A SWEEPING reform aimed at tackling Spain’s housing crisis faces defeat in parliament after right-wing party Junts announced it would vote against it.
The package of measures, which needs a majority in parliament to pass, had been approved by prime minister Pedro Sanchez’s left-wing government coalition on Tuesday.
With parliament evenly split between government and opposition, the reform’s fate initially hung in the balance as Sanchez’s Catalan separatist allies Junts refused to say which way their seven MPs would vote.
However, the party announced on Thursday evening that it would oppose the measures – meaning the reform is now expected to be defeated by 172 votes to 171 in Friday morning’s parliamentary vote.
The development has stoked anger among vulnerable tenants nationwide, with protests intensifying across Spain over the country’s spiralling housing crisis.
Madrid Tenants’ Union slammed Junts over its decision, saying on social media: “It’s not the government that’s being put on the ropes – it’s millions of tenants across the country.”
Even before Junts’ announcement, thousands had gathered outside parliament in Madrid on Thursday evening, demanding MPs approve the government’s housing measures.
Protesters in Madrid have been sleeping in tents in the city’s historic Puerta del Sol square since Saturday, with the encampment now having grown to 1,200 tents, according to Diario.es.
Similar protests have sprung up across Spain, with tents also being pitched in Barcelona, Seville, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and Santander.
The demonstrations were triggered by the eviction of 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Abascal from her Madrid home last Wednesday, with the pensioner since becoming a rallying cry against Spain’s housing crisis.
The government’s emergency package consists of two decrees drawn up in response to mounting anger nationwide.
One of the decrees would ban evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030 and bar so-called vulture funds from purchasing property at discounted prices until 2028.
It would also introduce tax breaks for tenants and landlords, alongside incentives for first-time buyers.
The second decree focuses on rental contracts and would allow tenants to automatically extend their leases under certain circumstances.
It was this measure in particular that proved controversial among Junts MPs, who argued that government intervention could reduce the number of properties available to rent and ultimately push prices higher.
Junts also accused the government of failing to address the underlying causes of Spain’s housing shortage and said the measures would do little to increase the supply of homes.
The party instead wants the government to withdraw both decrees and negotiate a new package that it says would better protect families and small property owners.
Junts plans to hand the ruling socialist PSOE party its own housing proposal on Friday, describing it as a potential starting point for a new agreement.
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But the government has refused to pull the measures from the parliamentary agenda and is pressing ahead with the vote.
Government sources told El Pais the decrees were the result of months of negotiations with parliamentary groups and challenged right-wing Partido Popular (PP), Vox and Junts to make their positions clear in the vote.
The three parties are expected to vote against the measures, while PSOE, Sumar and several smaller parties support them.
Junts’ decision gives the opposition enough votes to defeat the government despite support from Podemos, the PNV and Coalición Canaria for at least one of the decrees.
The vote represents another major challenge for Pedro Sanchez’s minority government, which relies on a patchwork of smaller parties to pass legislation through the 350-seat Congress.
The defeat could also fuel speculation about an early general election, with the government already under pressure after a wave of protests over housing costs.
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