Spain’s Congress rejected two government housing decrees on Friday, after the People’s Party (PP), Vox and Junts voted against them. On Monday, Pedro Sánchez dissolved parliament and called a general election for 29 November, months before the vote was due in the summer of 2027. The decrees would have banned evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030 and eased rules on temporary lettings and lease renewals.
They were Sánchez’s answer to protests set off by the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid flat of more than seven decades. After the defeat, the government said more than 70,000 people marched in the capital on Saturday. Sánchez now argues that only a bigger progressive majority can deliver reforms his opponents keep blocking.
A Risky Bet With Weak Polls
Polls cited by Time put the PP at 34 per cent and Sánchez’s Socialists at 26 per cent, with Vox growing strongly. A PP government backed by Vox would put the far right in a Spanish government for the first time since democracy returned after Franco, CNN reported. That is why Sánchez needs voters angry enough to turn out, not just unhappy enough to complain.
His coalition has not passed a budget in three years, the Guardian reported. Senior Socialists and his wife, Begoña Gómez, face graft allegations that he calls politically motivated, according to CBC. Sánchez admits mistakes and says “We need to renew people’s support”, yet analysts at Teneo warn that eight years in office make his government a likely target for housing blame.
Housing Hits Young Spaniards Hardest
Average rents have almost doubled in a decade, and asking prices for homes have risen about 90 per cent, according to the property site Idealista, as reported by Al Jazeera. Spain’s statistics institute INE puts house price growth at 12.2 per cent over the year to the second quarter, with existing homes up 12.9 per cent. That is nearly five times the pace of economic growth.
A report cited by Reuters found that more than 60 per cent of Spaniards aged 18 to 34 live in the family home. It also found that social housing makes up just 1.5 per cent of homes, against a European average of 9 per cent. Those are the voters with the most to gain from housing policy, and the least patience left.
Decrees Meet a Supply Problem
The PP argues that many of the measures would shrink rental supply and push prices up, Time reported. A Madrid housing official told Reuters that an earlier law letting vulnerable tenants stay up to two years without paying rent had cooled long-term lettings. Sánchez’s critics therefore do not deny the crisis, only the cure.
Reuters also reported that Sánchez wanted social housing to match the European average by the end of his term, while the government’s plan adds 184,000 public homes over three years. The 1.5 per cent share suggests that goal is far off. Eviction bans protect tenants today, but only new homes lower rents tomorrow.
Strong Growth Leaves Renters Behind
Spain’s economy grew 0.7 per cent in the second quarter and 2.6 per cent over the year, according to INE. Goldman Sachs forecasts growth of 2.1 per cent for Spain in 2026, three times the 0.7 per cent expected for the euro area. Unemployment has also fallen to its lowest level since 2008.
The European Commission credits sustained inward migration for supporting jobs and spending. In March, the Bank of Spain described housing as a mix of tight supply and high demand, with completions below the starts of two years earlier. A booming economy can push homes out of reach when builders cannot keep up, and a renter facing a rise will not feel a 2.6 per cent headline.
Voters Will Judge the Record
PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has framed the vote as a choice between “four more years of what we’ve been living through” and change, Al Jazeera reported. Time reported that he also called housing “out of reach”, so both leaders agree on the diagnosis and split on the cure. Sánchez offers tenant protections and public homes, and the PP says restrictions on landlords shrink supply.
Housing may bring Sánchez’s supporters to the polls, because an 87-year-old tenant’s eviction turned a statistic into a face. Yet a decree can protect a tenant for a year, while only new homes can end the shortage behind the protests. Sánchez can blame parliament for the failed decrees, but he cannot blame it for the eight years before them.
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