The Minister of Housing: "I would love to apply Article 155 in the Community of Madrid"

BarcelonaThe Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, stated this Wednesday that she would "love" to intervene in the Community of Madrid using Article 155. She said this in an interview on TVE after being asked about the fact that regions governed by the PP (People's Party), including Madrid, are not applying the price cap. "What comes to mind? Well, I would love to intervene in the Community of Madrid using Article 155," she said. And the only thing preventing her from doing so, she added, is that the Socialists do not have a "majority" in the Senate, which is essential to validate the intervention of a regional government and is currently controlled by the PP. "If I had a majority in the Senate, I would have already implemented it [Article 155]," she insisted at another point in the interview. Rodríguez compared the price freeze in Catalonia to the situation in Madrid. with the "double-digit" increase in rents in Madrid Or that the 15,000 illegal tourist apartments detected in the Spanish capital, which could be converted into residential units, are not being closed. "The people of Madrid should know that the one restricting the right to housing [...] is the president of the regional government," she said, referring to the administration of Isabel Díaz Ayuso. "If you are not willing to assume this responsibility, I am willing to assume it," she concluded.

The Housing Minister extended her criticism to the Andalusian and Aragonese governments, also governed by the PP (People's Party), and defended the legal mechanism for limiting rents in high-demand areas. "It's not a panacea, but it saves families if we don't build more public housing," she said. The latest example, she pointed out, is Navarre, where rental prices fell by 8.5% after the cap was applied. "It's working," she concluded, convinced that if the PP doesn't advocate freezing prices, it's due to "electoral calculations."

Rodríguez's statements come a day after it was made public that The government has begun to sanction property owners for violating housing law in Catalonia. The announcement was made by the Comuns party, who had set it as a condition for negotiating the budget, and was confirmed shortly afterward by the Catalan government. Currently, there are 13 open sanctioning proceedings, affecting both individuals and companies, and two serious fines totaling €27,000 have already been imposed: one for raising rent without justification, and the other because a property manager signed documents as a registered professional without actually being one.