Junts passes the ball to the Government. The Catalan party has decided to put a new proposal back on the table for the Government to try to unblock the negotiation of the two housing decrees that this Friday are subject to validation in Congress. The pro-independence party will deliver its own, already prepared, text to the Executive today, which it intends to use as a starting point for a new negotiation.
The proposal comes after Junts' National Executive agreed this Thursday night, unanimously, to demand that the Government withdraw the two royal decrees before the vote. The party of Carles Puigdemont maintains that this step is a prerequisite for continuing to work on a new agreement.
Sources from Junts explain to this newspaper that the withdrawal is necessary to prevent the effects of the decrees, which are currently in force, from continuing to unfold. The party maintains that the objective is to work again on a new text that incorporates "effective" measures to face the housing crisis.
The document that Junts will deliver this Friday, according to the same sources, is its own proposal for a Royal Decree-Law "broad and technically sound". The party assures that the text proposes measures against vulture funds and protection mechanisms for families. Its presentation aims to serve as a basis if the PSOE agrees to open a new negotiation.
Junts' position comes after its leadership met this Thursday night, starting at 9:00 p.m., to set the voting direction of its deputies. After that meeting, the party agreed to demand the withdrawal of both decrees and, if the Government did not agree, to vote against both.
Junts' move came after its spokesperson in Congress, Míriam Nogueras, expressed her "disappointment and concern" about the definitive content of the texts. The party had demanded during the negotiation greater guarantees for families and small owners, as well as measures to prevent investment funds from continuing to acquire housing.
The Government maintains the decrees
Junts' new proposal is presented after the Government has refused to withdraw the two royal decrees. Executive sources have confirmed that the coalition maintains both texts, despite Puigdemont's party's ultimatum.
The Government defends that the decrees are the result of months of work and negotiation with different parliamentary groups and maintains that during this process it has sought to "accommodate the vision of the different parliamentary groups and build a consensus that lives up to the demands and needs of the citizens."
The first royal decree contemplates, among other measures, the temporary suspension of certain evictions of vulnerable people without housing alternatives, protection measures for tenants, regulation of the figure of the large holder, and different fiscal measures. The second is aimed at strengthening the stability of habitual housing rental contracts.
The Executive maintains that the measures will allow "to curb speculation", "to put a stop to vulture funds", to facilitate access to first housing, to promote affordable rents and to avoid evictions "without harming small owners".
As an example of the effects of the first decree, the same sources have pointed out the case of Macarena, a resident of Barcelona whose eviction scheduled for this Wednesday was suspended after her defense invoked the new protection measures included in Royal Decree-Law 26/2026. The court agreed to halt the eviction.
Despite Junts' request, the Government maintains that the two texts will be put to a vote this Friday in the Plenary Session of Congress. The session will begin at 11:00 a.m. and the groups must decide on the validation or repeal of both royal decree-laws.
Meanwhile, Junts proposes its new proposal as a starting point for an eventual negotiation, although it maintains its demand that the two decrees currently in force be withdrawn before moving towards a new agreement.
