Junts and Podem maintain the unknown about the decrees: "We are looking at the fine print"

MadridWith one of the two housing decrees already published in the BOE —the one regarding the social shield with measures such as the temporary suspension of some evictions—, and the other pending to do so —it will be published this Friday—, political parties are starting to make their move. For now, the president of ERC, Oriol Junqueras, has confirmed that they will vote in favor of both texts, although he lamented that they are "insufficient". Meanwhile, Podem and Junts keep the uncertainty alive. In fact, it is with these two formations that the Spanish government has to perform the most juggling acts to satisfy their often conflicting demands.

The Junts members are looking at the fine print with a magnifying glass: "We are studying it. There is a lot at stake," said the secretary general of Junts, Jordi Turull, in an interview with Catalunya Ràdio. A bit tougher was the Junts deputy in Congress, Marta Madrenas, who stated that the "mess" of the Spanish government has been transferred to the decrees.

Podem, which has also not specified what it will do, has been critical of the fact that the decrees have been split up: "They have cheated [...] Bring the complete decree as the Tenants' Union has asked," said Belarra during this Wednesday's plenary session in Congress, thus coinciding with one of the criticisms from the movement for the right to housing. Podem also believes that it is a "minimums" decree, in reference to what the social shield includes.

"Let's start with Friday. If the measures [of the housing decree] are not approved, there is no social shield until 2030, there are no limits on speculative buying, there is no control on seasonal or room rentals, nor savings for 1.6 million tenants," replied the First Vice President and Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo. The Spanish government includes all these measures in the first decree, while it has left the indefinite contracts in a second decree: the great demand of the Tenants' Union and the left, but which alienates parties like Junts. "It is the most ambitious measure and thus [in a second decree] it remains like a purple unicorn. The [Spanish] government itself admits in private that it will not be approved," lamented Belarra in an interview with the Cadena SER.

This is not the first time that the government has chosen to split up a decree due to the risk of it falling through entirely—it had to do so precisely before the summer, when it included housing measures in the decree for the war in Ukraine, such as the extraordinary two-year extension of leases that the left, especially Sumar, the executive's minority partner, was demanding.

Winks to one side and the other

This time, this extraordinary extension is once again being put on the table to appease this party, but it is accompanied by nods to the right—sources from the PNV in Congress explain that they are "studying" it to see that "everything fits" and "there is no legal uncertainty." For example, heavy IRPF deductions are included for landlords who lower the rent price (they can reach up to 100%), but it is also left in the hands of the Autonomous Communities to compensate small property owners when an eviction of a vulnerable family without an alternative housing option cannot be executed. This type of compensation was a red line for Junts: "We cannot criminalize the small landlord. And what about all the months the landlord needs to pay the mortgage?", lamented Turull, who took the opportunity to attack left-wing policies: "The evils come from all the posturing policies of Ms. [Ada] Colau", he concluded. PNV sources

The PP, on the other hand, has revealed a position—they will vote against it—that was to be expected: "I will not support a deceitful government", said the popular leader, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, in the corridors of Congress this Wednesday.