Protesters across Spain demand action over housing crisis

The legislation put forward in Congress on Friday was divided into two separate decrees.

The first decree included the suspension of evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, a two-year extension to rental leases due to expire before 2028, tax increases for tourist apartments, and a restriction on the purchase of residential properties by so-called “vulture funds”.

The second decree included the automatic renewal of rental contracts, a major demand of many on the left and the Tenant’s Union.

MPs rejected the first decree by 178 votes to 172 and voted against the second by 184 to 166.

Prior to the vote, the conservative People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox had already said they would vote against both initiatives, leaving the minority government depending on the support of smaller nationalist parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country.

However, by the eve of the parliamentary session, the centre-right, pro-independence Together for Catalonia (JxCat) had signalled its opposition to both laws, condemning them to failure.

Sánchez’s ruling coalition hurriedly drew up the decree laws in an effort to defuse the housing protests that were sparked when 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted in September.

The social backlash led to the company that owns Abascal’s flat, Urbagestión, negotiating her return to the flat on a low rent. However, protests have continued.