Podemos will arrive on Thursday with its four votes still open and a meeting that could tip the balance. The purple party will meet in the morning with representatives of the Madrid Tenants' Union to hear their position before deciding what to do in the extraordinary plenary session called for Friday.
Sources from Podemos confirm to ElConstitucional.es that the party currently shares the demand to prevent the measures from being divided into two decrees. The leadership will keep in mind the criteria of the housing movement, responsible for the mobilizations that have filled the streets and the encampment that remains installed in Puerta del Sol.
The general secretary of Podemos, Ione Belarra, defended this Wednesday that her party will be "a tool in the hands of social movements" and avoided anticipating the direction of the vote. Her objective is for the Government to withdraw the texts and present a single decree with all the measures, including the automatic renewal of rental contracts.
"The Government has set a trap," Belarra denounced. In her opinion, the PSOE has concentrated in the first decree the measures with more possibilities of prospering and has left the automatic renewal of rents in another text much more exposed to the rejection of Junts, the Popular Party, and the far-right Vox.
The Union asks for both decrees to go forward
The public position of the movement was concretized during Wednesday afternoon. The Confederation of Tenants' Unions has asked the parties to support both decrees in Congress, although it maintains its criticism of the Government for having separated the package and considers that the measures are still far from solving the structural problem of housing.
This statement narrows Podemos's margin before the meeting. The unions argue that the texts contain advances achieved through mobilization and want to prevent protections from falling again in a parliamentary vote. At the same time, they maintain that the automatic renewal of contracts represents an essential condition to guarantee stability for tenants.
The organization has called for caceroladas this Thursday at 8:00 PM in front of city halls and is preparing 22 demonstrations for the weekend. Its horizon remains a general strike for housing, and the Sol encampment will continue, at a minimum, until the results of the Congress are known.
Podemos must now resolve how to translate that position into the two votes. The party agrees with the Tenants' Union in demanding stable contracts, a reduction in rents, and much tougher measures against speculation. It also advocates for the expropriation of homes in the hands of vulture funds to be used for social housing and the prohibition of buying properties when the sole objective is to obtain profitability.
The discrepancy is concentrated in the strategy chosen by the Executive. Belarra fears that the division will allow the PSOE to present the approval of the first text as a great advance while the more ambitious reform is defeated. The purple leader has even described this second decree as "a purple unicorn" because the Government itself recognizes the difficulties in gathering the necessary support.
Four votes amidst an uncertain majority
The first decree has already been published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) and will come into force this Thursday, although it must pass the validation of Congress to remain. It includes the protection of certain vulnerable families against evictions until 2030, an extraordinary extension of up to two years for contracts ending before 2029, and the regulation of seasonal and room rentals.
The norm also incorporates restrictions on speculative purchase operations carried out by funds and large companies, new fiscal measures on listed real estate investment companies, aid to tenants, and public loans at 0% to facilitate access to first homes. The package brings together months of negotiations with the groups and has more possibilities of being validated.
The second decree concentrates all the tension. Its main measure allows the tenant to remain in the home once the contract has ended, as long as they comply with payment and the owner lacks a justified cause to recover it. If the landlord fails to renew without a valid reason, they must pay compensation equivalent to one year's rent.
ERC, EH Bildu, the Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG) and Compromís have shown their willingness to support the texts, despite considering them insufficient. The PP and Vox will vote against, while Junts and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) still maintain their reservations. Junts' seven deputies are especially important for the first decree and reject outright the conversion of rentals into indefinite-term contracts.
The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, has shown himself "reasonably optimistic" and has asked the groups for a "dose of responsibility". Moncloa trusts that the pressure from the mobilizations and the social impact of Maricarmen's eviction will make it very difficult to justify the fall of measures that protect vulnerable families and expand the rights of tenants.
Podemos's four votes take on special importance in this scenario. Supporting the two decrees would allow saving measures that the party shares, although it would mean accepting the distribution designed by the PSOE. Rejecting any of them would clash with the request just launched by the Confederation of Tenants' Unions and could facilitate their defeat.
The purple leadership will resolve this tension after Thursday's meeting. Hours later, the pot-banging protests will once again bring the pulse for housing to city councils across the country. Congress will vote on the two decrees separately on Friday starting at 11:00 a.m., with the Puerta del Sol encampment awaiting the score.
