ERC and Junts Clash After Catalonian Separatists Defeat Housing Decrees in Madrid

Defeat of the housing decrees in Congress

The defeat of two government housing decrees in the Spanish Congress of Deputies on Friday, 2 October 2026, opened a sharp public dispute between Catalonia's two primary pro-independence parties. The minority coalition administration led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez failed to secure the necessary legislative backing after lawmakers from Junts per Catalunya voted against both texts. Gabriel Rufián, the parliamentary spokesperson for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), mounted an aggressive attack from the rostrum of the lower house in Madrid, condemning the post-convergence party for torpedoing the housing regulations. Rufián directed explicit insults at Carles Puigdemont's political party, labelling them classists for their opposition to the decrees.

Escalation on social media

The dispute widened rapidly outside the parliamentary chamber as tenant advocacy representatives intervened. Carme Arcarazo, the spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres, criticized Junts by asserting that their negative vote could only be explained by direct financial reliance on the real estate lobby. Jordi Turull, the secretary general of Junts, pushed back against Arcarazo, arguing that he expected weightier arguments from her and calling the allegations too easy. Rufián then intervened directly in the online exchange to escalate his confrontation with Turull.

Turull responded on X by questioning Rufián's political record and commitment to Catalan independence, accusing him of operating as an operative created by Spanish state institutions.

At this stage, do you remember where Catalonia is? Everyone knows that you are an invention of the state sewers, infiltrated first into Súmate and then into ERC. Your insults do not even tickle us.

Calls for political ostracism

On Saturday, 3 October 2026, Rufián continued his offensive by calling on ERC leadership to place Junts into complete political ostracism and refuse to let the party be pushed around. The ERC spokesperson argued that Junts' conduct must be exposed rather than protected in the name of separatist unity.

The patriotism is not covering it up, it is denouncing it.

Rufián added that a Catalan media network would spend days promoting what he termed Junts' moral corruption and toxic merchandise. He noted that this media bubble is shrinking and stated that an entire generation of voters no longer accepts their messaging. For their part, Junts figures have long reproached Rufián for centring his career in Madrid, delivering his speeches in Spanish, and focusing on state-level social, fiscal, and housing policies instead of advancing Catalan independence.

Preceding disputes between party leaders

The confrontation over the housing package follows prior friction between the leadership of both Catalan formations. Turull and Rufián had clashed approximately two months earlier regarding the brief return of former regional president Carles Puigdemont on 8 August 2024, the day Salvador Illa was invested as Catalan regional president. The rejection of the two executive decrees in the Congress of Deputies reflects persistent policy divisions between the progressive ERC and Puigdemont's centre-right Junts in the national parliament.