Spain's housing decrees face defeat as Junts and opposition unite against rent controls
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez made a final appeal to parliament to pass two housing decrees as Catalan party Junts joined the opposition to block the measures.
Parliamentary standoff over housing decrees
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez faced a critical vote in the Congress of Deputies on Friday over two emergency housing decrees. The governing leftist minority coalition holds 147 seats in the 350-seat parliament and needed backing from smaller regional parties to ratify the measures. Opposition parties and the Catalan centre-right separatist party Junts, which holds seven seats, aligned against the legislation. The primary decree proposed a ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, a two-year rent freeze extension for existing leases, and tighter restrictions on short-term rentals. A second decree, designed to permit the automatic and indefinite renewal of rental contracts, lacked the votes required for approval ahead of the session.
- The eviction of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen Abascal triggers housing protests across Spain
- Protesters establish an ongoing encampment in Madrid's Puerta del Sol
- Catalan party Junts announces it will vote against the government's housing decrees
- The Congress of Deputies opens debate on the two housing decree laws
- Pedro Sánchez delivers a final speech urging lawmakers to back the housing measures
Junts rejects government proposals
Negotiations between the government and Junts collapsed on Thursday night after the party demanded an entirely new proposal. Junts leaders argued that imposing price caps and eviction restrictions would constrict the property market rather than protect tenants. The party insisted that the government withdraw the decrees prior to the parliamentary session scheduled for 11:00 on Friday.
Many of the measures included will produce the opposite effect of what is intended: they will reduce the supply of rental housing, drive up prices, and make it even harder for people with limited financial means to access housing.
Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Díaz criticised the opposition and Junts for blocking the legislation, urging lawmakers to make their positions transparent to the electorate.
Sánchez appeals from the congressional podium
Addressing parliament ahead of the roll-call vote, Sánchez urged lawmakers across the aisle to set aside partisan calculations and approve the package. He stated that the measures were the product of months of technical analysis and political dialogue, intended to introduce order to the housing sector and protect both renters and small property owners. Sánchez cautioned that failing to pass the legislation would harm the daily lives of millions of citizens and damage international confidence in democratic institutions. He stressed that economic blame could not be attributed to external financial institutions if deputies chose to reject the package.
Think of your compatriots. Their lives depend on what you vote for here today. Therefore, I do not only ask you, I beg you to be brave and coherent.
He concluded his address by warning lawmakers that history would judge those who voted to defeat the decrees.
Public unrest and escalating protests
Public anger over housing costs intensified across Spain following the eviction of 87-year-old pensioner Maricarmen Abascal. In response, thousands of demonstrators, largely young people, set up an ongoing encampment in Madrid's Puerta del Sol and staged pot-banging demonstrations in cities including Barcelona and Córdoba. Data from the Youth Council of Spain shows that average monthly rents have doubled over the past decade to €1,176, absorbing 98.7% of an average young person's salary. In Congress, EH Bildu representative Oskar Matute joined Podemos in pledging to take protests to the streets if lawmakers rejected the housing protections.
