for private landlords and the seven-year rental contracts for real estate companies will be automatically extended - unless the owner needs the apartment for themselves or relatives.

In addition, rents will be frozen. They may not be raised above the average rent in the respective regions. The permanent rental agreement and the freezing of rents are two of the most important demands of the tenants' union.

It was also decided to ban “vulture funds”, as speculative real estate funds are called in Spain, from purchasing living space until 2028. The measures also include stricter regulations for temporary rentals and room rentals to prevent these from being used as a loophole to circumvent the new regulations for rental agreements and rental prices.

The government has requested a special session of Parliament next Friday to have both texts adopted. This requires the support of all parties with the exception of the right-wing Partido Popular and the right-wing extremist Vox. They have already confirmed their rejection. Behind the scenes, parallel to the negotiations within the left-wing coalition, there were ongoing discussions with the remaining parties. The decree must accommodate everyone from economically liberal parties from Catalonia and the Basque Country to the far left in parliament, Podemos. Whether this succeeded remains to be seen in parliament.

The tenants' union complains that the measures were split into two bills. “In the end we will only be left with crumbs,” fears a spokeswoman. The union announced that it would maintain the protest camp in Madrid.

On Monday evening it was also announced that the pensioner Maricarmen Abascal could return to her apartment. In view of the massive protests, the real estate company, which had achieved its eviction, is leaving it behind at the old price for another eight years. In addition to the tenants' union's lawyer, the capital's housing company EMVS also took part in the negotiations.