Spain’s govt dealt blow as lawmakers reject housing bills

MADRID: Spain’s parliament on Friday shot down government bills aimed at quelling nationwide protests over a housing crisis that were sparked by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman.

The lawmakers’ rejection of the two measures dealt a blow to Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and his centre-left government ahead of general elections scheduled for 2027.

“Shame!” yelled hundreds of protesters outside the parliament building as the bills were quashed. Fresh demonstrations were due to take place across Spain on Saturday.

Spain has been gripped by protests for a week, including a tent city set up in the heart of Madrid, to rail against increasingly unaffordable housing for both tenants and buyers and demand swift action.

That grievance, which has repeatedly surfaced, was ignited on September 23 by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid apartment she had occupied for around seven decades.

The investment company owning her building ended up reversing her eviction this week, but only after her case had become a symbol of growing frustration over housing affordability.

Protesters outside parliament said they backed calls for a general strike to pressure politicians after the rejection of the bills.

“We saw this coming, but even if we expected it we are going to have to fight on,” said David Llamas, a 26-year-old living with his parents because of rents that were too high.

Sanchez, just before the two votes, exhorted lawmakers to “forget for a moment political calculations” and urged them to back the measures in the parliament, where his coalition lacks a majority.

The bills included an automatic renewal of rental contracts when they expire and measures aimed at restricting the eviction of vulnerable tenants. They also targeted so-called vulture funds: investment firms that buy properties at low prices in pursuit of higher returns.

Passage of the government’s bills was put in jeopardy on Thursday when the Catalan separatist Junts party said it opposed both measures. Sanchez’s government relies on Junts’s seven lawmakers to pass legislation.

With the opposition conservative Popular Party and far-right Vox party also rejecting them, the government bills failed on Friday.

One minister, Pablo Bustinduy, in charge of social rights, said as he left the parliamentary chamber that the three parties voting against the measures “have made a huge mistake and will pay for this at the polls”.