Spain Approves 21 Urgent Housing Measures After Protests Ahead Of Snap Election

Spain's government on Tuesday approved 21 urgent measures to tackle the country's housing crisis, a day after tens of thousands of people took to the streets in Barcelona and nationwide protests intensified over rising housing costs and evictions.

The measures were approved after a bruising parliamentary defeat for Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's coalition government last week, when right-wing opposition parties rejected emergency decrees aimed at addressing the housing crisis. Sanchez subsequently called an early election for November 29.

The new package includes measures to make it easier to rent or buy homes, extend eviction protections for vulnerable residents, regulate room rentals, introduce a new tax on seasonal rentals and prohibit speculative real estate purchases. It also provides tax breaks for property owners and tenants who pay their rent on time.

“We will not allow any more evictions like the one Maricarmen suffered or like those that have occurred since the decrees were repealed,” Sanchez told reporters at the Presidential Palace, referring to 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Abascal, whose eviction from her Madrid home last month triggered the protests.

The government will also establish a 10-billion-euro fund offering loans of up to 50,000 euros to people buying their first home. Additional funding will be provided for construction, Sanchez said.

The measures will now have to be ratified by an interim legislature because the regular Parliament has been dissolved ahead of the snap election. The interim body has 69 members, compared with 350 in the regular Parliament, meaning Sanchez's coalition needs 35 votes for approval.

Sanchez urged opposition parties to support the measures, saying the housing crisis was “not an ideological issue, but about common sense”. He said millions of Spaniards were waiting for their elected representatives to find solutions and called for action to protect people facing housing insecurity.

The government moved to approve the measures after protests spread across Spain. In Barcelona, a demonstration originally scheduled for the weekend was postponed because of a severe weather alert.

Monday's march began peacefully but later turned violent when groups of hundreds of hardcore activists clashed with police, throwing stones and setting fire to rubbish containers.

Alejandro Quiroga, a political science professor at Madrid's Complutense University, said approving the measures through the interim legislature was constitutional and politically necessary for Sanchez after he called the early election.

“If you are calling early elections so you can keep the public's focus on housing, you can't just sit back and do nothing about it,” Quiroga said.

Spain's housing crisis has intensified despite strong economic growth. Rising property and rental costs, combined with a shortage of homes, have increasingly priced people out of the housing market.