The Government faces this Thursday the last day of negotiation before Congress decides the future of its two housing decrees. Junts, the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) and Podemos still have to clear their votes, with the Popular Party and the far-right Vox installed in rejection. To the parliamentary pressure is added a mobilization that has chained its fifth night in the Puerta del Sol and that demands to convert the approved measures into lasting rights.
Pedro Sánchez declared on Wednesday "reasonably optimistic" and demanded responsibility from the groups during his appearance with French President Emmanuel Macron. "This is a matter of humanity," he said referring to those who face eviction or find it impossible to buy or rent a home. The Executive arrives at the vote with more expectations for the first decree than for the second, where the most disputed rental reform is concentrated.
The Confederation of Tenant Unions added a decisive request to the debate by demanding the approval of both texts, despite considering their measures insufficient and questioning their separation. This support increases pressure on parties that keep their decision open, especially on Podemos, which has linked its vote to the criteria of the housing movement.
The automatic renewal of rentals plays its future
The publication scheduled for this Thursday in the Official State Gazette (BOE) of the second decree will focus a good part of the day. The Government justified the delay with respect to the first by the legal order of the two norms, which modify related provisions. Both texts were approved on Tuesday by the Council of Ministers and will be submitted separately for validation this Friday, October 2.
The second proposes changing article 10 of the Urban Leases Law to allow successive renewals of five years if the owner is an individual and seven if it is a company, once the minimum duration has been met and provided that neither party communicates its will to terminate the contract. The notice period would be six months for the landlord and two for the tenant. The mechanism would allow continuing in the home without a mandatory end date.
The owner would retain the possibility of not renewing, but would have to pay, except for the foreseen exceptions, compensation of at least twelve months of the rent of a dwelling with similar characteristics. The compensation could also not be less than one month's rent for each year of residence. The text contemplates reasons for exemption, such as needing the house for personal use or for certain family members.
The first decree, published on Wednesday and entering into force this Thursday, brings together a broader package. It includes protection against certain evictions of vulnerable households until 2030, regulation of temporary and room rentals, tax incentives, and an extraordinary extension of up to two years for contracts that meet its requirements. It also limits certain speculative purchases, although the restriction affects operations below 70% of the appraisal value and does not constitute a general veto on funds.
The separation allows this package to survive even if automatic renewal is defeated, but it leaves one of the main demands of the protest exposed. Sumar argues that both decrees must go ahead and pressured on Wednesday to publish the second one as soon as possible. Podemos and the unions question why precisely the measure that would offer more lasting continuity to tenants has been set aside.
Junts and Podemos, under pressure to approve them
Junts maintained its reservations on Wednesday. Its spokesperson in Congress, Miriam Nogueras, expressed "disappointment" and concern and maintained that the texts do not meet the priorities it had conveyed to the Government, including protecting families and curbing purchases by vulture funds. The party left its decision open while reviewing the articles, with automatic renewal as one of the biggest points of disagreement.
The PNV also did not reveal its vote and asked for time to study the norms. Coalición Canaria also keeps its position pending. With PP and Vox against it, the Executive needs to gather its allies and prevent Junts from joining the rejection. The abstention of the independentistas could open a way out for the first decree if the rest of the necessary support is maintained.
The four Podemos deputies will arrive at this Thursday morning's meeting with the Madrid Tenants' Union without an announced decision. Sources from the party confirmed to ElConstitucional.es that they would listen to the collective before setting their vote. Ione Belarra has demanded the withdrawal of the two decrees and the presentation of one that brings together all the measures, considering that dividing them facilitates the defeat of automatic renewal.
The union's request to approve both changes the conditions of that discussion. Podemos shares the protections contained in the texts, but rejects the formula chosen to bring them to Congress. The meeting will allow verifying whether this criticism ends up accompanied by a yes that preserves the measures or if the disagreement with the Government weighs more in the decision.
Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), EH Bildu, and the Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG) have anticipated their support, although they demand greater ambition. The left in favor of the decrees presents them as a starting point and asks that the demand for deeper reforms not prevent the approval of immediate protections.
Alberto Núñez Feijóo confirmed the PP's no and extended the pressure to Junts and the PNV, warning them that they would be supporting a "trap." Vox will also reject the two norms and once again included the expulsion of immigrants among its housing proposals. Minister Félix Bolaños, for his part, asked Catalan deputies in Barcelona on Wednesday to listen to the social outcry and support the measures.
Sol maintains the protest and calls for caceroladas this Thursday
While the parties negotiate, the Puerta del Sol has been chaining five nights of camping. The count released by the Tenants' Union on Wednesday morning placed the number of tents installed at 1,248. The protest that began on Saturday after the demonstration for the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, 87, continues pending Congress and without an announced date to be lifted.
During Wednesday night, coverage of the mobilizations also reflected the growth of the Barcelona encampment, where about sixty tents had been set up and nearly three hundred people were participating. The protests have spread to other cities.
Thursday also coincides with the expiration of the 48-hour period that the Government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso gave to the Government Delegation to evict the square. That requirement keeps the confrontation between administrations open, while the delegate, Francisco Martín, defends the right of assembly. The demand for eviction by the Community and the City Council has not led the organizers to announce their departure.
The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, acknowledged on Wednesday night on 'El Intermedio' the lack of previous support as part of the Government's self-criticism. She regretted having had to wait for a social tragedy to promote the approval of measures that, as she recalled, had already passed through Congress.
The Confederation of Tenants' Unions has called for caceroladas (pot-banging protests) for this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. In Madrid and Catalonia they will be held in front of the city councils; in the rest of the country, the call is to participate from balconies. On Saturday there will be new demonstrations, after the extraordinary plenary session on Friday, scheduled from 11:00 a.m., has separately decided the future of the two decrees.
