Junts will overturn the anti-eviction decree if the Spanish government does not withdraw it

BarcelonaOne by one, the anti-eviction decree had been gathering the necessary votes to move forward this Friday in Congress, until the moment for Junts arrived. In a remote meeting in the evening, the Junts leadership announced that it will join the 'no' vote if the Spanish government does not withdraw the decree to re-approve it—with various modifications—next week in the Council of Ministers. A standoff to which the Moncloa has already responded by saying it will not withdraw them. Before, Podemos had confirmed that it will vote in favor of the two housing decrees approved following the Maricarmen case, and that the PNB and Canary Coalition will give the yes to the first and the no to the second, also causing the automatic renewal of leases and compensation to tenants to fall through.

Junts sources consulted had been clarifying throughout the day that the no was on the table. Publicly, the party spokesperson, Miriam Nogueras, had expressed "concern and disappointment" with the content of the decrees. The decision of the leadership was taken unanimously. In a statement, the party leadership argues that the regulation "will end up making it harder to find an apartment, harder to pay for it, and harder to access it for middle-class and working-class families." If Pedro Sánchez were to agree to withdraw the project and re-present it modified, Junts has announced that it "will give its favorable vote." Junts sources ensure that within the executive it was made very clear that if the Spanish government did not withdraw the decree and sit down to negotiate, they would vote no. Sánchez, however, has refused to back down.

Junts complains about the "expropriation by decree" that it sees included in the decree or the fact that "the protection of vulnerable tenants is not adequately resolved because payment by the administration is not guaranteed." At the same time, it laments that "vulture funds are not stopped" and that "many measures" will reduce supply and "increase prices".

"No fear of burning ourselves to continue defending the interests of the families and the business fabric of our country. We have proven it many times. We demonstrated it when we stopped the approval of the reduction of the working day, which would have done a lot of harm to small and medium-sized enterprises. We are aware that these are not easy or very media-friendly decisions," declared Nogueras herself this Wednesday night at a Pimec dinner in Catalonia. Spanish President Pedro Sánchez called this Thursday from the La Toja Economic Forum (Pontevedra) for "high-mindedness" from the parliamentary groups. "Let's leave ideology aside," he asserted.

Junts had been exchanging proposals with the Ministry of Housing for months, but contacts accelerated after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal and when the PSOE showed willingness to assume part of the approaches of Carles Puigdemont's party, among which were tax incentives for tenants and landlords or limiting the purchase of real estate by vulture funds. However, pressure from the left has led the PSOE to introduce other measures that Junts previously rejected in Congress, such as the automatic two-year extension of rental contracts or the suspension of evictions for vulnerable families. Junts had asked that small property owners be distinguished or compensated if the administration did not find a housing alternative, but they consider that the wording approved by the Council of Ministers is not well put together. In this sense, they also do not like the second decree-law, which, separately, establishes indefinite rental contracts and compensation to the tenant if the landlord breaks the automatic extension. Thus, some Junts sources even describe this decree as manifestly "illegal" or "communist".

They also reject the final wording regarding vulture funds, which the Spanish government has channeled through prohibiting the purchase of real estate below 70% of its value. The proposal from Junts was, according to the consulted sources, to directly veto these operations for specific legal entities, such as banking entities, their subsidiaries, or investment companies. At the same time, they are wary of the reinforcement given to the right of first refusal and retraction. They consider that, as it is written, it leads to confusion as to whether, in the event of the owner's death, the tenant's right to buy the apartment takes precedence over the inheritance. An interpretation that the Spanish government rejects.

Indefinite contracts are falling

For its part, the PNV has announced a "critical" yes to the decree that protects vulnerable people and a "no" to the second decree, the one on permanent contracts, because it considers it an "attack on the small property owner and will restrict the supply" of rentals. As a result of their no, and beyond what Junts does, this second decree will not prosper, so the proposal falls (it was one of the main demands of the Tenants' Union).

The Basque group considers that the text with social measures is "a temporary patch with many shortcomings". In fact, the Basque nationalists criticize the Spanish government for "legislating in the heat of the moment".

Pressure from the Spanish government

The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, has reiterated calls to at least support the measures to stop evictions, grouped in the first of the two decree-laws. And she has sent a message directed specifically at Junts: "We have all made concessions, but the text is good for the majority of Spaniards and the majority of Catalans; I hope the vote will be affirmative," she said on SER.

Rodríguez, who has assured that she only has "good words" for the joint work with the party members and has wanted to be "prudent" with the outcome of the negotiations, also said that she has "the hope" that at least the first of the decrees will go forward, and has assured that, if it is validated, "there will be no more evictions of vulnerable people in Spain".

Despite calling for the approval of both decrees, Rodríguez has admitted with small mouth that the first one, with a wide battery of measures such as the suspension of evictions and tax incentives, is more "mature" than the second one, which includes the automatic extension of rentals. This second text has already been published this Thursday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and provides that landlords must compensate tenants with a minimum of one year's rent if they refuse to renew contracts unjustifiably.

Aznar describes the decrees as Francoist policy

The one who has directly closed the door to giving it any kind of support has been the PP. This Thursday, moreover, with the approval of FAES, the foundation led by former Spanish president José María Aznar, which has accused Pedro Sánchez's government of "resurrecting" Franco's housing policy: "The same government that exhumed Franco's corpse is resurrecting his housing policy: price controls, forced extensions, massive interventionism and not a single measure to alleviate the situation," the foundation criticized in a statement collected by the ACN, in which it considers that the decrees to be voted on in Congress "incentivize occupations" and "coerce owners and investors".