Government to create anti-evictions office, after deal with left-wing Comuns

The Catalan government and the parliamentary left-wing Comuns party reached a deal to create an anti-evictions office, as announced on Monday morning by president Salvador Illa in a televised interview on RTVE.

The territory minister, Sílvia Paneque, will meet with Comuns spokesperson, Jéssica Albiach, on Monday afternoon to sign the deal that would set the first stone of the anti-eviction office.

Catalan media outlets recently reported that Comuns threatened that they would not start negotiating the 2026 spending plan, if the anti-eviction office was not already in motion.

Meanwhile, the Catalan president also said that they will study different proposals to guarantee housing access and to transform it into a right, rather than a financial investment.

Barcelona, under left-wing leadership of Ada Colau, also set up an anti-evictions office in 2016 which takes care of between 50 and 60 cases each week. Out of these cases, 9 out of 10 evictions are canceled after the intervention of local authorities and civil society groups.

Aside of negotiating between landlord and tenant, the office of the 'Servei d'Intervenció en la Pèrdua de l'Habitatge i Ocupació' (SIPHO, translating as Intervention service in case of house loss or occupation) also offers financial aid to those who seek it.