Housing decrees set to fail vote in Spanish Congress with Junts rejection

The Spanish government's housing decrees, announced earlier in the week, look set to fail in Congress, as Junts maintain they represent "a defeat" for Catalans.

Without a majority in the chamber, the Spanish executive needs the support of various other parties to pass any such decree. While all other investiture partners announced they would back the high-profile housing decrees this week, it was left to the conservative Catalan pro-independence party, who appear set to let the texts fail. 

The decrees were announced earlier in the week as a response to the high-profile eviction of an 87-year-old wheelchair user in Madrid, an incident which has sparked a new wave of protests across the country, including hundreds of tents set up in Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square, and a similar camp-out demonstration in Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya. 

Junts' Mònica Sales took aim at Catalan president Salvador Illa, who had dubbed it "incomprehensible and irresponsible" that Junts would reject the two decrees in Friday afternoon's vote in Congress. "It is incomprehensible and irresponsible to ask us to vote in favor of some bad decrees that would be a defeat for the Catalans simply to avoid a defeat for the Socialist Party," Sales said.

It's expected that the decrees will be voted on around 3pm on Friday in the Spanish Congress, and, by Friday morning, they appear set to fail. 

Junts announced on Friday that they plan to send their own proposal for a housing decree to the Spanish government that "serves as a starting point if the Socialists want to move towards a real solution."

According to Junts, it is a "broad and technically solvent" proposal that "acts forcefully against vulture funds and protects all families."

For the Catalan party, the Spanish executive's two housing decrees will generate "negative and irreversible effects on the housing market and on the serious situation experienced by many families".

Housing decrees

The highly anticipated housing decrees came in the form of two separate texts when announced on Tuesday. 

The first decree includes extending eviction protections until 2030, regulating seasonal and room rentals, banning "vulture funds" from purchasing homes until 2028, and extending by two years any active rental contracts due to expire before December 31, 2028.

The second decree incorporates the agreement to establish automatic renewal for rental contracts, one of the key issues that had caused friction between the Socialists and Sumar.

Early elections?

Junts' announced opposition to the housing decrees has led Socialist Party leaders to analyze future scenarios, including the hypothetical calling of early elections.

Socialist sources acknowledge that the housing demonstrations, combined with the fact that the PP, Vox, and Junts are poised to defeat the housing decrees on Friday, opens a window of opportunity.

Several dates are under consideration, including November 29.

Pedro Sánchez's team maintains that, as of today, they are “not entertaining this hypothesis,” though they do not rule out examining the possibility of an election scenario in the coming days.

In any case, the same sources state that there is currently “no crisis cabinet” and that they must wait to see the outcome of Friday afternoon's vote.