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The legislation put forward in Congress on Friday was divided into two separate decrees.<\/p>\n
The first decree included the suspension of evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, a two-year extension to rental leases due to expire before 2028, tax increases for tourist apartments, and a restriction on the purchase of residential properties by so-called “vulture funds”.<\/p>\n
The second decree included the automatic renewal of rental contracts, a major demand of many on the left and the Tenants’ Union.<\/p>\n
MPs rejected the first decree by 178 votes to 172 and voted against the second by 184 to 166.<\/p>\n
Prior to the vote, the conservative People’s Party (PP) and far-right Vox had already said they would vote against both initiatives, leaving the minority government depending on the support of smaller nationalist parties in Catalonia and the Basque Country.<\/p>\n
However, by the eve of the parliamentary session, the centre-right, pro-independence Together for Catalonia (JxCat) had signalled its opposition to both laws, condemning them to failure.<\/p>\n
S\u00e1nchez’s ruling coalition hurriedly drew up the decree laws in an effort to defuse the housing protests that were sparked when 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal was evicted in September.<\/p>\n
The social backlash led to the company that owns Abascal’s flat, Urbagesti\u00f3n, negotiating her return to the flat on a low rent. However, protests have continued.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n