The groups of the Basque Parliament have evidenced this Thursday their discrepancies on how to reinforce the protection of those who live on rent, in a session marked by references to the case of Maricarmen Abascal, who passed away this Wednesday at the age of 87 after being evicted from the home where she had resided for 71 years in Madrid.
The Plenary has addressed this issue at the initiative of Sumar, whose non-legislative proposal --like the amendments from EH Bildu and PP-- has ultimately been rejected. Instead, the total amendment registered jointly by PNV and PSE-EE has prospered.
The proposal from Sumar has been defeated with 43 votes against (PNV, PSE, PP, and Vox) and 27 supports (EH Bildu and the coalition itself), despite the fact that it focused on the situation of the 510 VPO in rental regime of Benta Berri (Donostia-San Sebastián), built in the late 90s on public land through a surface right of 75 years. These homes were purchased in 2018 by a company linked to the Blackstone fund and their protected qualification ends in November 2028, at which point they could be outside the public regime, with the freedom to raise rents, not renew contracts, or put them on the free market.
In light of this scenario, Sumar proposed urging the Basque Government to approve and send to the Parliament, within a maximum period of one month and through the urgent procedure, a bill to amend Law 3/2015, of June 18, on Housing, in order to safeguard these promotions.
The coalition proposed that this project included that all officially protected rental homes whose protection period remains in force at the time of the reform's entry into force would be subject to an indefinite protection regime, regardless of the date of their final qualification and without limiting its application to municipalities declared as areas of tense residential market.
Additionally, it demanded that these homes could not be disqualified, nor incorporated into the free market, nor lose their designation as protected rental.
In the same way, he urged the Basque Government to "specifically guarantee the indefinite protection of the 510 homes in Benta Berri and the stability of the people currently residing in them, ensuring, for those who continue to meet the required criteria, the renewal of their contracts and the maintenance of rents subject to the public protection regime, in permanent dialogue with the affected families."
In response to this initiative, the total amendment of PNV and PSE-EE has moved forward, which received 36 favorable votes (PNV and PSE), 27 abstentions (EH Bildu and Sumar), and seven votes against (PP and Vox).
The approved text calls on the Basque Government to extend the validity of the qualification of Public Protection Housing (VPP) subject to a temporary protection regime located in areas of tense residential market as long as said declaration remains in effect.
Likewise, the Parliament urges to make effective the extension of the qualification of public protection housing "with the utmost speed," modifying for this purpose Law 3/2015, of June 18, on Housing so that, once approved, "it applies to homes, such as the 510 in Benta Berri, that have a temporary protection regime, while the declaration of tense area of Donosti remains in effect and to all those VPP that are in a similar situation."
During the debate, the Sumar parliamentarian, Jon Hernández, conveyed a message of "affection and solidarity" to the relatives of Maricarmen Abascal, who passed away this past Wednesday at the age of 87, after being evicted on September 23 from the old rent home where she lived for 71 years in Madrid, a case that has triggered mobilizations in defense of the right to housing throughout the State.
Hernández pointed out that "Maricarmen is the last victim of a system that has turned our homes into a business for a few," something that "is denounceable and produces a more than understandable anger." "There is enormous social anger regarding housing, not only today, but this is a spur; this eviction has been a spark," he noted, linking the case of Benta Berri with the general problem of access to housing.
On behalf of the PNV, Jonatan Moreno has expressed his "solidarity and support" to people at risk of losing their homes, and has reminded that in 2003 the Basque Government and Parliament already approved that Officially Protected Housing have permanent qualification, so that they could not pass to the private market.
At the same time, he has defended that "we must guarantee the right to the tenant, but we must also better protect the small owner." He has criticized that "both sides" use this issue "to polarize and position themselves in the upcoming elections" and has asked the Sumar parliamentarian: "Really, is politics for this? Are they going to continue blowing up bridges?".
The EH Bildu parliamentarian Xabier Astigarraga, who has expressed his "pain" for the case of Maricarmen, has condemned that at the time it was allowed to "make housing with limited duration protection," which, once the set period has passed, allows those developments to pass to the private market and "decades later is generating not a few problems and headaches".
According to what he has denounced, although the Basque Government claims that 110,000 protected homes have been built in Euskadi, "half of those homes have been disqualified or will be disqualified in the coming years," for which he has demanded to act with "urgency" to put an end to this situation.
On behalf of the PSE-EE, Adrián Fernández has conveyed his "deepest condolences" to Maricarmen's family and has expressed his wish that this type of situation "does not happen again." In his opinion, the obligation of the executives is "to offer security to families," something that "is precisely what the Basque Government is doing."
Fernández has indicated that "we are trying to reverse now mistakes from the 90s, when governments wanted to finance windfalls with public money." "It cannot be that protected housing is financed with our tax money and then the owners can sell their homes in the free market," he has added, recalling that in 2003 a regulation was approved that established the indefinite nature of publicly protected housing qualified from then on, preventing its disqualification.
The PP parliamentarian Ana Morales began her speech conveying her "condolences" to Maricarmen's family. She has shown herself to be a defender of "public-private" collaboration in housing matters, but guaranteeing "legality, responsibility, free market, and free competition."
Finally, the Vox parliamentarian, Amaia Martínez, has blamed the eviction of Maricarmen on the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and has disconnected the housing crisis from the role of "vulture funds."