Junts per Catalunya left the investiture bloc and said it would vote against two housing measures from Pedro Sánchez’s government after a leadership meeting. The party wants the Cabinet to withdraw the texts and resubmit them with changes, setting up a sharper fight over housing and Spain’s next election.
Housing has become one of Spain’s hardest political problems.
Pablo Bustinduy used an appearance on La Hora de La 1 on TVE to respond to Junts’s move. The minister of Derechos Sociales, Consumo y Agenda 2030 blamed investment funds for pressure on housing. He also attacked Junts, casting the dispute as a test of political loyalties.
In his interview with Silvia Intxaurrondo, Bustinduy offered no institutional compromise. He argued that every parliamentary group must show which side it supports. The message was aimed as much at the Government’s political base as at Junts.
The two measures concern rental contracts and tenant protection. One would introduce automatic extensions of rental contracts; the other would require compensation for a tenant when a landlord ends a contract without a legally recognised reason.
Junts says the decrees could reduce the housing supply and make access harder. The party also argues that they do not offer enough protection for vulnerable tenants and has questioned whether the state would provide sufficient guarantees for the compensation system.
That is the core dispute. Junts sees a risk to supply, while the Government says tenants need stronger protection. The two sides have not agreed on whether they can achieve both goals at once.
Bustinduy shifted responsibility to the parties opposing the decrees. He warned that those who vote against them would be responsible for future evictions and demanded that they identify themselves publicly.
In comments carried by RTVE, the minister described the vote as a moral and political choice, not a routine legislative disagreement. In his framing, rejecting the measures would show support for property interests.
The figures help explain why the argument has spread beyond Congress. Between 2015 and 2025, home purchase prices in Spain rose by about 80%, rents increased by 87%, while nominal wages rose by roughly 30%. Housing costs climbed far faster than pay.
Bustinduy attacked Junts in equally direct terms. He compared the party’s position with the fable of the scorpion and the frog, accusing it of putting rentiers’ interests above political sense.
He also accused the PP and Vox of defending what he called rentismo, a charge he extended to Junts. That linked an attack on a parliamentary partner to a wider criticism of owners and investors.
The minister referred to older women allegedly affected by an abusive businessman. He also mentioned residents connected with the Casa de Alba and others linked to the Arzobispado de la Iglesia. His references to the encampment at Puerta del Sol gave the dispute a sharper social charge.
The Government’s record remains part of the argument. After eight years in office, the housing problem has worsened and remains without an effective solution. Bustinduy now casts his side as the sole defender of the right to housing.
His promise to do whatever is necessary until the right to housing advances turns an unresolved policy failure into a campaign issue. The latest annual assessment cited from the Banco de España identifies insufficient housing supply as the basic reason many households struggle to find a home.
Housing is not the only test for the Government. A separate funding shortfall report described a €44 million deficit across nine public universities in Andalusia. The dispute shows that pressure on public policy extends beyond the property market.
The political risk is wider still. Spanish media reports have described rising tension in Moncloa and raised the possibility of early elections if the housing measures fall, but have not confirmed that an election will be called.
A defeat could accelerate the wider political crisis and deepen doubts about the Government’s ability to survive in Congress.
Bustinduy has said the next elections will be a referendum on housing. He wants the crisis to become the basic issue for left-wing mobilisation. The TVE interview did not settle the dispute with Junts or reopen negotiations; it changed the political fight.
A defeated housing measure became a test of political identity. That is a strong campaign tactic, but it will not solve the housing shortage or make rents affordable through lasting policy. The Government is preparing to fight over responsibility for the crisis. It still has to explain why its years in office have not resolved it.
