The PSOE has lashed out at the Government of Aragon for what it considers a clear disregard for the municipalities, following the announcement made this Tuesday by the Minister of Housing that the Community will not apply the state housing law nor accept requests from municipalities to be declared tense areas. Socialist deputy Darío Villagrasa has defined this decision as an "error" and stated that "it is a disregard for the municipalities and municipal autonomy".
Villagrasa has stressed that the regional Executive has decided not to apply the state regulations for purely ideological reasons, in a stance of direct confrontation with the central Government, by preventing the town councils from benefiting from the law. He has argued that it is the mayors who best know the real situation in their localities and has insisted that the blockade by the Government of Aragon is already affecting the three municipalities that have requested to be recognized as tense areas: Alpartir (Zaragoza), as well as Aínsa and Biescas (Huesca).
The deputy recalled that where the state housing law has been implemented, rental prices have decreased, citing several cities in Catalonia and Galicia as examples. Therefore, the PSOE demands that the Aragonese Executive react quickly and calls on President Jorge Azcón to follow the path set by other regional leaders, even from his own party, such as the Galician president.
According to Villagrasa, in the last three years the price of housing in Aragon has soared by almost 38%. "It has been the Autonomous Community where the price of housing has grown the most during this time," he pointed out. Furthermore, he has raised other consequences of the PP's policy at the head of the Aragonese Government, citing official protection housing developments and so-called affordable rental housing with rents of 900 euros in Zaragoza and over 800 euros in Huesca. "Those prices are not affordable rents," he snapped.
The socialist parliamentarian has called on the regional Executive to focus its action on public housing, affordable rent, and officially protected housing, and to allocate many more resources to the next calls to ensure that no potential beneficiary or municipality is excluded." Along these lines, he insisted that, given the scarcity of affordable rentals in Aragon, the Aragonese government "must take advantage of the 260 million euros that the Government of Spain will transfer in the state housing plan." "Aragon cannot wait and the PSOE will propose initiatives and measures."
Villagrasa has asked the Executive of Aragon to address the demands of the municipalities and collaborate closely with them to effectively implement the state housing law. "We trust that the Government of Aragon will bring to the Cortes of Aragon a housing law that puts families, young people, access, and the right to housing at the center; not a government held hostage by pacts with Vox."