The housing spokesperson for Sumar in Congress, Alberto Ibáñez, has urged Junts to back the decree that extends the rent extension, considering that this support is the clearest way to show that the party is not "racist or classist." Despite the post-convergence party's rupture of relations with the minority partner of the Government, he maintains that there is still room to reach an understanding.
In this line, he has emphasized that in the face of those who have "thin" skin, after the words of the second vice president Yolanda Díaz (who defined Junts as classist and racist), Sumar will maintain a "culo de ferro" stance, alluding to the nickname of the Italian communist leader Enrico Berlinguer, known for never getting up from a negotiation table.
Ibáñez has also censured the tone used by the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, when she referred to the courts' criteria on the continuity of the rent extension in the event that the decree lapsed. He has stressed that this attitude seems "not very dangerous" to him and that, in his opinion, she was mistaken. "She should start deciding if she wants to be Minister of Housing or a PSOE candidate for some autonomous community. The latter does not usually end well," he warned in a appearance in Congress.
The Compromís deputy has defended that the decree, which will be submitted for validation next week, constitutes the most effective tool to guarantee stability for tenants during the next two years.
Therefore, it is confident that the formations of the right-wing bloc (PP, Vox, and Junts) will end up leaning towards supporting the extension of rent controls, understanding that this is what their electoral base demands. This is reflected in the Atenea del Dato survey, commissioned by the parliamentary group The Left, which indicates that 73.6% of the Spanish citizenry is in favor of maintaining the extension.
Focusing the debate on parties is "poor"
Ibáñez has once again addressed Junts directly, despite the clash caused by the second vice president's statements, and has ironically stated that the "thin skin of some" does not worry him. In his opinion, the debate on housing policies is impoverished when parties choose to talk about themselves instead of addressing the measures. "There will be no better way to demonstrate that one is not racist or classist than by voting in favor of this royal decree," he reiterated.
The deputy has been especially harsh with Vox, after the pact reached with the PP in Extremadura that introduces national priority in access to services and aid. He launched that, if the housing decree is finally overturned, what they will actually be protecting is the parliamentarian who "has five, six, and seven homes". "Indeed, that is their national priority. Those who hoard housing so that the rest of Spaniards do not have any. Faced with their disgusting racism, rights for everyone," he concluded.
Sumar Spokesperson Pressures PP and Demands Its Support
For their part, the spokesperson for the plurinational group, Verónica Barbero, has avoided engaging in the clash with Junts and has focused her intervention in Congress on questioning the PP, as the main opposition party, to vote in favor of the decree. She has argued that this is what their own voters wish, according to the poll conducted by Atenea del Dato.
Barbero has shown herself equally confident that the decree will be validated and has stressed that "they do not give up for lost" any group in the negotiation, not even Junts. With all that, she has placed the emphasis on demanding that the PP reconsider its rejection of the text, at the same time that she has emphasized that she does not intend to place on the popular ones the ultimate responsibility for the extension of rents to go ahead or be repealed.