Spain’s parliament rejects gov’t housing decrees amid mass protests
Summary
Spain’s parliament rejected two emergency housing measures designed to ease the rental crisis amid growing protests. The measures included protections against evictions, limits on rent increases, and rules to make rental contracts last longer, but opposition parties voted them down.Key Facts
- Spain’s government proposed two decrees to reduce housing costs and protect renters.
- Measures aimed to stop evictions, limit short-term leases, and encourage housing building.
- The decrees would have made rental contracts automatically renew and required landlords to pay tenants one year’s rent to end contracts early.
- The 350-seat lower house of parliament voted against both decrees on Friday.
- Opposition came from right-wing, center-right, and Catalan separatist parties, who said the rules would reduce available rental homes and raise prices.
- Protests grew after the eviction of 87-year-old Maria del Carmen Abascal, who lived under a rent-controlled contract since the 1950s before rent hikes forced her out.
- Rent prices in Spain have almost doubled in the last decade, increasing housing affordability problems.
- Protesters outside parliament chanted slogans blaming real estate speculators for the crisis.
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