Spanish lawmakers have narrowly approved one of the housing decrees at the centre of the country’s snap election, passing rent caps, a temporary ban on evictions and limits on corporate purchases of homes by a single vote.
The vote was taken on Thursday by the standing body of 69 caretaker deputies who remain in place after parliament was dissolved. The decree was one of two emergency housing measures whose rejection by parliament last month triggered the early general election scheduled for 29 November.
The measures, introduced by the leftist government, had already taken effect temporarily when they were published in the official state gazette in early October. Thursday’s vote gives one of them the backing of the caretaker chamber, even as the campaign for the election it helped to trigger gets under way.
The same body rejected the second measure, also by one vote. That proposal, sought by tenants’ associations, would have required the automatic renewal of rental contracts.
The decision came a day after Wednesday’s general strike, the first nationwide stoppage in Spain in 14 years, in which large demonstrations were held over housing affordability, wages and the cost of living. Housing has become the defining issue of the election campaign, with rents in major cities having risen sharply in recent years.
Opposition leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, whose conservative People’s Party leads in opinion polls, said on Wednesday that he would repeal the decrees if he becomes prime minister. The opposition argues that the measures only reduce the supply of homes and push prices higher, while the government says they are needed to protect tenants from steep rent increases and evictions.
With the election now just over two weeks away, the fate of the housing package is likely to rest with the next government. If Feijóo wins, the decree approved on Thursday could be short-lived; if the left returns to power, it may form the basis of a wider housing programme.
Note: This article is based on reporting by Reuters, which is the single source for the vote figures and the contents of the decrees cited here.
Sources: Reuters, “Spain approves one of housing decrees that triggered snap election”, https://www.reuters.com/world/spain-approves-one-housing-decrees-that-triggered-snap-election-2026-11-12/
