MADRID, Oct 2 (Reuters) – Spain’s leftist government faced a bruising battle in parliament on Friday after an allied party opposed its plans to tackle a housing crisis stirring public protests, particularly over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman.
Junts, a Catalan region separatist centre-right party with seven lawmakers, argued that the proposals would exacerbate matters by reducing housing supply.
They include a ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, a two-year rent freeze extension for existing leases, and tighter rules for short-term rentals.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s minority left-wing coalition government has 147 seats in the 350-seat chamber and relies on smaller parties, including Junts, to pass legislation.
Opposition parties also oppose the decree.
A second decree, which would permit automatic and indefinite renewal of rental contracts and was one of the protesters’ main demands, was already expected not to pass because it had not secured the minimum support required.
Junts parliamentary spokesperson Miriam Nogueras said the decrees would have the opposite effect of their intended aims. “Finding housing will become more difficult every day. Our responsibility is to provide certainty, not uncertainty.”
She urged the government to work on a new one.
The eviction of pensioner Maricarmen Abascal last week triggered protests across Spain, with many young people pitching tents in Madrid’s central square and other cities for almost a week, bringing back memories of anti-austerity sit-ins sparked by the global financial crisis in 2008-12.
ANGER OVER HOUSING COSTS
Abascal’s eviction unleashed anger over the cost of housing, with many young people living with parents past 30 years of age.
Rents have doubled over the last decade with average prices reaching €1,176 ($1,323) a month, equivalent to 98.7% of the average salary for a young person, according to the Youth Council of Spain.
“People have said ‘enough is enough’; this cannot go on. The housing problem must be resolved; structural measures must be taken, and this cannot continue,” Abascal’s lawyer, Beatriz Duro, said in an interview with Reuters on Thursday.
On Friday, hundreds of protesters marched from their encampment in Madrid to parliament.
“The mood here is one of disappointment. We were hoping the decree would be passed at the first attempt,” said Emilio Anton, a protester at the camp.
“I’m almost certain we’ll carry on like this until there’s a final agreement or until they kick us out,” he said.
Alicia del Río, a spokesperson for the Tenants’ Union, said politicians were “not listening to society”.
Elections are due next year, but Spanish media said Sanchez might call a snap vote for November if the main housing decree is not passed during Friday’s session.
It would be an opportunity for Sanchez to change a narrative that’s been focused on the government’s handling of the migrant crisis in Ceuta, said Alejandro Quiroga, a political scientist at the Complutense University of Madrid.
“Not only would the Government take the political initiative, but also, if Junts and the PP do indeed end up not voting in favour of the decrees, and elections are ultimately called for the end of November, this will also change the framework of the political debate,” Quiroga said.
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(Reporting by David Latona, Victoria Waldersee, Mireia Merino, Emma Pinedo and Jesus Aguado; Writing by Charlie Devereux, editing by Aislinn Laing and Xevi Fontdegloria)
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