Housing places the legislature at the abyss

BarcelonaHousing is undoubtedly the great problem of today's society, and there is no magic or, above all, quick solution. However, there are two elements that are certain: the first is that families are forced to allocate an increasingly larger portion of their income to it, especially if they are renting. And the second is that this excessive economic effort causes many people, upon suffering some circumstance that entails a reduction in income – such as the loss of a job or a health problem – to be unable to afford the mortgage or rent payment. Becoming a vulnerable person is not so difficult in today's world, and its bitterest face is evictions.

On September 7, a 54-year-old woman from L'Hospitalet, Olga, committed suicide and left behind two daughters, one of whom is a minor. She had been kicked out of her home five months prior. In Madrid, the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, from the apartment where she had lived her whole life sparked a wave of indignation that ignited the spark that led to the day experienced this Friday in Congress. But the truth is that for many months now, at least since the repeal of the previous ban on evictions in April, the trickle of cases has been ongoing. The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, negotiated with the different groups – some especially ideologically distant – to be able to present a decree-law with consensus-based measures to try to provide a response to a situation that, in the first place, is humanitarian. The most radical measures, which Sumar and Podemos defended, were placed in a second decree that was already known not to go forward. But the first decree, with all its shortcomings, was necessary to stop the tragedy of evictions.

The text included contributions from Junts, such as the obligation for administrations to compensate landlords who are victims of non-payment, as well as tax breaks for both landlords and tenants. In any case, it was a beginning that could have been further refined during the parliamentary process, as the minister proposed. The counter-proposal presented by Miriam Nogueras's group was not so far removed from the decree as to blow everything up and position themselves alongside the PP and Vox in the vote. In this sense, the position of the PNV, which announced a critical yes to the decree, is much more understandable for a party that wants to boast of moderation.

The legislature is now entering a phase that, if not terminal, very much resembles it, and this is not good news for Catalonia either, taking into account what kind of Spanish government the polls are sketching out. The tension on the streets does not seem likely to diminish in the coming days, and this Saturday the streets will gauge the extent of the discontent. The ideal would be a state pact on this issue, an intermediate point between the more liberal and the more interventionist view, but that currently seems like a utopia.