The Confederation of Tenants' Unions has asked Congress this Wednesday to approve the two housing decrees that the Government has sent to the Chamber and that will be voted on this Friday in an extraordinary Plenary session. The organization considers that both texts are necessary to implement the planned measures, including protection against evictions, rent regulation, and automatic contract renewal.
Although the organization criticizes that the measures have been divided into two decrees, it considers that both must go ahead. The first includes measures to protect tenants against evictions and regulate rents, while the second includes the automatic renewal of contracts.
A reform that unions consider insufficient
Beyond Friday's vote, the Confederation believes that these decrees alone cannot solve the housing access problems accumulated over decades. Even so, it considers that their approval can serve as a starting point to promote deeper changes in housing policies.
The tenants' unions assure that: "In just six days, the strength of the streets has managed to move the Government's position to approve practically all the measures of the Maricarmen Decree". However, they criticize that Pedro Sánchez has divided the measures into two decrees and consider that this decision could jeopardize the approval of the automatic renewal of rental contracts, which they describe as one of the most important measures. For this reason, the organization considers it "key" that citizens participate in the mobilizations called this Thursday in front of city halls and demands that all parliamentary groups support the two decrees in Friday's vote.
Pot-banging protests to pressure before the vote
To demand support for the two decrees, the tenants' unions have called for pot-banging protests this Thursday at 8:00 p.m. in front of city halls across the country. With this mobilization, they intend to pressure the parliamentary groups that have not yet confirmed their support, especially Junts and Podemos.
Attention is now focused on Friday's vote, once the vote in Congress has taken place and it is known whether the two decrees obtain the necessary support. The Confederation of Tenants' Unions assures that "it is aware that an emergency regulation, like these decrees, will not be able to reverse decades of policies that have turned housing into a business". For this reason, they consider that "beyond the content of the regulation, a window of historical opportunity has opened to change housing policies once and for all".
