Lorraine Williamson
The defeat means measures covering rental extensions, temporary and room rentals, protection from some evictions, and proposed compensation of at least 12 months’ rent for some tenants will not continue. However, a potentially complicated legal question remains for people who acted while the decrees were temporarily in force.
MPs rejected both housing packages on Friday following an extraordinary and highly charged debate in Congress. The first decree was defeated by 178 votes to 172, with PP, Vox, Junts, and UPN voting against it.
The second decree, which contained the automatic rental-renewal and landlord-compensation provisions, was also rejected. PP, Vox, Junts, and UPN were joined by PNV, and Coalición Canaria in voting it down.
What housing measures have now fallen?
The first decree contained a broad package of measures intended to offer greater protection to renters and vulnerable households. These included an extraordinary extension of up to two years for qualifying rental contracts ending before the end of 2028, restrictions on certain rent increases, and tighter regulation of temporary and room rentals.
It also extended protection from eviction for some vulnerable households until 2030 and introduced new tax measures for tenants and landlords. Those provisions had entered into force on Thursday after the decree was published in the Official State Gazette, but the rejection by Congress means the decree now falls.
The Government estimated that almost 1.9 million rental contracts could have benefited from the extension measure. The Ministry of Consumer Affairs says around five million people would have been covered by the mechanism.
What happened to the 12-month landlord compensation rule?
The second decree contained some of the most controversial changes to Spain’s rental system. It provided for automatic extensions of qualifying rental contracts once the normal compulsory period had ended, generally five years when the landlord was an individual and seven years when the landlord was a company.
It also introduced compensation where a landlord decided not to continue a qualifying tenancy without one of the permitted reasons. The minimum would have been equivalent to 12 months’ rent for a comparable property, with additional protection for long-standing tenants.
That measure has now been rejected. It entered into force at midnight on Friday but survived for only a matter of hours before Congress voted against the decree.
Landlords therefore will not now become subject to the new 12-month compensation requirement, while the proposed automatic rental-renewal system also falls with the decree.
What if a tenant acted while the rules were in force?
This is where the situation becomes less straightforward.
Both decrees became legally effective before Congress rejected them. The first came into force on Thursday and remained valid for little more than 24 hours, while the second took effect at midnight on Thursday and was rejected hours later, on Friday.
Some tenants acted during that window. According to RTVE, tenants sent formal notifications to landlords requesting extensions, while lawyers representing vulnerable people facing eviction applied for proceedings to be suspended under the temporary protections. Four evictions in Catalonia were reportedly stopped during the period the measures were in force.
Legal experts do not yet agree on what happens to those cases. Some argue that actions properly taken while a decree was legally in force should retain their effect, while others believe the position is more complicated once Congress has refused to validate the legislation.
The issue may ultimately have to be resolved by the courts. Similar uncertainty arose after another rental decree was rejected earlier this year, and RTVE reports that there is still no settled ruling from Spain’s courts establishing exactly how such cases should be treated.
Why did Congress reject the measures?
The Government failed to persuade Junts to abstain despite last-minute appeals from Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez. Junts argued that the decrees would not solve Spain’s housing shortage and could create greater legal uncertainty and reduce the supply of rental homes.
PP and Vox also opposed the measures. PP argued that the Government’s approach would fail to address the underlying shortage of housing, while Vox warned that greater intervention in the rental market could cause landlords to withdraw properties and ultimately increase prices.
The PNV and Coalición Canaria supported the first package but rejected the second decree containing automatic rental renewals.
The Government and its supporters strongly disputed those arguments. Ministers had presented the measures as urgently needed protection for households struggling with rising rents and housing insecurity.
Maricarmen eviction put housing crisis back in spotlight
The measures were introduced amid widespread protests following the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from the Madrid home where she had lived for more than 70 years.
Her case became a symbol of Spain’s housing crisis and led to demonstrations and protest camps in cities across the country. Hundreds of protesters marched from Madrid’s Puerta del Sol towards Congress on Friday as MPs prepared to vote.
Housing campaigners have already indicated that the pressure will continue. Further demonstrations are scheduled across Spain on Saturday, while activists have raised the possibility of escalating the campaign following the parliamentary defeat.
What happens now for renters in Spain?
For most renters, the immediate position is that the new measures introduced this week will not become permanent additions to Spain’s housing rules. The proposed automatic rental extensions and 12-month compensation provision have fallen, along with the broader package covering temporary rentals, extraordinary contract extensions and additional eviction protection.
Existing Spanish rental law continues to apply. Anyone who formally exercised a right during the short period when either decree was in force, however, may face a more complicated situation and should not assume that an action already taken has automatically become invalid.
The Government could attempt to introduce new housing measures, while Junts has already called for negotiations on an alternative decree. With protests continuing and housing affordability remaining one of Spain’s most contentious domestic issues, Friday’s vote is unlikely to mark the end of the political battle.