The early election announced by Pedro Sánchez has already caused the first reactions within the Government. The Minister of Transport, Óscar Puente, used his X account this Monday to set the message with which the PSOE will presumably face the election campaign, placing housing as one of the main axes of the appointment with the polls on November 29.
“Vote with H for housing or with V for Vulture. That is the dilemma,” Puente wrote after Sánchez communicated his decision to dissolve the Cortes and call early general elections.
Votar con V de vivienda o con B de Buitre. Esa es la disyuntiva.
— Óscar Puente (@oscar_puente_) October 5, 2026
The minister's reaction comes just hours after the President of the Government confirmed the early election from La Moncloa, a decision that follows the parliamentary rejection of the two housing decrees promoted by the Executive. Both texts were struck down last Friday in Congress with the votes of PP, Vox, and Junts.
Puente's message thus places housing at the center of the new electoral scenario opened by Sánchez. The Government had made these measures one of its main responses to the housing crisis and, after their rejection in the Pl Plenary, has decided to approve them again and seek a new vote in a different parliamentary scenario.
The Government takes the decrees back to the Council of Ministers
Precisely this Monday, at 11:30 a.m., the Council of Ministers is scheduled to meet to re-approve the two housing decrees that were rejected by Congress. The Executive intends for the measures to come back into force after their publication in the Official State Gazette. The election call does not prevent the Government from resorting to this route. With the Cortes dissolved, the Plenary of Congress ceases to exercise its ordinary functions and it is the Permanent Deputation that assumes certain powers of the Chamber during the period between the dissolution and the constitution of the new Cortes.
Among these attributions is precisely the possibility of ruling on the royal decree-laws approved by the Government. For this reason, the Executive intends to take advantage of this body to try to push through again measures that failed to pass the Plenary vote.
The strategy thus changes the scenario of the first vote. The decrees were rejected on Friday by a majority formed by PP, Vox, and Junts, but now it will be the Permanent Deputation that will be in charge of deciding on their validation or repeal if the Government approves them again.
Housing becomes one of the axes of 29-N
Puente's intervention also comes after a weekend marked by mobilizations related to access to housing. Thousands of people took to the streets in different cities to demand measures in the face of rising prices and difficulties in accessing housing.
In Madrid, the protests were accompanied by a campout in the Puerta del Sol, while different groups have demanded action from the Government and public administrations to contain the situation in the real estate market.
The political conflict surrounding the decrees has also unfolded in parallel with the case of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman who was evicted from her home in Madrid and whose situation became one of the symbols of the housing crisis.
In this context, the Government had defended the two decrees as a response to the difficulties of access to housing. However, the measures failed to gather the necessary support in Congress. The first decree was rejected by 178 votes against 172, while the second obtained 184 votes against and 166 in favor.
PP, Vox, and Junts voted against both texts. Junts' position was especially relevant for the Executive, as their rejection ended up preventing the Government from reaching a sufficient majority to validate the measures. The parliamentary defeat then opened a scenario of maximum uncertainty about the continuity of the legislature. During the weekend, Sánchez kept open the possibility of dissolving the Cortes, while in the PSOE and in the Government the option of going to the polls again spread.
