The clash between Comuns and ERC paralyzes housing measures in Barcelona

BarcelonaThe debate about forming a broad front has been looming over the left in Catalonia for some time. It is being promoted by, among others, Gabriel Rufián, the ERC spokesperson in Madrid, and Gerardo Pisarello, the now officially nominated mayoral candidate for Barcelona en Comú. However, in the day-to-day workings of the Barcelona City Council, the reality is far removed from this idea. The struggle between these two municipal groups is becoming increasingly bitter, to the point that in Friday's plenary session, their mutual vetoes brought down two measures aimed at combating speculative housing purchases. The first to fail was the proposal to create a non-permanent study commission to prevent purchases for speculative purposes. This ERC initiative, supported by the municipal government, aims to analyze the possibilities of limiting these types of transactions by drawing on other international experiences. A commission that was to be chaired by the ERC leader in the City Council, Elisenda Alamany, was rejected by the plenary session, as happened in December, due to the abstention of Barcelona en Comú and the votes against it from Junts, PP, and Vox. The response from the Republicans and the PSC came shortly after. Both abstained, thus contributing to the defeat of a Barcelona en Comú proposal that, among other things, called on the municipal government to accelerate the development of the necessary urban planning tools to limit speculative purchases and guarantee the regular and permanent use of housing. This proposal also called for intensified inspections and controls to combat fraud and enforce the regulations requiring that 30% of housing be reserved for social housing. Both debates were accompanied by recriminations between the groups, who blamed each other for the failure of the measures. Barcelona en Comú councilor Lucía Martín has criticized the proposal to create a study commission when five expert reports—four of them commissioned by the Catalan government—already support the regulation of speculative purchases. Martín stated that "delaying essential housing policies is a specialty of the PSC and PSOE parties," and warned that the same mistakes made with the regulation of seasonal rentals cannot be repeated with speculative purchases. From Esquerra Republicana, councilor Eva Baró pointed out that even some authors of these reports have questioned the regulations promoted by the Catalan government, and argued that any regulations must be carefully studied to avoid "botched jobs" and "loopholes." In this regard, she accused the Barcelona en Comú party of "doing a disservice to housing policies in Barcelona" by acting with "dogmatism" and the "belief that they are always right." "By not being able to have a debate on speculative purchases, I think we're sending a terrible message to our fellow citizens," she said.

First Deputy Mayor Laia Bonet also defended the importance of debating and thoroughly studying the regulatory possibilities beforehand "so as not to work haphazardly." "At a time when we see the far right growing everywhere and when citizens are asking us not to get bogged down in pointless squabbles, I'm surprised that they maintain a position that's difficult to explain except as partisanship," the Socialist leader snapped at the En Comú Podem party.

The protection of the primary use of apartments is up in the air.

The squabble is claiming, for now, another collateral victim. This is the proposal of modification of the Metropolitan General Plan (PGM) to establish that the habitual and permanent use of housing is the "priority" in the city and takes precedence over temporary use. This regulation is the result of an agreement between Barcelona en Comú and the PSC and has been awaiting a vote in plenary session since December because it lacks the necessary support. It received an unfavorable report from the Urban Planning Committee. nay From ERC.

Last month, it was the Comuns who asked the municipal government not to bring the vote to the plenary session because it didn't have guaranteed support, and this time it was the executive who—despite the Comuns' request to bring it—blocked it. This decision sparked a new discussion in the plenary session, this time between the mayor, Jaume Collboni, and the leader of BComú in the City Council, Gemma Tarafa. Faced with criticism from the Comuns, Collboni pledged to bring the measure to the next plenary session, although he said that at the moment the measure does not have the support of ERC.

The mayor, however, did not hold back his reproaches to the Comuns. "You too often are tempted to play the game of who goes the furthest or fastest, and I don't think that's the way left-wing groups should operate," he said, and reminded them that this was why the PSC and ERC advocated for establishing a study commission on speculative land purchases.

Now, a one-month countdown begins to try and secure Esquerra's votes for an amendment to the MPGM, which, given Friday's plenary session, remains even more uncertain.