The PSC government buries the social-convergent pincer movement on housing: will there be a shift to the left?

BarcelonaHousing is one of the few issues that has managed to unite all the left-wing forces in the Catalan Parliament. Despite their differences with the Socialists on national and economic matters, even the CUP (Popular Unity Candidacy) has joined ERC (Republican Left of Catalonia) and Comuns (Commons) to reach agreements with the PSC (Socialist Party of Catalonia) on housing measures. such as the regulation of seasonal rentals or the protection of subsidized housingThe Socialists' commitment to intervention in this market has further distanced them from Junts and the real estate sector, which is outraged by the "unhealthy legislative activity" of the PSC government, in the words of the Association of Real Estate Agents of Catalonia and the College of Industrial Property Agents. To begin with, Junts has joined the PP and announced that it too The regulation of seasonal rentals will be handled by the Statutory Guarantees CouncilThis postpones the vote for at least a month.

The gap could widen even further if the Catalan government decides to ban speculative housing purchases. How the Department of Territory studies at the request of the President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, based on a report of the Metropolitan Strategic Plan From Barcelona. The regional ministry has commissioned several studies and is conducting interviews with experts and industry representatives to define the legislative changes to be implemented. A couple of weeks ago, Isla surprised the coalition partners when he expressed openness to exploring this measure in response to a question from the CUP.

However, in the last question time session, he was more cautious: "We are studying it thoroughly; it's not a simple legal issue," he replied to the leader of the Comuns party in the Catalan Parliament, Jéssica Albiach. Isla's response didn't entirely please Albiach, who retorted that "the legal work has been done." "The will is absolute. The realism is absolute. I won't do anything unless I have legal certainty that it's an effective measure and fits within the legal framework," Isla responded. Among other things, the government wants to clarify whether this is a matter that Parliament can legislate on its own.

To add pressure to the PSC, Comuns have made the veto on speculative purchases a condition for the Barcelona budget and also They will demand it of Isla in the negotiation of the 2026 accountsAlthough they avoid saying whether it will be a red line. What they have already done is register a proposed law to reform the urban planning law of Catalonia and empower local councils to adopt restrictions in this regard in areas of strained markets.

Together sees the PSC "hijacked" by Comuns

Although it also acknowledges the need to increase the public housing stock, Junts distances itself from the Catalan government's housing policies: it denounces "the stigmatization of small landlords" and demands tax incentives for them to put their properties on the rental market, in addition to insurance against non-payment. Junts accuses the PSC of being "held hostage" by Comuns and has repeatedly joked that Albiach is de facto The Housing Minister of the Balearic Government made a comment that often elicits smiles from the Comuns benches. "I wish the Comuns were in charge, because at least we'd enforce the law," retorted MP David Cid during the general policy debate, noting that the government has yet to issue any fines under the housing law's penalty system. For now, the Department of Territory has thirty open sanctioning proceedings for non-compliance with the rent cap, primarily in the metropolitan area. With the aim of increasing oversight, the Comuns agreed with the Government to establish a team of inspectors to monitor for fraud related to the rent cap and other violations, such as failing to include the reference price in listings on digital platforms. In November, the government committed to approving a registry of large landlords that includes fines of up to 90,000 euros for owners with more than five properties who do not register.

Since the beginning of this legislature, the Comuns have boasted of having pushed the PSC towards more interventionist positions to guarantee access to housing. The Catalan government avoids specifying whether they identify with this label, but they are committed to "moving" housing away from speculation to ensure that its primary use is residential, not commercial. "The government is doing what it must do," emphasize sources from the Department of Territory. And in the same words, they return the barb to the real estate sector: "There is indeed a morbid need, which is that young people especially—but it affects all generations—cannot access housing."

In fact, Isla's flagship measure is to build 50,000 subsidized apartments In five years, this is a commitment signed with Jéssica Albiach's party for her investiture, but also with Esquerra. The regulation of seasonal rentals was also a commitment, which will have a virtually identical set of regulations than the one approved at the time by the ERC government and that the PSC defeated (with an abstention) with JuntsSo, the argument was that the decree-law that approved it had "deficiencies" and that the debate had to be resolved at the state level, not just the regional level. Now the tables have turned.

"The PSC doesn't just intervene"

In any case, the PSC's current agreements on housing have buried the alliance with Junts that existed at certain times during the last legislature. Within the parliamentary group, however, they reject this term: "There has never been any alliance with Junts, neither on this issue nor on any other," they maintain. In any case, during the last legislature, both groups agreed on the defense of large projects and infrastructure, and on their refusal to sanction municipalities for drought or Opposition to universal basic incomeThey also presented a united front on issues such as the fight against "conflictive" jobs and, in 2023, advocated measures like tax incentives to bring empty apartments onto the market. The party, however, maintains that it has always addressed this issue "rigorously" from "left-wing" positions, remaining true to its platform as well as its agreements and social demands. "The PSC promotes a housing policy that not only intervenes, regulates, clashes, or acquires, but also seeks to mobilize land and promote the construction of subsidized housing," socialist sources emphasize. At the municipal level, in cities like Santa Coloma de Gramenet They have followed Barcelona's offensive against tourist apartmentsIn Hospitalet, the mayor, David Quirós, has announced a new municipal public housing company. In any case, the government's roadmap includes more interventionist measures alongside others that its partners are wary of. such as the announcement of 214,000 public and private apartmentsand with public-private partnership models –For example, emancipation loansThe Catalan government has streamlined the licensing process and amended the law to allow it to act on behalf of municipalities in urban planning, with the aim of making land available to developers as quickly as possible. The goal is to reach 15% social housing, as mandated by law – currently, Catalonia is below 2% – and therefore an "exponential" increase in the housing stock is necessary, according to the Department of Territory.