Bid to regulate room lets and seasonal rents fails after PP, Vox and Junts vote against

A bill from left-wing Sumar to regulate room lets and seasonal rents was defeated in Congress on Tuesday after the right-wing People's Party, far-right Vox and pro-independence Junts voted against it. 

The proposal, brought forward by the junior party in Spain's governing coalition, arose from demands from tenants' unions. 

Its aim was to prevent seasonal rents and individual room lets from being used as a loophole to circumvent the price caps and other guarantees introduced by the housing law approved last year. 

The initiative was defeated with 178 votes against and 172 in favor.

Junts: Government 'messed up' housing law 

Before the vote, Junts MP Marta Madrenas argued that data - "not at all optimistic" - showed that the housing law approved a year ago was not good and that current policies need to be changed. 

"We warned that it would cause enormous legal uncertainty," she remarked, saying that the supply of flats for rent in Catalonia has fallen by more than 30% in the last year. 

"They messed up with the housing law and now they want to paper over the cracks with this lease law," she said. 

ERC: 'Vote against the people' 

Catalonia's other main pro-independence party Esquerra Republicana, accused Junts of voting  "against the people." 

"Voting with PP and Vox against tenants and in favor of speculation shows that the Junts project does not defend all Catalans," ERC's Gabriel Rufián said. 

Catalan government: 'Inexcusable blow' 

Catalan government spokesperson Sílvia Paneque said on Wednesday that the bill's defeat was "a very hard and inexcusable blow." 

"There was the opportunity to agree, there was the opportunity for dialogue, there was the opportunity to reach a consensus and, due to various political calculations, this opportunity collapsed," the Socialist said. 

Tenants' Union protest 

The Tenants' Union (Sindicat de Llogateres) has called a protest for Wednesday at 6 pm outside Junts headquarters in Barcelona. 

The organization's spokeswoman, Carme Arcarazo, told Catalunya Ràdio's 'El matí' program that the protest is to say "enough" to a "very serious" problem. 

Arcarazo accused the party of not keeping their word, stressing "they had promised to abstain."