Parliament to appeal against Spain's new housing law

The Catalan Parliament has voted to appeal against the new Spanish housing law to cap rent increases.

Pro-independence parties ERC, Junts, and CUP have voted in favor, arguing the Spanish law infringed on Catalan authority according to the Catalan Council for Constitutional Guarantees (CGE).

Territory minister Ester Capella also explained that the Catalan government will start conversations with the Spanish executive to tackle the issue of "invasion of authority" with regards to this law.

However, the vote did not come without comments of resentment between ERC and Junts.

During the voting session in parliament, Junts spokesperson Mònica Salas reproached ERC for the "incongruity" of voting in favor of the Spanish housing law in Congress, but agreeing to appeal it. Junts also highlighted that "there will never be good laws for Catalonia that have been made in Madrid without thinking of Catalonia."

Pau Morales of ERC pointed to the advances achieved through negotiation with the Spanish government. Morales also mentioned that ERC voted in favour of contributing to social changes, and if the law had not been approved "a great opportunity would have been lost."

The long journey for the housing law in Catalonia

In September 2020, the Catalan parliament passed a law regulating the rent prices which would affect 60 cities and towns with over 20,000 inhabitants with "tense housing markets."

The law established that in the areas where affordable housing is scarce, rents would be determined by the Catalan Housing Agency's Average Price Index 

But in March 2022, Spain's Constitutional Court annulled the majority of that law because "it is the state that sets the obligatory contractual standards," the Court explained in a press release.

According to the magistrates, Catalonia had overstepped its powers related to housing. 

More than a year later, in April 2023, Spain passed its own housing law to cap rent increases at 3% starting in 2024, instead of according to inflation. The law tackled other housing problems like rental fees and expenses, as well as evictions.