Junts has rejected two government housing decrees, approved by the Council of Ministers and scheduled for an urgent vote in Congress on October 2, 2026. Míriam Nogueras, the party’s spokesperson, said Sánchez’s cabinet was “doing the worst” and “encouraging a lie.” She argued the measures would not solve Spain’s housing problems and would make them worse. Nogueras demanded that the decrees be withdrawn and called for private talks to find a real solution.
The government knew it faced a fight. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez made a final push for support, telling lawmakers they had a chance to “stand up to speculation that steals lives.” She called for “responsibility.” Rodríguez blamed the Partido Popular, calling them “the worst right in all of Europe” and “unfit to govern the country.” But when she turned to Junts, her tone softened. She pleaded with the party’s seven deputies not to sink the decrees.
Rodríguez’s speech sounded like a campaign rally. She cited Maricarmen’s case as a symbol of failure and compared it with the Ramón Sampedro case, which sparked Spain’s euthanasia debate. Rodríguez drew a line: “With the people or with the vultures; with the vultures who evict or with the people who suffer.” She accused PP and Vox, along with UPN, of turning their backs on citizens. The minister said the government wanted to “put a tourniquet on the housing hemorrhage.”
Other parties were divided. Compromís and Coalición Canaria, along with BNG, called the measures “insufficient” but promised to vote yes. The PNV criticized the government for trying to solve a deep problem “in 48 hours” after eight years of doing little. It also objected to the use of decree law, which blocks changes. Maribel Vaquero of PNV said the party would back the first decree but not the second. She predicted “all the proposed measures will come to nothing.”
Vox joined the debate, accusing the government and its allies of using the crisis for show. Carlos Hernández Quero called the decrees empty slogans and “a marketing agency,” pointing to Casa 47. He blamed the government for cutting housing supply and pushing up prices, comparing its approach to “increasing the dose of poison to cure the patient.” Vox also returned to its anti-immigration message, claiming mass immigration “cancels the future of young people and Spanish families” and worsens housing insecurity.
Reuters reported that one decree extended the ban on evictions of vulnerable tenants until December 31, 2030, while the other introduced stricter rules on speculative purchases and short-term rentals. Already published in the BOE, the second decree included a provision guaranteeing tenants at least one year’s rent in compensation if a landlord unjustifiably refused to renew a contract.
ERC’s Gabriel Rufián turned his anger on Junts. He placed a 50-euro note on the podium and said, “This is your flag. The flag you share with PP and Vox.” Rufián warned Nogueras that Junts was “destroying” itself. He said ERC would stop working with the party and accused Junts of “screwing over” the people of Catalonia.
Sumar’s Gerardo Pisarello and Compromís-Sumar’s Alberto Ibáñez also criticized the right and Junts, blaming them for evictions and suffering. Pisarello said every broken family would see “the cruel hand that pulls the trigger of the big landlords” in PP, Vox, and Junts. Ibáñez went further, saying they were “co-responsible for deaths, pain, and suffering of thousands.”
The government’s push for housing reform comes as lawmakers face questions about their own property holdings. A previous investigation found that nearly half of Congress members own more than one home, adding to public skepticism about whether politicians really want to solve Spain’s housing emergency.
Junts is holding firm, other parties are split, and the government’s housing decrees look doomed. The episode lays bare divisions in Spain’s parliament and mistrust among parties that say they defend the same vulnerable people. The housing crisis is worsening, and the government has yet to build consensus. Blame is easier than solutions. Unless lawmakers move past slogans and finger-pointing, Spain’s housing emergency will drag on. Public patience is running out.
