Sumar increases pressure on the PSOE: either extension of rents or walkout from the council of ministers

MadridThe Spanish government is finalizing the preparation of a housing decree-law to be approved this Tuesday at the Council of Ministers. The PSOE and Sumar are finishing work on the measures that, at the same time, must be agreed upon with the partners of the plurinational majority so that the legislative package is also approved in the Congress of Deputies. However, the agreement within the left-wing coalition itself is far off: Sumar says they do not want to yield on the measures they are proposing so that there is also an agreement with Junts and the PNB, such as tax incentives. In fact, Sumar ministers are threatening to stand up the PSOE ministers at the Council of Ministers meeting if the automatic extension of rentals is not accepted. Whatever comes out this Tuesday, Junts and PNB will be essential in a month's time for the Spanish government's decree-law to be validated in the Spanish lower house.

The Spanish president, Pedro Sánchez, who is in Barcelona this Monday, has made a call to "act in the field of housing" and "put the focus once and for all on accessibility" for citizens to houses and apartments. Thus, the socialist leader has pointed out that he intends to "prioritize" the residential use of housing over tourist use. He also said that it is necessary to increase the "affordable supply" of housing —reports Gerard Fageda. Among the measures being negotiated, as confirmed by sources from the Spanish government to ARA, are the following:

• Protection against evictions. It remains to be seen what the fine print is so that all the parties that make up the plurinational majority endorse it. Until now, Junts has aligned itself with the PP and Vox to overturn the ban on evictions for vulnerable families, as it asks to distinguish between large and small landlords. The argument of the Junts members is that in the case of small landlords, it must be the administration that assumes the tenant's non-payment or looks for a housing alternative.
• Prohibit speculative housing purchases by vulture funds. This measure can gather consensus from both the left as well as Junts and the PNV, since the members of Junts themselves have put it on the table.
• Stabilize rental contracts. This is one of the main demands of the Tenants' Union, who want indefinite contracts, but Junts and the PNV do not look favorably upon this measure. It remains to be seen what solution the Spanish government finds. In the proposal that Miriam Nogueras's party submitted to the Ministry of Housing, lease extensions were voluntary.
• Regulation of seasonal rentals in order to put an end to the "fraud". The goal, according to Housing sources, of this contractual modality is to prevent these types of contracts from being used, without the same guarantees as those for habitual residence, to camouflage long-term rentals. Often what landlords do is chain seasonal ones together to be subject to less regulation. This measure has already been worked on in Catalonia.
• The VAT figure is introduced for tourist apartments, so that they are taxed as a "business".
• Tax bonuses for tenants, as well as for landlords who lower their rent prices. Junts requested this type of tax incentive, but the left does not accept tax exemptions for landlords.
• Grants for the purchase of a first home to live in.
• It also includes a reduction in construction VAT if it concerns housing intended to be permanently protected. An incentive for builders to get involved in the construction of new housing intended for social use.

Although the Ministry of Housing is making this list regarding the measures that the housing decree-law will include, it also admits that all these points are under "negotiation" with the parliamentary groups and that it does not yet have a final text closed. In fact, from within the coalition, Sumar warns that the agreement is still far off. "The text is far from providing a response to complete protection against evictions, the regulation of seasonal and room rentals, or the extension of lease contracts," the party stated. The Minister of Children and Youth, Sira Rego, reaffirmed this on social media: "We will not allow the measures demanded by the streets to be diluted, nor will we validate a text that does not live up to expectations."

Common front of the left-wing parties

For this reason, all the parties to the left of the PSOE have formed a common front this Monday in front of the Gregorio Marañón hospital in Madrid, where 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, the elderly woman who was evicted from her home, has been admitted since last Wednesday. They held a joint press conference to demand that the PSOE issue a maximum-demand decree and incorporate the requests of the Tenants' Union, which is camping at the Puerta del Sol. Basically, the automatic extension of all rental contracts, as well as the regulation of seasonal and room rentals, in addition to putting an end to all evictions.

This has been made explicit by Esquerra, Bildu, Podemos, BNG, Compromís, and Sumar, which also threatens to skip this Tuesday's council of ministers if this measure is not incorporated. In fact, the Minister of Health, Mónica Garcia, has made it clear that they will "pressure" the PSOE to put an end to evictions, regulate seasonal and room rentals, and freeze the "exorbitant prices" of housing. In García's view, all these decisions are "non-negotiable": "Enough with the stopgaps." In this sense, she reaffirmed that they are still far from a pact with the PSOE, although they hope to get closer in the coming hours.

Furthermore, she expressed opposition to the tax cuts also demanded by Junts and the PNV to support the decree law. "It has already been shown that it doesn't work," she summarized, "now is the time for the right to housing." Her colleague from the United Left, Enrique Santiago, was tougher, considering that it makes no sense for those who receive rental income to also not pay taxes. This is how they all expressed it together in a joint press conference at the Gregorio Marañón hospital in Madrid, where Maricarmen Abascal has been admitted since she was evicted from her home last Wednesday.

From Junts, through the party spokesperson, Josep Rius, they have called to "leave the ideological trenches" and find a "minimum ideological common ground". Those who are far from any agreement are the PP and Vox. The President of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, considers that the measures that the Spanish government is negotiating regarding housing are "sectarian whims" and has urged the Spanish government to clear the mobilization in Puerta del Sol: she believes that it "harms commerce" and that the State executive is acting "illegally" by not intervening. "Let them notify me so I know at what age I stop paying my landlords," she quipped.