'Irresponsible and unrealistic': Opposition slams Catalan president's new housing plan

The second day of the General Policy Debate 2025, which sets out the government's plan for the coming year and tests tensions between parties, got underway on Wednesday morning.

The session followed President Salvador Illa's opening speech on Tuesday, in which he unveiled a plan to build 214,000 new homes, a proposal that dominated the discussion.

The pro-independence opposition party Junts criticized the plan as "unrealistic."

"Playing with people's expectations on an issue as sensitive and urgent as housing, promising a stratospheric number of flats without explaining how it will be achieved, when even the government itself has no plan, is both irresponsible and reprehensible," said Albert Batet, Junts' parliamentary leader.

Batet added that "rains of millions do not work" and warned that the housing crisis will only be solved "when the economy works."

"You are the greatest anesthetist of Catalonia. Housing is as expensive as ever, the Rodalies commuter train network is third-world, security problems persist, and taxes are at their highest ever. If you administer too much anesthesia, there is a serious risk of entering a coma. Catalonia will soon wake up from it," Batet warned Illa. 

The president, who chose to respond to each party individually, addressed Batet by saying that he does not "promise what he cannot deliver," but that he is "ambitious."

"The housing crisis cannot be fixed simply by having a strong economy. Just because the economy is doing well does not mean the housing problem is solved," Illa said. "The market alone will not fix the housing problem. We have to actively intervene to make it work," he added.

Government to manage Sareb homes

Meanwhile, pro-independence Esquerra told Illa that the housing crisis would not be solved by "announcing thousands of new homes, whether in production or just potential."

"Less speculation and more focus on rehabilitating the existing flats held by Spain's 'bad bank' Sareb," said Josep Maria Jové of Esquerra.

In response, president Illa announced an agreement with Spain's Housing Ministry to manage "all the patrimony" held by Sareb in Catalonia.

Under the agreement, the government would manage 13,000 homes and 300 plots of land over the next four years, with the plots added to the public reserve and the homes held under government usufruct.

"We cannot leave anything undone, and we have to intervene in the market when necessary. We have to try everything," Illa said.

Jové, for his part, accused him of implementing measures that Esquerra itself had applied during the previous presidency under president Pere Aragonés.

"Yesterday, as you were announcing new measures, everyone in my party was texting me, astonished that everything you announced was something we had already put into action," he said. "Nonetheless, we welcome the effort."

Homeowner protection and tax cuts

The conservative People's Party criticized the housing measures announced by Illa, calling them "the exact same ones" he proposed last year, only now "corrected and extended."

Alejandro Fernández, the party leader in Catalonia, said their approach to addressing the housing crisis focuses on protecting property owners.

"While you are permissive toward squatters, we aim to protect Catalan homeowners and give them the freedom to sell or rent their properties as they see fit," he said.

Fernández also emphasized that lowering taxes is essential to counter what he described as the current government's "abusive" fiscal policies.

"Facing these confiscatory and abusive tax policies that paralyze society and stifle individual initiative, we propose the abolition of inheritance and wealth taxes, along with adjustments to the IRPF," he added.

Fernández further told Illa that he does not truly "govern," but rather acts as a "mediator" for the Socialist-led Spanish government under PM Pedro Sánchez.

Far-right parties blame migrants

Far-right VOX parliamentary leader Ignacio Garriga accused the Socialists of "pulling the leg of Catalans" by announcing 214,000 new homes.

"How can it be that the Spanish PM announces 180,000 homes, and the Catalan president announces over 200,000? So, Catalonia will build more than Spain?" he asked.

Garriga also blamed the Socialists, Esquerra, and their coalition partner, the left-wing Comuns, for having "destroyed" the housing market through their policies in recent years.

"Your policies have caused construction activity in Catalonia to decrease by more than 60% in recent years," he added.

The VOX leader also claimed that newcomers receive privileges in accessing housing compared to long-term residents and called for "massive deportations" of both "illegal and legal" migrants.

Garriga has defended the principle of "national priority" in all public policies, meaning that Spanish citizens should have preference over newcomers or people in irregular situations.

Meanwhile, Sílvia Orriols, leader of the far-right pro-independence party Aliança Catalana, mocked Illa's plan to build 214,000 homes, comparing it to a "Monopoly game."

"You started with 50,000, then 200,000, and in two days we’ll have to win land from the sea to fit all the houses you’ve planned," she said.

Orriols criticized the level of public spending the plan would require, arguing that it serves only to disguise the fact that Catalonia "has long exceeded its migration limit."

Protect renters and enforce the law

Left-wing Comuns, coalition partner of the ruling Socialists, supported the housing measure announced by Illa on Tuesday but criticized the government for not imposing sanctions on those who evade the housing law.

"Housing cannot be treated as a business. When will the government start imposing sanctions and fines on those who break the housing law? They are clearly flouting it," said Jéssica Albiach, the party’s leader in parliament.

The party also emphasized that "construction alone is not the solution" and urged the government to put more pressure on those who speculate with housing.

Furthermore, Albiach told Illa that the five-year horizon for the new flats is far too long for those who cannot currently afford a home. "They cannot wait five years," she said.

CUP fears empty promises

The far-left pro-independence CUP warned that the promise of 214,000 new homes made by Illa could turn out to be an "empty promise."

MP Xavier Pellicer described the proposal as "frivolous" and told Illa that advancing society would require challenging the privileges of the "most powerful" people.

"There is a risk of a housing bubble if these buildings, initially or eventually, as has already happened in this country, end up in private hands," Pellicer warned.

The CUP MP called for the creation of a public construction company to ensure the plan moves forward. "It ensures that the profits are reinvested in the public good," he said. 

Pellicer also warned of the risk of creating "vertical slums." "Starting to build where there are no services, carrying out developments of thousands and thousands of apartments, means you have to provide services there," he added.

The CUP MP urged Illa instead to impose a limit on the number of properties a single person can own, a "concrete proposal that would guarantee immediate access to housing," Pellicer said, while acknowledging that doing so would require confronting the country's "main economic powers."

"Profits always go to the same people, while the poor are left with only crumbs," he concluded.

Flotilla MP welcomed in Parliament

MP for the far-left, pro-independence CUP party, Pilar Castillejo, was welcomed in the Catalan Parliament two days after returning from Israel, where she had been detained for participating in the Gaza aid flotilla.

The anti-capitalist lawmaker arrived in Barcelona on Monday night with other activists, a day after former Barcelona mayor Ada Colau and several others returned from the same mission.

Castillejo was escorted into the chamber by fellow CUP MPs and activists carrying Palestinian flags and chanting "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free."

Before the session began, most members of the chamber greeted her with applause, except for lawmakers from the conservative People's Party (PP), the far-right Vox, and Aliança Catalana, who abstained.

President Illa also personally welcomed her back.