The Government passes the test but reveals its seams

BarcelonaThe government passes the test, but reveals its parliamentary minority. The executive branch had three decrees up for validation at this week's plenary session: the one on urgent housing measures, the one on public procurement, and the one on campsites affected by flood risk. Of the three, the government has dropped one: it ended up withdrawing the regulation on campsites because it lacked parliamentary support or industry consensus. Only the one on public procurement will pass the test without problems, because the government has struggled to close the deal. an agreement with ERC, Comuns and also the CUP for the housing decree less than 24 hours before the vote.

This last regulation was especially relevant to the executive because it contained measures to expedite housing construction. The Executive had made a special point of it because it was one of the first measures the Government had taken to address the housing emergency. Precisely for this reason, the investiture partners and also the CUP –who has lifted the veto on the PSC on this issue– have seen an opportunity to raise their prices and force the executive to introduce one of the issues left pending from the last legislature: the regulation of seasonal and room rentals.

Esquerra, Comuns, and the CUP will not abandon the decree in exchange for setting a price cap for seasonal housing that is not for "recreational, tourism, or holiday season uses," but also for establishing a corps of inspectors to enforce the law and protect social housing in certain areas. "We have attempted to put a stop to the free rein of speculation that has existed until now," argued Commons MP Susanna Segovia. Laure Vega, a CUP MP, warned that the decree is not enough, but defended her position: "Whether it's fashionable or not, whether it wins votes or not, the CUP will be defending the right to housing." These changes will have to be in place before the end of the summer, when the regulation should be processed. "The PSC government is a minority government. Today is a very clear example of how they will have to learn to do things differently, because we have had to reach agreements on issues in the nick of time," noted ERC spokesperson Ester Capella.

In this way, the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, defended the work of the Minister of Territory, Silvia Paneque, and renewed his confidence two weeks after the Catalan parliament called for her dismissal over her management of the commuter rail network. "It is the first major agreement between all the progressive forces in the Parliament in a long time," the Minister of Territory emphasized in her speech at the plenary session. Paneque admitted that the regulation "does not resolve" the housing crisis, but "opens a path." Together, she voted against the decree, along with the PP, Vox, and the Catalan Alliance. "They're Barcelonaizing housing by implementing measures that make no sense," said Salvador Vergés, a member of the regional government.

The camping decree

Consensus has not been possible with the decree that had been Update the status of campsites that are affected by the risk of flooding"We will re-process it once it has been agreed upon by the sector," stated the Minister of the Interior, Núria Parlon, before the start of the plenary session. Parlon also explained that she will now create a working group to reach a consensus on the text with the sector and the parliamentary groups. However, the minister did not spare the barbs from all the parliamentary groups, such as Junts MP Josep Rius, who told her: "It must come from consensus at home."

The decree that has had no problems being validated is the one on public procurement. It is the regulation promoted by the Ministry of Economy that modifies, among other things, the thresholds for awarding public works contracts to the company Infraestructures.cat, so that the Generalitat can directly award public works contracts with a value of up to 15 million euros, instead of the current 2 million.