Everything revolves around housing this legislature and the economic response to the Iran war was no exception. Even though the Minister of Economy, Carlos Cuerpo, defends that the effects of the conflict are limited to prices in fuels and fertilizers, the inclusion of measures against evictions or to lower rent monopolizes the discussion around the decree-law.
And all after two consecutive repeals of the omnibus decree-law and its ‘social shield’ due to the rejection by PP and Junts of the anti-eviction moratorium. As soon as the conflict broke out, both stressed that, if that measure were included in a new ‘anti-crisis’ decree-law, it would again run the risk of being repealed.
In the PSOE they are willing to accept such a request. They justify this position on the need to ensure the greatest possible consensus for some measures that are necessary. And, in strictly technical terms, they point out that the effects of the war have not yet impacted housing prices which, in any case, do not need any other stimulus to continue their escalation.
Supports the position of the PSOE the demonstrated rejection by Congress to extend the anti-eviction moratorium. The Chamber has already expressed twice that such a majority does not exist. PP and Junts have shown themselves willing to assume the cost of repealing the entire package.
The PNV, which agreed to changes in the moratorium to exclude homes of small owners, has publicly asked the Executive to avoid that risk. “It's a bit like playing Russian roulette,” said its parliamentary spokesperson, Maribel Vaquero. The socialist wing reiterates that the priority is to include measures that ensure support, which has resulted in a veto on housing measures.
The appeal to consensus, a minister acknowledged this Wednesday in the corridors of Congress off-microphone, was nothing less than accepting the postulates of Junts, a party willing to throw out the decree-law.
There is a match: nothing is decided yet
Exclusion, in any case, is not definitive. Several consulted sources agree that, until the last moment, it will not be decided what enters and what remains out in the decree-law.
Sumar stakes everything on incorporating measures that respond to the housing crisis and focuses efforts on fighting that battle. They do not conceive, just like the rest of the left-wing partners –Podemos, ERC, Bildu, BNG and Compromís—that an emergency plan does not include measures like these.
Since before the outbreak of the war, these formations defend an automatic extension of contracts to avoid renewals at skyrocketing prices, upon the expiration of the duration of those signed at the conclusion of the lockdown.
An intervention that the PSOE saw as disproportionate before the war –it proposed, as an alternative, the discarded tax deductions as an incentive—and that now the partners are claiming due to the new emergency. The situation, the socialists clarify, has not acquired, not even remotely, the seriousness that could justify this measure.
Let each party reveal itself
At the Ministry of Housing they attend the discussion with resignation. They know themselves at the center of all targets and reproach that their coalition partners and parliamentarians focus the spotlight on measures that do not have sufficient support.
The left-wing parties are pressuring the PSOE to approve the measures, whether or not there is support, and for PP and Junts to show their true colors in the vote. “We cannot be afraid of the public seeing what the different political parties vote. Let them see what they vote,” stressed this Tuesday the spokesperson for Sumar, Verónica Martínez Barbero.
In Housing they criticize this position, due to the legal uncertainty that approving a measure would cause knowing that it has no path beyond a few days. And they urge to focus efforts on gathering support and not on highlighting the absence of measures.
¿A specific decree-law?
Those efforts to reach an agreement that allows for the inclusion of housing measures or at least brings positions closer exist, according to sources directly involved in the contacts maintained so far have informed Demócrata. Even in recent hours, a limit on rent increases has been put on the table, like the one approved in the previous price crisis, at 2%.
Just over a day before the extraordinary Council of Ministers that will define the scope of the first economic response to the war, no option is ruled out. Nor the approval of a specific decree-law with housing measures, separate from the rest of the plan, which would not be affected by the risk of repeal.
A measure that, on the other hand, would fulfill the political decision to force the Congress to take a stand, as demanded by the left-wing forces.