The Spanish government prohibits investors from buying apartments below 70% of the market price

MadridAfter hours of very intense negotiation, the PSOE and Sumar have reached an agreement in extremis within the Council of Ministers to approve a package of housing measures. "The effort has been worth it," proclaimed the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, in the subsequent press conference, although at this moment the whole thing could last less than a week: there is no agreement among the groups of the plurinational majority for it to pass the filter of the Congress of Deputies. In fact, the final text was polished this evening after the last-minute agreement of the coalition partners. One of the main novelties is the limitation on the purchase of homes by investment funds: according to the text of the decree law, to which ARA has had access, any private entity is prevented from purchasing apartments below 70% of the market price value, but with limitations.

"Any entity with or without legal personality whose corporate purpose is the acquisition of real estate," the text says. For example, a real estate agency dedicated to the acquisition of properties or a company dedicated to buying buildings to rent them out. However, it makes exceptions: if the destination of the home purchase is aimed at affordable or social prices for a minimum period of five years; if the purpose is the residence of people who require social-health care; or if they are managed by third-sector entities or for victims of gender-based violence. At the same time, public entities are excluded from these limitations, as is the case when it concerns a property obtained as a result of a judicial or mortgage foreclosure.

The other novelty is the issue of room rentals. It defines what a room rental is; it requires that it be demonstrated that there is a real and accredited need to have this type of contract and, in the event that this is not the case, it automatically becomes a habitual residence contract. In addition, the price is limited: the rent for all the rooms cannot exceed the price that the property as a whole would have according to the reference price index of the Ministry of Housing. It introduces, in any case, a safeguard for Catalonia, which already has this issue regulated: the regional regulations will continue to apply.

All measures are taken in a context of maximum social mobilization following the eviction last week of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal in Madrid. For this reason, it is even referenced in the explanatory memorandum of the housing decree-law. "This decree-law is a broad package of structural measures that introduce changes to the legal system to provide guarantees for the constitutional right to access housing [...]. These are measures that have broad and greater social support [...]. If public administrations close off any prospect of action on redistribution, social justice, and modification of the legal system which, although being fulfilled, represents a social and institutional failure, such as what happened in the case of Maricarmen Abascal".

Vote on Friday

The vote, in any case, will take place on Friday in the Congress of Deputies, because the Spanish executive has requested an extraordinary plenary session, also taking advantage of the pressure on the streets, especially at the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, where the encampment continues. "The social context gives us an opportunity," admit sources from Moncloa, who must manage to put Junts and Podemos in the same equation.

The Spanish president himself, Pedro Sánchez, has called for the approval of this "ambitious" package. In a video published on X, he argued that the housing decree-laws allow for "building a sufficient parliamentary majority to combat the housing emergency." Thus, he appealed to the left-wing and plurinational parties, since he admitted that from the PP and Vox "he cannot expect anything": "We have listened and we have acted. Now it is up to the groups to do their job. I ask you to be empathetic with the citizens and prioritize the interests of the people over those of the speculators." "We have a unique opportunity," he stated.

What exactly has the Spanish government approved? To begin with, the PSOE and Sumar have decided to divide the measures into two different decree-laws. A first one that includes measures demanded by both the left and Junts and the PNB –the doubt is whether it is viable for all of them to go through at once–: the extraordinary two-year rent extension, the halt on evictions for vulnerable families, the regulation of room rentals, the prohibition for vulture funds of the "speculative purchase" of housing –although it remains to be seen how they are defined– and tax breaks for both landlords and tenants. And a second decree-law that goes further and establishes indefinite rental contracts, a request from the Tenants' Union that had also been adopted by both Sumar and Podemos, ERC, Bildu, Compromís and the BNG, and which has been the point of contention with the PSOE until the end.

With this division of measures, the Spanish government intends to approve at least the first one and trusts that social pressure will tip the balance in favor of the second one as well. Right now, however, it has no guaranteed support: in fact, this Tuesday, with a draft of the measures, everyone found fault with it. From Junts, they asserted that the philosophy "moves away" from the agreement they had worked on with the PSOE, while Podemos spoke of a "patch". In any case, Rodríguez trusts in the "generosity" of the plurinational majority because she considers that they have found "a balance" that everyone can buy into. And she has attacked the PP: "Why does Alberto Núñez Feijóo not want to end vulture funds?", she retorted. The minister, thus, wanted to express her indignation, despite being in the government, regarding cases like that of Maricarmen Abascal, the elderly woman who was evicted from her home at 87 years old: "It is undignified. We cannot allow it".

The key, Junts and Podem

To understand the difficulty of squaring the circle, one only needs to explain the behavior of the Sumar ministers. After arriving late to the Council of Ministers meeting and pressuring the PSOE until the last minute, they have decided to hold a press conference parallel to the official one at Moncloa to qualify their position. Despite the pact, they have made it clear that there are measures they do not share.

The head of Social Rights, Pablo Bustinduy, has said that he rejects the tax breaks, which were a demand from Junts and were included with the desire "to reach an agreement." He also verbalized that the five Sumar ministers wanted a single decree-law and for the automatic renewal of contracts to be included in the same package –reports Martí Odriozola–. In relation to this, the Minister of Housing has justified that they had not worked on this measure with the groups, unlike the rest, which have already been debated and even defeated several times in the Congress of Deputies.

Precisely the fact that they are separated into two different packages alienates Podemos. "It's a mockery," asserted the secretary-general, Ione Belarra, who has not clarified the direction of her vote. "The only objective is to whitewash the Spanish government and contain a social mobilization that is historic," she summarized in Congress. In turn, Junts also does not clarify how it will vote and asks for time to study the latest version of the decree-laws. However, they are wary of what they are learning through the media. For Gabriel Rufián (ERC), on the other hand, the direction of the vote is clear: yes. Despite considering the decree-law insufficient, he believes the measures are "useful" and directly challenges Junts: "Why does Junts vote in a self-destructive way if it falls week after week in the polls?", he asked. Carles Puigdemont's party will, once again, be in the eye of the storm until Friday's vote.