The first Spanish housing law is a reality. The governing partners PSOE and Podemos, along with the Catalan ERC and Basques of Bildu pressed the green buttons in the Congress of Deputies this Thursday and thus left the final passing of the law in the hands of the Senate. Together for Catalonia (Junts), on the other hand, together with fellow Catalans the PDeCAT and the Basque Nationalists (PNV), voted against the law, arguing that it is a centralizing invasion of powers already devolved to the autonomous communities. The PP and Vox also opposed it on the understanding that "it only favours the squatters". Far-left pro-independence party the CUP also placed itself in the 'no' bloc, considering that is was "full of holes" and would thus "continue trampling on rights". Thus, the Spanish housing law was passed by the tight result of 176 votes in favour and 167 against. The only abstention from the chamber was that of the Galician deputy of the BNG.
The PSOE criticized the accusations of a central government invasion of powers pointing out the benefits that this law could have. "Was the vaccination campaign also an invasion of competences?" argued the PSOE's José Luis Ramos. The Socialist deputy also distanced himself from the People's Party, which, he asserted, conceived housing "as a business" and "not as a right". Junior government partners Podemos, through deputy Pilar Garrido, defined this Thursday as "a special day". Apart from thanking the ministers Raquel Sánchez (PSOE) and Ione Belarra (Podemos) for the work done, she asserted that with the new law, housing "goes from being another commodity, to being understood as an asset of first necessity". "Thank you for the work done", she said referring to the ministers of Transport, Urban Agenda and Social Rights.
ERC criticizes Junts' refusal
The PSOE and Podemos were able to depend on the ERC-Bildu alliance to prop up the vote. For ERC, Pilar Vallugera criticised the negative vote of Junts and the PDECAT. "They defend non-intervention because they are right-wing. We all know that neither Junts nor the PDeCAT are for the containment of incomes or to stop evictions", said the deputy who, despite stating that the legislation "will allow progress", admitted that "there are many things to improve". In the same line, Bildu's Oskar Matute also defended that the text is "a step that falls short, but is necessary". "The alternative to this is the deregulation of the markets and that the big owners continue to do what they choose", said the deputy, who insisted that the law "guarantees respect for the autonomous communities and town councils". For this reason, Bildu contradicted the Catalan and Basque right by reminding that "it is not a centralizing text, but an enabling one". "Yes, it will take political will to apply it", concluded Matute.
Junts denounces the invasion of powers
Junts, the PDeCAT and the PNV voted 'no' with the argument that the legislation encroaches on the competences of the Catalan and Basque authorities. Junts also accused the promoters of this law of "copying" the Catalan housing law badly, with deputy Mariona Illamola noting examples such as Berlin, San Francisco, and Paris - as well as Catalonia - that show that the regulation of the housing market is a very complex issue: "In these cases, prices were reduced in the first year, but then the offer of irregular rent and sale increased”. But the Junts representative insisted that the red line for her party is the invasion by the Spanish government of competences that belong to Catalonia as an autonomous community.
For different reasons, the CUP also voted against it, because they believe it falls short and "sends a message of defeat". Deputy Mireia Vehí suspects that "the law is the PSOE's Trojan horse so that the market continues to govern the right to housing" and remarked that "it does not correct the concentration of property ownership". Even so, she also sent "a message of hope" asserting that the market "can be regulated" and that "there are studies that show that regulation helps lower rental prices".
In turn, the Spanish right - the PP and Vox - dissociated itself from the law, denouncing that the rule favours the ocupas - squatters. "They are harming young people, vulnerable families, owners and those who cannot access a home", said PP deputy Ana María Zurita, who at the same time stressed that "it also violates the right to freedom".