Rufián warns Sánchez of the risk of early elections and asks for "a cool head" after the blow to housing

Gabriel Rufián has asked the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, to think with a "cool head" before calling early elections after the fall of the two housing decrees. Upon leaving this Friday's plenary session, the spokesperson for Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) in Congress warned that "there are many left-wing people" who do not want to vote for the PSOE "and have no one to vote for". His diagnosis was blunt, on a day when he also pointed to Junts for blocking measures for tenants.

"And there is nothing to the left of the PSOE that is electable," he told reporters. Rufián acknowledged that he understands the "euphoria" that the possibility of "crushing the right" after the vote can generate, but he called for prudence from Moncloa given the electoral weakness he attributes to the rest of the progressive space. Even before the debate, he had conveyed this warning to the Executive, reminding them that they need other forces to their left to be able to form a majority.

ERC supported the two decrees, rejected with the votes of PP, Vox, Junts and UPN. The first fell by 178 votes against and 172 in favor; the second, by 184 against 166, after PNV and Coalición Canaria also opposed the latter. The defeat leaves unconvalidated the package that recovered protection against certain evictions of vulnerable households, extended contracts and regulated seasonal and room rentals, along with the separate proposal for indefinite extensions.

A warning before the polls

The call comes as Sánchez weighs over the weekend whether to call general elections. The space articulated around Sumar continues without closing its candidate and its new electoral brand, and Movimiento Sumar, Izquierda Unida, Más Madrid and Comuns plan to meet on Sunday to analyze the scenario. Their leaders assure that they will be prepared for whatever the president decides, while Podemos demands to continue approving housing measures and maintains that citizens want solutions.

Rufián had been insisting for days on the need to recompose the left and respond to the problem that most conditions the lives of many of its voters. In the 'Salvados' interview aired last Sunday, he argued that the Government's advances would lose value if access to housing remained unresolved. He also reproached the PSOE for blocking proposals to tax the accumulation of properties starting from the third home and warned Sánchez that "he will be out for social cowardice."

Keys versus the banknote

In the plenary session, Rufián conveyed that discomfort to the tribune with some keys, a 50-euro banknote, and a stack of emails from citizens asking him to support the decrees. "This is your estelada," he told Junts when showing the money, linking their vote to that of PP and Vox. In front of the banknote, he placed the keys as a symbol of those protesting in Puerta del Sol and other cities for decent housing.

The republican spokesperson confessed that he "felt like crying" at the announced rejection. The mockery of some deputies provoked one of his most forceful responses. "Go out into the street and laugh your asses off at this," he snapped at them, before challenging them to do so "without an escort" and "without an Audi." His intervention highlighted the distance between the laughter inside the chamber and the situation of those outside awaiting protection against eviction or rising rents.

A good part of the speech was directed at Junts spokesperson, Míriam Nogueras. Rufián asked why a text that, as he recalled, her party had presented 48 hours earlier as "Junts' decree" ended up facing their opposition. "Who called whom?" he asked. He accused the party of prioritizing real estate interests and of "paying a debt," without identifying a specific agreement that explained this change of position. Junts maintains that the decrees could reduce supply and increase rents, and had asked to withdraw them to negotiate other texts.

The discussion has also had a social dimension that Rufián has taken to Junts' own electorate. He has stated that 82% of their voters support the decrees and has rejected that the veto can be justified solely by their conservative ideology. As an example, he cited the support of PNV and Coalición Canaria for the first package, despite their differences with ERC. "It is objectively reprehensible that their particular interests screw thousands of people," he reproached the deputies of Carles Puigdemont's party.

His criticisms reached the PSOE for the delay in acting after Maricarmen's eviction, but quickly returned to Nogueras. He asked her to stop imitating Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Sílvia Orriols, leader of the far-right party Aliança Catalana, and warned her that Catalonia has a different political reality. "The overshooting is historic, legendary," he said, before calling for a return to "Pujolism," which he described as conservative and right-wing, but willing to dialogue.

Rufián ended that confrontation with a commitment to work to ensure that Junts remains in the "most absolute political ostracism" and that ERC does not pact with the party again. "I do not want a Catalonia with people who simply dedicate themselves to screwing my people, whatever flag they have," he maintained. On X, he extended his accusation with the message "They are not voting, they are paying debts" and the question "Who pays for the mansion?".

The dispute has continued later with Jordi Turull, secretary general of Junts, for his response to the criticisms of Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Tenants' Union. Turull had written to her that he expected more weighty arguments and that her reproach was too easy "even for you." Rufián replied in Catalan "Classistes de merda", and Turull reacted by accusing him of being an infiltrator of the "state sewers" in Sumar and ERC. "Your insults don't even tickle us," replied the Junts leader.