Garamendi wins third term leading CEOE and rejects Spanish government housing decrees

Uncontested re-election in Madrid

Antonio Garamendi secured a third four-year term as president of the Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations (CEOE) on Thursday. The Basque business leader stood as the sole candidate after internal divisions subsided and potential competitors declined to run in August. Business delegates elected him by acclamation during the electoral assembly held at the Auditorio Nacional de Música in Madrid. In his opening address to hundreds of employers, Garamendi pledged to defend institutional stability, judicial independence, the 1978 Constitution, and the Crown. He defined economic confidence as the combination of legal security, regulatory stability, and legislative quality, warning that business organizations will not remain passive in the face of institutional deterioration.

Rejection of housing decree-laws

Garamendi directed his sharpest criticisms at two housing decree-laws approved by the Council of Ministers on Tuesday and scheduled for a validation vote in the Congress of Deputies on Friday. He described the emergency regulations as an invasion of private property that shifts state welfare obligations onto small savers and private homeowners. The decrees follow public outcry over the eviction of a woman named Maricarmen, but Garamendi argued that public administrations must respond by building new homes rather than infringing on constitutional property rights. He rejected calls for general strikes over housing, arguing that work stoppages create poverty, and recommended that political parties reject the decrees in parliament. He also labeled appeals by Second Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz for citizens to demonstrate against government policy as an embarrassing spectacle.

What we are experiencing these days, with housing decrees that are fragmented, presented publicly drafted just hours before against the clock, whose useful life is known to be just days, is difficult to accept.

Labor costs and social dialogue

Beyond housing regulations, the CEOE president addressed growing business costs, pointing to cumulative increases in employment expenses since 2018. Garamendi stated that total labor costs per worker climbed 30.7% over that period, exceeding the 26% inflation rate. Non-wage labor costs rose by 34.2%, driven by extra pension contributions through the Intergenerational Equity Mechanism (MEI). He criticized the central government for refusing to deflate personal income tax brackets and warned labor unions that future wage negotiations under the national collective bargaining framework must incorporate non-wage costs and worker absenteeism. Garamendi stated that employers want to engage in social dialogue, but accused the government of conducting talks that are more apparent than real while altering negotiated agreements through subsequent decree-laws.

Ceuta and national sovereignty

Appearing with the flags of the European Union, Spain, and Ceuta, Garamendi connected the housing dispute to the broader situation in the North African autonomous city. He called on the central government to protect national sovereignty and prevent what he described as the de facto displacement of 80,000 Spanish citizens from their homes. The figure refers to the city's population of roughly 84,000 recorded by the National Statistics Institute. The CEOE leader, who held an executive committee meeting in Ceuta on 9 September, reiterated that Ceuta is part of Europe, labeled border breaches unacceptable, and demanded financial backing for local companies. Following the address, Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Labor Yolanda Díaz congratulated Garamendi on Bluesky, stating that social dialogue remains essential to advance labor rights and strengthen Spanish enterprises.