Spain Passes Eviction and Rent Limits by One Vote Before Election

Spain's interim lower house of parliament on Thursday ratified housing measures meant to limit evictions and real estate speculation, a day after a general strike and major street protests over the country's housing costs, according to the Associated Press, as published by ABC News and the Los Angeles Times. The package passed by a single vote, 35-34, but its future depends on a national election set for Nov. 29.

The leading opposition party, the conservative Popular Party, has said it will repeal the left-wing government's housing measures if it takes power. The AP said polls indicate that is a real possibility.

How the vote came about

The government first tried to push the measures through in October, after public anger over soaring rents erupted following the nationally televised eviction, and later death, of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid. The Popular Party and other conservative parties joined forces in parliament to reject them. Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez then called an early election, according to the AP.

The government waited to try again with a smaller interim parliament, where it and its progressive allies hold a slightly more favorable share of seats. That chamber has 69 members, compared with 350 in the regular parliament, which was dissolved when the election was called.

The government split the measures into two decrees. A proposal that appeared doomed from the start went into the second decree so it would not endanger the rest.

What the approved decree does

It extends eviction protections for tenants whom social services judge to be in a precarious financial or social position, for as long as regional authorities cannot offer them another residence. The measure lasts until 2030.
It bars companies in the real estate market from buying properties for less than 70% of their value, an attempt to stop bulk purchases at low prices followed by resale at higher ones.
It stops rent increases on rents that already exceed the reference price in the government's price index for that neighborhood.
It sets a 10% tax on apartments rented to tourists, such as those listed on online platforms like Airbnb, and adds a tax incentive for leasing plus government-backed loans for down payments on homes for residential use.

What the government says

Interim Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez told lawmakers that the right to housing had won in the streets and workplaces on Wednesday, and said she hoped it would win again at the ballot box on Nov. 29.

What the opposition says

Popular Party lawmaker Sergio Sayas accused the government of promising more housing and delivering only demagoguery. His party has pledged to oversee the construction of one million new homes while cutting taxes and red tape for real estate development if it returns to power after eight years of Socialist-led rule.

Many lawmakers also opposed the second decree, which was rejected 34-35 for the second time. It would have made residential leases automatically renewable by tenants, and owners who wanted to end a contract would have had to compensate tenants with a year's worth of rent. Critics argued it would lead homeowners to pull properties off the rental market, shrinking supply and pushing prices higher. A center-right Basque party that had backed the first decree voted with the right-wing bloc against this one.

What's at stake for renters and owners

For tenants, the approved decree means continued eviction protections in vulnerable cases and a freeze on increases for rents already above the neighborhood reference price. For landlords who rent to tourists, it brings a 10% tax. Companies that buy and resell property face the 70% purchase limit.

Whether any of it lasts will be decided at the polls. The Popular Party has pledged to repeal the measures if it wins the election on Nov. 29, so the rules could be short-lived.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ABC News, Los Angeles Times

Cover photo: Selbymay / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0, cropped

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