Government reaches deal with left-wing parties to regulate seasonal rentals 

The Catalan government has reached a deal with three left-wing parties to regulate seasonal rentals. 

The Socialist executive has secured the votes of pro-independence Esquerra Republicana and CUP, as well as Comuns. 

The parties have agreed amendments to the 18/2007 law on the right to housing, including the introducing the role of housing inspector, who will have the authority to "verify contract compliance, detect fraud, and propose sanctions."  

The deal also includes prolongations for protected housing in so-called tense housing areas, as requested by Comuns and CUP. 

The pact was reached less than 24 hours before the decree on urgent housing measures is to be voted on in Parliament. 

The agreed measures will be incorporated through amendments when the decree approved on Wednesday is processed as a bill. 

The housing law will be modified to make it clear that seasonal rentals cannot be considered permanent homes.

It establishes that seasonal homes are those intended for "recreational uses, tourism or for the holiday season, whether this is summer or any other season."

'Two years late' says tenants' unions

The Tenants' Union has lamented the fact that the deal arrives "more than two years late."

At the same time, they point out that the agreement recovers a regulation "that the Socialist Party overturned" last July.

Spokesperson for the entity Enric Aragonès said that the government has been "forced into action" thanks to the "massive mobilizations" of recent weeks.

"Either we stand up to the real estate lobby, or the conflict over housing will take them away," Aragonès warned, underlining the "serious consequences" that "the speculative use of temporary and room rentals" is generating.

Housing protest

Thousands of people – 12,000, according to police, and 100,000 according to organizers – gathered at Plaça Espanya in Barcelona on Saturday, demanding the right to affordable housing and opposing high rental prices. 

The demonstration was organized by the Tenants' Union, which also called for similar protests in around 40 cities across Spain.