Catalonia, one of the five regions that want to benefit from Sánchez's new housing plan

BarcelonaCatalonia is one of the five autonomous communities seeking to benefit from the state housing plan for the period 2026-2030 that Pedro Sánchez has presented to the Conference of Presidents. The Spanish government intended to withdraw from this meeting. with a great agreement between the autonomous communities to triple the resources allocated to 7 billion, but The open war between the PSOE and the PP has made any agreement impossible.. However, the executive maintains the offer for those regions that have shown themselves willing to accept the two conditions set by the State: that they contribute 40% of the funds (2.7 billion) and protect the public housing stock for life so that no building constructed with public money passes into private hands after a few years.

Aside from Catalonia, the regions that have raised their hands to accept the measure have been Navarra and Asturias – governed by the Socialists – the Canary Islands – governed by Coalición Canaria and the PP – and the Basque Country – where the PNV governs with the Socialists. Castilla-La Mancha, led by the critical socialist Emiliano García-Page, has not joined, who has questioned the volume of resources that his region should contribute to the plan. At a press conference, Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez asked the dissident autonomous regions to reconsider and reminded them that the State wants to "support them" in a responsibility that is exclusively theirs, as recognized by the Constitutional Court.

In fact, the decision to condition access to state funds on reforms to protect public housing is the Spanish government's way of influencing regional action in this area, where it cannot legislate freely without encroaching on powers. "We have set conditions that are very difficult to reject," said the minister. She also complained that, instead of joining forces in this direction, the president of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, has proposed liberalizing land to allow for more construction, as former president José María Aznar did in his day. The Spanish government will work with the five regions in favor of the proposal to reach an agreement before the summer. In parallel, the executive wants to promote a database with clear and transparent information on sale and rental prices in cities, so that it does not fall into the hands of private portals.

In the face of the rebelliousness of the PP-led regions in implementing the housing law, Rodríguez also took the opportunity to demand the tools that the law gives to the regions to lower prices and fight against the "jungle" of the market. And, in this regard, he gave as an example the data in Catalonia, the first to implement the housing law in the State: in one year, the average rental price of housing has fallen by 4.7% year-on-year. And in the city of Barcelona, ​​​​it fell by 8.9%. These are figures that the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, also praised at the Conference of Presidents. Government sources confirm that all the funds that the State can contribute will be added to those that the Generalitat already plans to allocate to housing policies. 1.45 billion after the agreement with Comuns for credit supplements.

Other proposals

Housing is the key issue the Spanish government wanted to bring to the Conference of Presidents, but it is not the only one. During the meeting, Sánchez also advocated establishing "order and control" over the provision of private vocational training centers to ensure quality standards. The president's proposal, in coordination with the autonomous communities, was to create a comprehensive model for the authorization and supervision of these centers. Also on the subject of education, he announced a €175 million program (from European funds) to guarantee access to free early childhood education for low-income families. He also made another announcement: starting in September, following the experience of the DANA and the La Palma volcano, schools will offer a special training course on civil protection emergencies.