Spain’s parliament rejects gov’t housing decrees amid mass protests

Both decrees to tackle housing affordability crisis shot down as critics say measures would tighten the housing market.

Activists protest near the Spanish parliament following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen [Manu Fernandez/AP]

Spain’s government has lost key votes to ratify emergency measures aimed at tackling the nation’s housing affordability crisis, after protests intensified last month following the eviction of an 87-year-old woman .

The proposed measures, which comprised two separate decrees, were both shot down by the majority of ⁠the 350-seat lower house of parliament on Friday.

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The move is a heavy blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, whose government faces public pressure, including from the hundreds of protesters who had gathered outside parliament demanding help for renters.

The first decree was meant to stop evictions of vulnerable people, make real estate speculation harder, impose tighter restrictions on short-term leases and provide tax incentives to encourage renting and the construction of housing.

The second decree proposed making leases automatically renew when they are set to expire, essentially making them indefinite. A property owner would have to pay a tenant 12 months of rent to break the contract.

The right-wing ⁠Catalan separatist ⁠party Junts refused to back the housing decrees, saying they would ultimately tighten the housing market. The centre-right Popular Party and far-right Vox also voted against the measures.

Sanchez, who leads a coalition government composed of his Socialist Party and the far-left Sumar, ⁠appealed to lawmakers in the run-up to the vote to put aside political calculations and pressure.

“Think about ordinary people, about those who most need the protection of public institutions. Think about the millions of young people who ⁠cannot afford to ⁠move out of their parents’ homes. Think about the families living with the constant ⁠anxiety of ever-rising rents,” he said.

“Do the right ⁠thing, because I ⁠believe that if you do not, history will judge you sooner than you ‌think, and far more harshly than you can imagine.”

Miriam Nogueras of Junts argued the decrees would only lead to owners removing their properties from the rental market, and thus driving up prices even further.

“These decrees still allow speculators to buy property and to evict people,” Nogueras said.

‘Your profits, our misery’

As the vote was under way, protesters marched on the parliament demanding help for renters.

The government decrees were intended to quell a public uproar following the televised eviction on September 23 of Maria del Carmen Abascal, known across Spain as Maricarmen, that set off protests and a camp-in that occupied Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square ever since.

Abascal was living in the property in Madrid’s central Retiro neighbourhood under a rent-capped lease contract signed by her father in the 1950s. The property was then bought by the real estate and investment firm Urbagestion in 2018.

Urbagestion sought to terminate Abascal’s contract and evict her after raising her rent from 500 euros ($572) to 2,650 euros ($3,010) – nearly double her pension of 1,350 euros ($1,533) a month – according to Spanish newspaper El Pais.

When the police carried out her eviction on their fourth attempt, hundreds of activists who had been protesting against her losing a home she had lived in her entire life were waiting outside. Abascal has since been offered a preliminary agreement that would allow her return to her home.

Protesters rallying at the chamber in downtown Madrid on Friday held up homemade signs with images of vultures on them, denouncing the real estate speculators they blame for driving up prices.

Some people gathered outside the assembly chanted “your profits, our misery” as lawmakers voted down the government’s decree.

The average rent in Spain has almost doubled in the past 10 years. The average price per square metre has risen from 8.20 euros (about $9.08 at the time) in 2016 to 15.1 euros ($17.15) this year, according to the real estate website Idealista.

这两项旨在解决住房负担能力危机的法令均被否决，批评人士称这些措施将收紧住房市场。

87岁的玛丽卡门被驱逐后，活动人士在西班牙议会附近举行抗议活动。[Manu Fernandez/AP]

西班牙政府在批准旨在解决该国住房负担能力危机的紧急措施的关键投票中失利。此前，一名 87 岁的老妇人上个月被驱逐，引发了更激烈的抗议活动。

周五，由350个席位组成的下议院多数议员否决了这两项提议的措施，这两项措施包括两项独立的法令。

列表 1/3：数千人在马德里抗议西班牙住房危机

马德里居民感受到西班牙住房危机影响的案例（共3例，此为第2例）

列表 3（共 3 条）：数万人参加右翼抗议活动，反对休达移民危机

此举对总理佩德罗·桑切斯来说是一个沉重的打击，他的政府正面临公众压力，其中包括数百名聚集在议会外要求帮助租房者的抗议者。

第一项法令旨在阻止对弱势群体的驱逐，加大房地产投机的难度，对短期租赁施加更严格的限制，并提供税收优惠以鼓励租赁和住房建设。

第二项法令提议，租赁合同到期后自动续约，实际上相当于无限期租赁。房东若要解除合同，则需向租户支付12个月的租金。

加泰罗尼亚右翼分离主义政党“联合党”（Junts）拒绝支持住房法令，称这些法令最终会导致住房市场趋紧。中右翼人民党和极右翼Vox党也投票反对这些措施。

桑切斯领导着由他的社会党和极左翼政党苏马尔组成的联合政府，在投票前夕，他呼吁议员们抛开政治算计和压力。

“想想普通民众，想想那些最需要公共机构保护的人。想想数百万无力搬离父母家的年轻人。想想那些生活在不断上涨的房租焦虑中的家庭，”他说。

“做正确的事，因为我相信，如果你不这样做，历史会比你想象的更快、更严厉地审判你。”

Junts 的 Miriam Nogueras 认为，这些法令只会导致业主将房产从租赁市场撤出，从而进一步推高房价。

诺格拉斯说：“这些法令仍然允许投机者购买房产和驱逐居民。”

“你们的利​​润，我们的苦难”

投票进行期间，抗议者游行至议会大厦，要求为租房者提供帮助。

政府颁布法令的目的是为了平息公众的强烈抗议。此前，西班牙全国人民都称玛丽亚·德尔·卡门·阿巴斯卡尔（Maria del Carmen Abascal）于 9 月 23 日被电视直播驱逐，引发了抗议活动，并导致示威者占领了马德里太阳门广场，至今仍未平息。

阿巴斯卡尔居住在马德里市中心雷蒂罗区的一处房产中，租约是她父亲在 20 世纪 50 年代签订的，并设有租金上限。该房产于 2018 年被房地产投资公司 Urbagestion 收购。

据西班牙《国家报》报道，Urbagestion 将 Abascal 的房租从 500 欧元（572 美元）提高到 2650 欧元（3010 美元），几乎是她每月 1350 欧元（1533 美元）养老金的两倍，之后试图终止与 Abascal 的合同并将其驱逐。

警方第四次试图强行驱逐她时，数百名抗议者在屋外等候，他们一直在抗议她失去这处她生活了一辈子的家。此后，阿巴斯卡尔获得了一项初步协议，允许她返回家园。

周五，抗议者聚集在马德里市中心的商会大楼前，举着自制的标语牌，上面画着秃鹫的图案，谴责那些推高房价的房地产投机者。

当议员们投票否决政府的法令时，一些聚集在议会外的人高喊“你们的利​​润，我们的苦难”。

过去十年，西班牙的平均租金几乎翻了一番。据房地产网站Idealista的数据显示，每平方米的平均价格已从2016年的8.20欧元（当时约合9.08美元）上涨至今年的15.1欧元（17.15美元）。