Sumar gives an ultimatum to the PSOE after Maricarmen's eviction and demands the housing decree be approved now

The eviction of Maricarmen has exhausted Sumar's patience. The forced departure of the 87-year-old woman from the Madrid house where she had been living since 1956 has turned the accumulated discomfort of months into an ultimatum to the PSOE for the new housing decree to reach the Council of Ministers next Tuesday.

Internal sources of Sumar consulted by 'ElConstitucional.es' describe a deep weariness with the socialist wing of the Executive, with the management of the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, and with the response offered to an eviction known for months. Within the space, the police operation deployed this Wednesday in Madrid has also caused indignation.

“I can only tell you that the rental extension decree must be approved as soon as possible,” a representative of the Plurinational Sumar Parliamentary Group emphasizes to this newspaper. The formation demands that the text include the recovery of the moratorium for vulnerable households and a specific clause that prevents repeating situations like the one experienced by Maricarmen.

The crisis has also reopened a discussion that crosses the left of the coalition. The sector of the Comuns closest to Ada Colau maintains that remaining in the Government loses meaning if the PSOE continues to block the main housing measures. From the governmental core of Sumar, led in this pulse by Ernest Urtasun, they defend continuing within the Council of Ministers to achieve concrete advances and protect the working class.

Leaving the Government does not yet constitute an agreed position by Sumar, although it has ceased to be an issue reserved for private conversations. Colau has openly brought this debate to the public sphere and has asked her colleagues to break with the socialists if they again block measures against investment funds.

An eviction that has exhausted Sumar's patience

The image that has ignited the coalition occurred early this Wednesday. The judicial commission executed the eviction while hundreds of people tried to prevent it in front of number 46 Alcalde Sainz de Baranda street. The National Police removed the protesters and the workers accessed the home. Maricarmen left the house where she had spent the last 71 years on a stretcher.

The woman has a recognized disability of 50%, receives a pension of about 1,350 euros and paid around 500 euros per month for an old-rent apartment. The owning company, Urbagestión Desarrollo e Inversiones, came to demand 2,650 euros and later proposed a reduction to 1,650, still above all her income.

The property had rejected the proposal from the Ministry of Housing to acquire the property, the possibility of compensating part of the rents, and even the offer from a donor willing to cover the difference in rent. It also did not heed the request for a precautionary suspension transferred by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations while a suitable housing alternative was found.

Ernest Urtasun has described what happened as “an absolute disgrace” and a “turning point”. The Minister of Culture has demanded that the decree be approved “without fail” next Tuesday and has asked to study all available legal tools, including the expropriation of the home.

“This country expects absolutely nothing from the PP, from the City Council and from the Community of Madrid, but it does from the progressive Government,” he stated. Urtasun believes that the company has challenged the administrations by rejecting the proposed solutions and maintains that the Executive must respond.

Pablo Bustinduy has also defined the eviction as an “indecency” and has demanded that the agreement reached within the coalition be fulfilled immediately. Mónica García was equally emphatic in warning that “the PSOE cannot continue to delay it any longer”.

The deputy spokesperson for Sumar, Aina Vidal, explained on 'Al Rojo Vivo' the political and social scope that the case has acquired. “People are exhausted. There is nothing more to take from,” she pointed out before defining Maricarmen as the symbol of a problem that already affects the entire country.

The indignation also reaches the Ministry of Interior and the Government Delegation in Madrid. The parliamentary group has registered several questions to clarify the role of the National Police, the instructions received by the agents, and the complaints about possible aggressions and a disproportionate use of force during the operation.

Sources from Sumar convey to this newspaper their shame over images they consider incompatible with the actions of a progressive Executive. The discomfort once again places Fernando Grande-Marlaska under pressure within the coalition after other clashes over police actions.

Deputy Alberto Ibáñez has demanded that the Government expropriate the dwelling and has assured that, if the competent minister lacks the capacity to do so, she must assume responsibilities. Tesh Sidi has recalled that the PSOE abstained just a week ago on Sumar's proposal to prevent companies and funds from buying homes for speculative purposes.

The decree remains trapped in Congress

Sumar's demand clashes with parliamentary arithmetic. The Government already approved a decree in spring that extended tenant protection, but PP, the far-right Vox, Junts, and UPN struck it down in Congress, while the PNV abstained. The negotiation resumed before the summer also failed to gather a majority, and the Executive avoided bringing a new text to the Council of Ministers to spare itself another defeat.

Sumar now demands to assume the political risk. Its approach is to approve the norm, send it to Congress, and force each group to show its true colors in the vote. "If the right-wing parties want to strike it down again, let them strike it down and let all of Spain see what they do," Bustinduy defended.

The draft contemplates an extraordinary two-year extension for rental contracts expiring until the end of 2027, a 2% limit for their annual update, and changes to the Civil Procedure Law. The latter would allow the suspension of evictions of vulnerable people even when there is a final judgment and apply the protection to procedures already underway.

Sumar wants these measures to be approved along with the renewal of the anti-crisis shield, which expires on October 1. The calendar makes the Council of Ministers on Tuesday the 29th the deadline that the minority partner has set for the PSOE.

Conversations with Junts and Podemos remain open. The Catalan separatists have so far rejected the mandatory extension of rentals, while Podemos threatens to oppose if the decree incorporates tax benefits for owners. This concession has been proposed by the socialist sector to attract Junts, but complicates votes on the left. Even with the support of Junts' seven deputies, the Executive would need at least the abstention of Podemos.

The Ministry of Housing maintains that the norm should reach the Council when its validation is guaranteed. Sumar rejects this wait and recalls that the lack of support has served to postpone for months an agreement signed by the two partners of the Executive.

The socialist abstention on Sumar's proposal to limit speculative housing purchases has aggravated the clash. The initiative received 44 votes in favor, 175 against, and 127 abstentions. PP, Vox, and Junts rejected it, while the PSOE prevented its processing from even beginning with its abstention.

Antonio Maíllo has accused the socialists of lacking courage and has also directed his criticism against Isabel Rodríguez. The federal coordinator of Izquierda Unida considers it especially serious that the minister merely regretted that the property rejected the government's proposals.

In the Comuns, Ada Colau's intervention has further increased the pressure. The former mayor of Barcelona has accused the PSOE of blocking policies aimed at curbing funds and has stated that the coalition government "has not done everything it could do".

"We cannot be accomplices to this cowardice," she warned. Her message to Sumar was direct. If the PSOE rejects brave measures, she said, "it will be better to leave them alone".

Colau's position finds support among leaders and members of the Comuns who consider the capacity for internal pressure exhausted. Urtasun's sector replies that abandoning the Executive would hand over all decisions to the PSOE and reduce the chances of advancing social measures during the remainder of the legislature.

That balance will depend on what happens during the next six days. Sumar demands that the decree reach the Council of Ministers even if the votes are not yet finalized. The message conveyed this Wednesday to its partners fits into the four words with which Urtasun set the deadline for the PSOE. "Tuesday is time to act."