Congress is due to vote on both decrees on 2 October 2026. Reuters reported that the Government was still looking for room to negotiate before the vote, as nearly five million rental contracts became caught up in the dispute.
Junts says the package is only a temporary fix and could shrink the rental supply, pushing prices higher.
The party has agreed to reject the measures, increasing pressure on the Government.
The Government could renegotiate the basic decree or withdraw it. It could also turn the dispute into an election issue, with an early election among the possibilities. For tenants and vulnerable households, the immediate question is whether the protections will become law.
Demócrata reported that the Government split the housing measures into two decrees to secure approval for at least part of the package in Spain’s fragmented Congress.
Junts announced its position after an emergency online meeting of its executive committee, called by Secretary-General Jordi Turull. Míriam Nogueras, the party's spokeswoman in Congress, had already said Junts was ready to accept the political cost.
Nogueras is expected to demand the broader economic decree's withdrawal and ask the Council of Ministers to approve a new version. If the Government refuses, Junts will vote against it.
The Government is still trying to change that outcome. Secretary of State for Housing Leire Iglesias told RNE that withdrawing the decree would not be the best course. She said the executive would try to renegotiate the text before the vote.
Demócrata also reported the Housing Ministry's position. The ministry rejects claims that the decrees would hurt housing supply or inheritance, and says some of Junts' demands are already included.
The deadline is approaching.
The second decree has already appeared in Spain’s Official State Gazette. ARA reported that it provides for compensation equivalent to at least one year of rent when a landlord unjustifiably refuses to renew a tenancy.
The dispute has spilled beyond Congress. Demonstrations at Madrid's Puerta del Sol are expected to continue, and more cities are joining the mobilisation.
Protesters also staged a large casserole demonstration outside Madrid City Hall in Cibeles, demanding approval of both housing decrees.
The immediate trigger was the eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman with a disability who had lived in her home for more than seven decades. Riot police were deployed during the operation.
Her case turned housing policy into a street confrontation. Protesters are expected to continue regardless of the lower house vote.
Junts had already rejected a housing decree in April alongside the other right-wing parties. Several reported suicides were linked to housing debts and eviction threats. After those cases and Maricarmen's eviction, parties other than PP and Vox appeared to be moving toward a common position.
That alignment did not last. The new dispute broke it before the measures could pass.
The larger text is Real Decreto-ley 26/2026, already published in the BOE. It includes measures associated with Sumar, although it carries the PSOE's signature.
The smaller decree contains Sumar's central housing demand. It also includes the proposal backed by the Sindicato de Inquilinas: indefinite rental contracts comparable to employment contracts.
Reuters reported that this second text was initially seen as almost certain to fail because the Government lacked enough votes in the fragmented Congress.
The broader decree would extend eviction protection for vulnerable people without alternative housing until 31 December 2030. The protection would apply when the claimant is a large property owner or an investment fund.
Tenants who are up to date with their payments could also request an extraordinary extension of up to two years. The rule would cover contracts expiring before 31 December 2028.
Another provision would cap annual rent increases at 2% until 2027. Rentals already above the Government's reference index would face a full freeze.
Investment funds and similar entities would be barred from buying homes for less than 70% of their assessed value until 2028.
Seasonal rentals and room rentals would come under the LAU. Landlords would have to justify the temporary use, and combined room rents could not exceed the price of the entire property.
Demócrata also listed regulation of seasonal and room rentals as central parts of the first decree, alongside limits on speculative purchases through the end of 2028 and a two-year extension for some existing contracts.
The package proposes a 10% income-tax deduction for tenants earning below 33,007.20 euros. Owners who cut rents could receive tax benefits of up to 100%.
Owners who raise rents by more than 20% could face penalties of up to 15%. The text also sets a 10% VAT rate for tourist apartments from December and a 4% rate for newly built protected housing.
First-home buyers could receive interest-free ICO loans of up to 50,000 euros. Empty homes could face property-tax surcharges of up to 150%.
The plan would raise the tax on socimi profits from 15% to 25%. It also includes 2 billion euros in state guarantees to expand social and affordable rental housing.
Those measures raise the political stakes of the vote. The package covers eviction safeguards and rent controls, alongside provisions on taxation, tourist housing, first-home finance and investment rules.
Junts' rejection puts much of the Government's housing strategy at risk. Withdrawal would leave the PSOE facing the political cost of abandoning measures it accepted only recently.
Timing is the central problem. A package designed to contain the housing crisis now depends on a party that says the measures do not go far enough.
