Call to save the eviction moratorium and avoid "a disastrous wave" of evictions starting in January

Madrid"A right cannot be a business, and those who have the power to change that are right there in the halls of power." This is the cry of alarm from housing rights groups urging the Spanish Congress to extend the moratorium on evictions for vulnerable families, which expires on December 31st and which, between 2020 – when it was implemented due to the pandemic – and 2024, managed to... stop 60,000 evictionsIt is a decree-law that the Spanish government must promote and that must be ratified in the lower house, with the essential support—through an affirmative vote—of Junts and the PNV. According to the manifesto, signed by 26 organizations, it would serve to "prevent a foreseeable and disastrous wave of evictions without alternatives."

In a press conference outside Congress, the spokesperson for the PAH (Platform of People Affected by Mortgages), Paco Morote, demanded that the measure cease to be "temporary" and become "absolutely structural" for as long as "the housing emergency" lasts and public authorities "are unable to guarantee alternative housing." Mari Carmen, 87, whose eviction was halted a month ago by the Tenants' Union, expressed a similar sentiment. She demands that the decree "must be improved to definitively expand it" and cease to be a "band-aid solution." "What this government needs to do is dare to take decisive action on the housing issue. What I want is to live in peace," she said.

From the Desca Observatory, Irene Escorihuela said that the wording of the text "could be improved" and denounced the judges' "restrictive" interpretation. In fact, the manifesto laments the "lack of coverage" of the moratorium, since it excludes vulnerable families who have occupied empty homes after the pandemic and those with old rent-controlled contracts. This explains, for example, why only one in four evictions is suspended.

Pleas at Moncloa Palace and awaiting a response from Junts.

The messages have been directed in two directions: to the Moncloa Palace (the Spanish Prime Minister's residence) and to Barcelona. On the one hand, Richard Rodríguez, from the Stop Evictions Platform, said that when "only words exist" regarding the right to housing, the "frustration in real life" is "enormous," and he criticized the PSOE's (Spanish Socialist Workers' Party) inaction. "If the Spanish government doesn't stop this, no one will. Having to beg so that families don't end up on the street is political preschool," he declared. On the other hand, Escorihuela acknowledged that the parliamentary balance "is not very favorable" and admitted that they are "particularly concerned" about Junts per Catalunya (Together for Catalonia), since last year "it was a bit of a struggle." "We will make specific contacts to be able to talk with them," he emphasized. However, they are still in a phase of "very preliminary conversations" with the political parties and at a "starting point to begin applying pressure." The plan is to meet with all the parliamentary groups next week. The problem "remains" and he trusts that "no political group" wants "tens of thousands of evictions" in January.

What happened last time?

The suspension of evictions affecting families in situations of sudden vulnerability or those already suffering from such vulnerability that has worsened It was included in the omnibus decree which Junts, PP, and Vox rejected in Congress in January. Subsequently, the Spanish government and Junts They agreed on a new text. —which left out economic aspects that the council members did not agree with— in order to save, among other things, the revaluation of pensions, discounts on public transport, aid for those affected by the DANA storm, and, precisely, the ban on certain evictions. Now a new countdown begins.