The first vice president and minister of Economy, Trade and Enterprise, Carlos Cuerpo, admitted this Wednesday that there has been a lack of "communication" regarding the role of small property owners within the housing decrees that were rejected in Congress, and which he trusts the Permanent Deputation will ultimately validate.
In an interview on TV3 reported by Europa Press, he lamented that "a very negative message has been conveyed regarding small property owners, that these decrees were against small property owners, nothing could be further from the truth".
Cuerpo reiterated his intention to convey to these owners that "it will be more worthwhile for them to lower the rent to their tenant than to raise it" thanks to the tax incentives included in the texts. Asked about Junts' rejection of the decrees, he pointed out that they will be the ones who must justify their opposing vote.
Mismatch between housing supply and demand
The minister described the housing market, from an economic perspective, as a clear mismatch between supply and demand. He attributed the increase in demand to the rise in the number of households, together with the reduction in their average size, as well as to the greater weight of tourist use and seasonal rental.
In order to make supply "react", he defended that the Executive has promoted different measures, among them the strengthening of labor in construction through the regularization of migrants or the new Land Law, which failed to pass in Congress.
Unemployment and labor market evolution
Regarding the unemployment data published this Tuesday, Cuerpo highlighted that the evolution of the labor market is "unprecedented" and that it is being able to withstand the various 'shocks' occurring on an international scale.
He assured that Spain is moving in a "sustainable" way toward convergence with the average unemployment rate of the eurozone, and he focused on the 10-point reduction in unemployment among those under 25, now at 23% compared with "33-34%" in 2018.
According to him, the decline in youth unemployment "goes hand in hand" with a lower school dropout rate and an increase in education levels.
To conclude, he emphasized that, from a financial point of view, Spain is behaving in a "very similar" way to the countries considered core within the eurozone.