Junts and ERC have turned a housing vote into a personal confrontation. Jordi Turull accused Gabriel Rufián of being a state creation after Congress rejected two government decrees.
On Friday, Junts voted with PP and Vox against two government housing decrees in Congress. The votes failed. Jordi Turull then called Gabriel Rufián an "invento de las cloacas del Estado".
The secretary general of Junts made the accusation after the ERC spokesman attacked his party over the vote. The dispute now reaches well beyond the measures themselves. The two main Catalan pro-independence formations are openly at odds.
On 2 October 2026, Congress rejected both housing decrees: the first vote ended 178–172 and the second 184–166.
Rufián brought a 50-euro banknote to the Congress rostrum. He pointed it towards Junts and presented it as the party's new estelada. He then raised his house keys to stress the practical value of housing.
His speech ended with a call for a Catalonia free of Junts. Rufián also urged that the party be pushed into political ostracism. The attack was direct.
The ERC spokesman singled out Míriam Nogueras as well. He accused the Junts parliamentary leader of imitating Sílvia Orriols and said she would have no place in Catalonia. He framed the vote as a choice between housing concerns and what he described as Junts' political priorities.
Criticism of Rufián has been building for years. In the post-convergent camp, he is often accused of speaking more in Spanish political terms than Catalan ones. His career has centred on Madrid, where he speaks in Spanish and focuses much of his public work on state-wide issues such as housing, taxation and social policy.
The rejected package included protections in some eviction cases, rules affecting seasonal and room rentals, tax incentives and the automatic extension of certain rental contracts. The government presented the measures as a response to the affordability crisis, while Junts argued that the texts could worsen conditions in the rental market and demanded their withdrawal for redrafting.
Turull used that background to question more than Rufián's arguments. He questioned the ERC spokesman's political origins.
Rufián had entered an argument between Turull and Carme Arcarazo, spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres. Turull then wrote that Rufián was an "invento de las cloacas del Estado" first infiltrated into Súmate and later into ERC. He dismissed Rufián's insults as irrelevant.
Arcarazo had challenged Junts over the rejected decrees and questioned the party's links with the property sector. Turull said he expected stronger arguments and called the criticism too easy. Rufián replied with the phrase "Clasistas de mierda".
The housing vote gave the dispute its immediate trigger. Two government measures failed in Congress, and both sides placed responsibility for the defeat at the centre of their fight. An earlier housing report also described how the defeat was pushing CCOO and UGT towards street protests.
El País and other Spanish outlets reported that Junts discussed its position internally before the vote. The party publicly demanded that the government withdraw the decrees. The cabinet refused and went ahead despite the risk of defeat.
PP, Vox and UPN voted against the measures alongside Junts. PSOE, Sumar, ERC, Bildu, PNV, Podemos, BNG, CC and Compromís supported them.
Junts has defended its vote by attacking Rufián's credibility as an independentist politician. ERC has answered that Junts failed to defend people facing housing pressure. The dispute is now about who can claim to speak for Catalonia.
The attacks were precise. Rufián focused on Junts' vote, its money and its representatives. Turull focused on the ERC spokesman's career and alleged links to state structures.
That changed the argument.
The decrees started the fight, but the language from both sides reaches into the legitimacy of their rival political projects. Housing became the subject of the dispute. Political identity became its target.
The defeat also showed how much Junts matters to the Sánchez government when it seeks to pass politically sensitive legislation. Junts blocked both decrees. That gives the party another negotiating lever in its dealings with Madrid.
The consequences go beyond the contents of the measures. Junts and ERC are publicly fighting over political identity, social priorities and the right to represent Catalonia.
Rufián used housing to attack Junts. Turull moved the fight towards personal legitimacy. The parliamentary rejection is now more than a failed vote. It has become a direct test of the distance between the two parties.
