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

BarcelonaOne by one, the anti-eviction decree had been obtaining 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' if the Spanish government does not withdraw the decree to re-approve it—with various modifications—next week at the council of ministers. A standoff to which 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 PNV and Coalición Canaria will give the yes to the first and the no to the second, also causing the automatic renewal of leases and compensation for tenants to fall.

Junts sources consulted had already clarified throughout the day that the no was on the table. Publicly, the party spokesperson, Miriam Nogueras, had expressed "concern and disappointment" regarding the content of the decrees. The leadership's decision was made 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 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, in fact, explained this Friday morning that they will deliver a new "broad and technically sound" proposal to negotiate with the PSOE, provided that it first withdraws the decrees being voted on in Congress. 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 great 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. The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, asked 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 owners or limiting the purchase of properties 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 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-structured. In this sense, they also do not like the second decree-law, which, separately, establishes indefinite rental contracts and compensation for the tenant if the owner 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 properties below 70% of their value. The proposal from Junts was, according to the sources consulted, 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 strengthening of the right of first refusal and retraction. They consider that, as it is written, it leads to confusion about 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 indefinite 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 regardless of 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 specifically directed 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 to SER.

Rodríguez, who has assured that she only has "good words" for the joint work with the Junts members and has wanted to be "cautious" about 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 admitted quietly that the first one, with a wide range of measures such as the suspension of evictions and tax incentives, is more "mature" than the second, which includes the automatic extension of leases. This second text was already 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 any kind of support is the PP. This Thursday, moreover, with the approval of FAES, the foundation led by former Spanish prime minister 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 control, 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".