The Government has rejected Junts' offer to withdraw the two housing decrees to agree on a new wording and has opted to maintain them, even knowing that Carles Puigdemont's party has announced that it will vote against along with the Popular Party and Vox, which will presumably lead to both regulations falling in the vote this Friday in Congress.
"The time has come for PP, Vox, and Junts to show their true colors and demonstrate whether, in housing matters, they are with the citizens or with the speculators," sources from the Executive conveyed this Thursday after Junts announced its decision.
In this line, the Government has urged the three parties to clarify whether they are "with the middle and working classes or with the elites," and has highlighted the work developed "over months" in both decrees "to accommodate the vision of the different parliamentary groups and build a consensus that meets the demands and needs of the citizens."
The Executive has claimed that the initiatives that will be put to a vote are "effective measures to curb speculation," "to put a stop to vulture funds," "to facilitate access to first homes," "to promote affordable rentals and stop evictions without harming small property owners."
Likewise, it has emphasized that the "usefulness" of the Government's proposals "has been demonstrated today" by preventing "Macarena, a neighbor from Barcelona, from losing her home." "Spain can no longer wait. It needs solutions and a bold housing policy," the Executive has insisted.
Finally, the Government has expressed its gratitude to the other parliamentary groups —ERC, EH Bildu, PNV, Podemos, BNG, and Coalición Canaria— for their "responsibility" and "commitment" in announcing their vote "in favor of improving the lives of millions of people."
The Executive's response comes after the decision of the Executive of Junts per Catalunya which, in a meeting held on the night of this Thursday, has decided not to validate the two housing decrees and has demanded their withdrawal, in addition to requiring a new text that "begins to reverse the serious housing situation."
In the statement in which it has disseminated its position, Junts has maintained that "many of the included measures will provoke the opposite effect of what they intend," and has warned that they will reduce the supply of rental apartments, increase prices, and make access to housing even more difficult for people with fewer resources.
Junts has added that, once that new text is prepared, it will request that a Council of Ministers be convened to approve it through a new royal decree law: "Under these conditions, Junts per Catalunya will give its favorable vote."