Sumar threatens to boycott Tuesday cabinet meeting over Spanish housing decree

Cabinet boycott threat over housing decree

The four political parties forming Spain's junior coalition bloc will boycott the upcoming Council of Ministers meeting on Tuesday, 29 September 2026, if the government fails to approve a binding housing decree. Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida, Más Madrid, and Comuns issued a joint ultimatum on Saturday demanding immediate executive action against rising residential costs. The ultimatum follows intense public outcry over the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old disabled tenant removed from her rented home in Madrid on Wednesday. The alliance insisted that the coalition government assumed office with an explicit mandate to resolve the housing crisis and warned the Socialist Party (PSOE) against evading its responsibilities. With housing rights protests set to take place across several Spanish cities, the left-wing bloc announced that it will use every institutional lever available to force the cabinet to act.

We took a stand half a year ago and we will take a stand again on Tuesday if necessary.

Scope of proposed tenant protections

The draft decree demanded by Sumar incorporates comprehensive measures that the four left-wing parties have championed for more than six months. The proposal mandates reinforced lease extensions to prevent landlords from imposing steep rent increases on existing tenants. It also introduces legal safeguards to protect vulnerable families from evictions and prevent real estate purchases by vulture funds. In addition, the package seeks to regulate tourist flats and close legal loopholes surrounding seasonal and room rentals. To ensure long-term residential stability, the alliance is demanding the automatic renewal of rental agreements alongside specific administrative solutions to restore housing for Abascal.

Parliamentary history and coalition friction

The impending standoff mirrors a previous cabinet dispute in March 2026, when Sumar ministers refused to attend the weekly governmental session until PSOE consented to approve an anti-eviction shield and rent extension text. That decree subsequently lapsed during its parliamentary passage through the Congress of Deputies after failing to secure a working majority. Friction between the coalition partners increased further during the preceding week when Sumar presented legislation to prohibit vulture funds from acquiring residential property, a measure on which PSOE parliamentarians abstained. The government is currently negotiating the terms of the new decree with its standard parliamentary partners as well as the Catalan nationalist party Junts.

Executive pushback and upcoming demonstrations

Divisions deepened earlier in the week when Justice Minister Félix Bolaños publicly dismissed proposals to expropriate the rented Madrid apartment from which Abascal was removed. Bolaños stated on Monday that property expropriation lacks clear constitutional grounding and fails to offer a viable path for housing policy. Sumar responded that watered-down concessions or partial patches will no longer satisfy citizens facing acute affordability pressures. The four parties, currently undergoing an internal restructuring process, maintain that government policy must align with tenant demands as street demonstrations convene across the country. Ministers from the Sumar alliance will decide whether to take their seats at Tuesday's cabinet table based on the final text presented by the Ministry of Housing.