Sánchez launches into the pre-campaign by approving 21 measures on housing

MadridThe Moncloa wants housing and "people's problems" to be the framework for the November 29 election campaign and will do whatever it takes to make it so. These issues compete directly with those placed on the table by the right: from the migration crisis in Ceuta – Alberto Núñez Feijóo is already returning there this week – to the judicial cases surrounding the Spanish government – this Tuesday the PP requested the indictment of the PSOE for illicit financing at the National Court–. In this context, the Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, appeared personally at the Moncloa this Tuesday, after the council of ministers meeting, and put a total of 21 housing measures on the table.

"If Parliament turns its back on the citizenry, the citizenry must elect a new Parliament," he said right at the start of the press conference to justify the early election. "We will give our all for housing," he continued. Pedro Sánchez argued that the early call for state elections does not mean he is "throwing in the towel" or abandoning the citizenry, but quite the opposite: on one hand, he wants a broader progressive majority to "intervene" in an "imperious" way in the housing market, even though he has been governing since 2018; and, on the other, he has promised that he will continue taking measures in favor of housing until the elections.

For now, he has already done two things: he has re-approved the decree laws promoted following the Maricarmen case after Congress struck them down on Friday and has announced the mobilization of up to 10 billion euros for zero-interest ICO loans for those who want to access their first home (with aid of a maximum of 50,000 euros). Also other measures such as a 400 million euro fund to promote housing development by social providers; the tightening of conditions so that vulture funds cannot buy housing – now it vetoed purchases by investors below 70% of the market price –; or the obligation to advertise in rental offers the price according to the reference index of the Ministry of Housing and the legal limit that can be applied if the owner is a large holder.

The advantage of the permanent deputation

Governing by decree-law and with the Cortes dissolved has a substantial advantage for Pedro Sánchez: the permanent deputation comes into operation, where the progressives have a majority without Junts. It is a parliamentary body, a kind of mini-Parliament, that operates when elections are called or during holiday periods. It is currently made up of 69 deputies in a proportional representation of the chamber's groups. The key to understanding the Moncloa's move is that, unlike the plenary session, in this body the sum of Carles Puigdemont's group with the PP and Vox (34) is less than the sum of all the left-wing parties.

What did the decrees include? On one hand, there is one that temporarily suspends evictions for vulnerable families and incorporates other measures such as the extraordinary extension of leases for two years, in addition to numerous tax incentives both for buying apartments and for tenants and small landlords. And, on the other, a second decree-law in which indefinite rental contracts are established and compensation for the tenant if the landlord wants to end the contract early. According to the majorities of the permanent deputation, only the first one is expected to go forward, since the PNB has also opposed this second measure, which is a demand of the Tenants' Union.

At this point, Sánchez explained that the Council of Ministers has introduced a relevant change: since decree-laws enter into force when they are published in the BOE, to avoid indefinite contracts being operational for only a few weeks, they have conditioned it to apply only in the event that the measure is approved by the permanent deputation. A fact that will not happen because the PNB voted against it, as it already did at the time.

Junts' reaction

Junts did not take long to criticize the Spanish executive's move. "It is trying to approve the measures in a body where the social majority is not represented," stated the party's spokesperson in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, in statements to Catalunya Ràdio, although she admitted that the path chosen by Sánchez "is legal." "It seems wrong to me [...], but he has decided to do it," she said. Words that contrast with the voices of the Spanish far-right and right-wing who accuse the Spanish president of committing a fraud of law with the approval of the decrees in the permanent deputation. "It is a heavy-handed trick," asserted Pepa Millán, of Vox, while Esther Muñoz, spokesperson for the PP, considers that it is all part of Sánchez's "political campaign." Pending possible challenges, it must be remembered that the Spanish government can indeed approve decree-laws with the Cortes dissolved. The only conditions are that they cannot regulate issues such as fundamental rights and that they must be done only for matters of urgency. "It is perfectly legal," reacted Ione Belarra (Podem); and the Minister of Culture, Ernest Urtasun (Sumar), warned the right that the street "will run them over" if they try to veto the housing regulations again.