Spain is once again plunged into political chaos. The Spanish Congress has rejected the two decrees against the housing emergency wanted by the government led by Pedro Sánchez To try to quell the wave of protests sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, Maricarmen Abascal, strengthen protections for renters, and limit real estate speculation. The first decree was rejected by 178 votes to 172. The second by 184 votes to 166. The votes against, already announced during the night between Thursday and Friday, by the seven deputies of the Catalanist force were decisive. Joins per Catalunya which have made clear the lack of a majority progressive parliamentarian in Parliament.
And now Pedro Sánchez will have to decide what to do. Pressure is mounting in Madrid for the Socialist Prime Minister to convene early elections next November 29However, those at Moncloa are calling for "calm," while admitting that what happened in the chamber today was "very serious." The government is therefore taking a moment to "reflect," but according to Spanish newspapers, an early return to the polls could be announced as early as this weekend.
The decrees rejected by Congress
The rejected decree, which came into force last Wednesday, contained measures against the housing emergency, among which the freeze on evictions of vulnerable people until 2030 which had sparked protests from the opposition. Among the measures envisaged is a ban on property purchases by the so-called real estate speculation “vulture funds”, in addition to subsidies for first-time home purchases and housing development projects for affordable rents. A second decree being voted on in the Lower House contained other provisions on the same subject, such as the automatic two-year renewal of rental contracts expiring through 2028.
Before the vote, the Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez had appealed, remained unheard, to the right-wing deputies – in particular those of the Popular Party, of Vox, and the 7 decisive deputies of Junts per Catalunya, for a vote in favor of the measures. “I ask you to think of the people, the ordinary people who most need to be protected from the public,” he had said. Sánchez before the roll-call vote, asking the deputies to "forget ideological calculations". "If the decrees expire today, the damage to our country will be immense”, the Socialist leader affirmed, “and this time it won't be the fault of the Troika, nor of the spread, nor of the banks: it will be of those who vote no”. Sánchez He repeated his appeal and his “prayer” to vote in favor, because “history will judge you sooner than you think and more harshly than you imagine,” he concluded.
The protests in the streets
Meantime street protests continueHundreds of people took part in a "cacerolata" yesterday evening in front of the town hall of Madrid and similar demonstrations were held in numerous cities in Spain, from Barcelona to Cordoba, to ask the deputies to approve the decrees passed by the government Sánchez for the housing emergency. And the protest is growing in Puerta del Sol, in the heart of the Spanish capital, where thousands of people have been camped out since Saturday, following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, to demand their right to housing.
Thousands flocked to the square after the pro-independence party Junts de Catalunya voted "no" last night, its seven MPs playing a crucial role in the progressive PSOE-Sumar coalition's fragile majority in Parliament.
