Spanish government overrides Supreme Court: ‘banks, not citizens, will pay mortgage tax’

The Spanish government has approved a royal decree to make banks—not clients—pay the tax on new mortgages, thus overriding a widely criticized Supreme Court ruling.

The measure, approved by the Council of Ministers on Thursday, will come into effect on Saturday.

President Pedro Sánchez announced the political measure on Wednesday, a day after the high court judges decided by a slim majority to overturn a series of rulings that would have tipped the scales in favor of customers.  

"Never again will Spanish citizens have to pay [the mortgages tax], banks will do it," said Sánchez regards the royal decree to be passed by his government. He also "regretted" the Supreme Court’s ruling and said that the decision was "neither positive for banks nor citizens."