The proposal to regulate temporary rentals returns to Congress with tweaks to attract Junts | Spain

The solidity of the majority that has supported Pedro Sánchez in the last year will undergo a new test this Tuesday. The left’s proposal to limit temporary rentals of homes and rooms returns to the plenary session of Congress this Tuesday, after having caused an uncomfortable episode for the Government last September, when Junts decided at the last minute to vote against it and force its rejection. The text has been retouched to attract the support of Carles Puigdemont’s party, which has not anticipated its position, although it has shown itself willing to allow its processing if it is respectful of the housing powers of Catalonia. The debate comes at a time of special tension between the Government and the pro-independence party, due to the latter’s demand that Sánchez submit to a question of trust and his threat not to give his support to the State Budget for 2025. In fact , this same Tuesday, the Chamber Board will study in the morning the possibility of processing the Junts initiative.

The Plenary Session of Congress will seek this Tuesday, for the second time, to launch in the Lower House the reform of the Urban Leases Law (LAU) to regulate temporary rentals, a modality that escapes the price control of the housing law approved in 2023, and through which a good part of the increases applied in recent times sneak in. Last September, in another heart-stopping day in Congress, Junts unexpectedly overturned at the last minute the admission for processing of a text whose articles were based on the tenants’ unions and have been endorsed by the formations furthest to the left of the chamber (Sumar, ERC, EH Bildu, BNG and Podemos). The pro-independence group argued that it did not provide legal security, did not protect owners and invaded the powers of Catalonia, the community where the housing law is fundamentally applied.

The bill, which was once presented by Yolanda Díaz’s party and which Esquerra re-registered in October, introduces several modifications to attract Puigdemont’s party and thus avoid the fiasco of the first vote. Firstly, the duration of the seasonal contract increases from six to nine months, a change that takes into account the teaching calendar and is essential for the group of teachers, according to parliamentary sources. In addition, the new text eliminates the proposal that allowed tenants to sublease the apartment or transfer the contract to another, a clause that gives security to the landlord and a key issue for Junts, they add. Finally, an additional provision is incorporated that specifies that this modification will not invade regional powers, the main issue raised by the independence party. “In the cases of the Autonomous Communities that have developed their own legislation in this matter by virtue of article 148.1.3 of the Spanish Constitution, the regional regulations will apply, thus respecting the division of powers,” the text reads.

Although nothing is predictable in Congress, the parties aspire to approve, this time, the procedure. The turnaround of Junts in September greatly angered social movements and there are already several protests over the high price of housing organized in the streets of different cities in Spain. Some of these demonstrations were organized in Barcelona in front of Puigdemont’s party headquarters. “We hope they do not make the same mistake again,” said the deputy and coordinator of the Commons, Candela López, at a press conference on Monday. “Junts must decide if it is on the side of the tenants or the large landlords,” he added.

After the rule fell in full, Sumar forced a second vote to limit seasonal rentals in committee through an amendment to the Public Justice Service law, a totally different issue but which also included the elimination of the calls golden visa, special residence permits granted to foreign citizens who make large real estate investments. On that occasion, the PSOE voted against, but one thing is the admission of the rule for processing (which allows changes in its passage through the Cortes) and another is the approval of an amendment that would have meant the application of the measure in the terms proposed. initially.

In fact, although the plenary session gives the green light to process the proposal, the debate to draft the law seems very arduous due to the differences between the groups. The PNV also supported its consideration in September, but warned that it would propose substantial modifications to an initial text to which it strongly criticized.