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Spain's coalition government approved measures including banning evictions of vulnerable people until 2030, after outrage over the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who now may return home.
Spain's coalition government has approved measures to ease the country's housing crisis, including banning evictions of vulnerable tenants until 2030, after nationwide outrage over the eviction of an 87-year-old woman from her home.
The government said it had agreed on proposals including banning evictions until 2030 to address the housing crisis. Maricarmen Abascal, 87, was taken from her Madrid home on a stretcher last Wednesday, and is now considering an offer to return. Hundreds of people remained camped in one of Madrid's main squares on Tuesday to protest her removal.
Congress Approval Needed For New Decrees
The government was seeking to broaden the definition of what constitutes a vulture fund beyond large private equity funds to any fund or company that buys housing for speculation. The two decrees were approved by cabinet but need approval in Congress, where the coalition lacks a majority. The government has requested a special parliamentary session on Friday to pass the decrees as soon as possible.
The main decree includes extending restrictions on evictions of vulnerable tenants to 2030, regulating temporary lettings and lettings by room, a ban on vulture funds buying property until 2028, and a two-year extension on rental agreements due to expire at the end of 2028. The measures will be divided into two decrees, with the automatic contract rollover, described as the final sticking point, in a second decree.
The government has 30 days from the decree's publication to reach consensus with allies in Congress. It is believed the first decree has the approval of the conservative Catalan and Basque parties, but they are likely to vote down the second decree. Junts, the Catalan pro-independence party whose support is needed, said on Tuesday it was still far from agreeing and wanted protection for small landlords.
Vulture Funds Definition Expanded By Cabinet
Miriam Nogueras, Junts' spokesperson in Congress, said owning two properties is not the same as owning entire buildings, and criticised lumping small investors in the same category as vulture funds. Health Minister Monica Garcia celebrated the decision, saying: We've achieved something that even a month ago was unthinkable. She added: It's time to intervene in the speculative housing market and begin to restore the balance between citizens and vulture funds.
Social Affairs Minister Pablo Bustinduy told a news conference that the final sticking point of automatic contract rollover is in a second decree. Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez told a news conference that the government wanted to broaden the definition of vulture funds to any fund or company buying housing for speculation, naming UrbaGestion, the company that evicted Abascal, as an example.
The Tenants' Union, a driving force behind demands for housing law changes and the occupation of Madrid's Puerta del Sol, said it needed to read the small print but opposed dividing the issue into separate decrees. Alicia Del Rio, a union spokesperson in Madrid, said: It's a tactic of tearing something into shreds so that all that's left are scraps. She said the union demands the implementation of the Maricarmen decree in its entirety.
Protests have continued, with demonstrators demanding legal reforms including a rent freeze and automatic renewal of leases without abusive rent hikes. Urbagestion has offered Abascal a return to her apartment at a rent not exceeding 30 per cent of her income. On Tuesday she accepted the offer and will pay 533 euros a month, less than a third of the original demand of 1,650 euros that led to her eviction.
Her lawyer, Beatriz Duro, said the offer could allow her return if she agrees to terms, paying 30 per cent of her pension over eight years, around 500 euros a month. Duro told reporters: She should never have been forced to leave. I hope this case serves to provide a collective response to the housing crisis.
Political Opposition Rejects Government Housing Plan
Alberto Nunez Feijoo, leader of the conservative People's party, dismissed the proposals, saying the government created a problem that didn't exist when it took office and that a problem created over eight years can't be solved in five minutes. Underlining the lack of affordable housing, Ada Colau, a housing activist and former Barcelona mayor, recently revealed she had to move out of her rented apartment after 15 years because it became impossible to pay rent with a single income since separating from her husband.
Colau, who renounced most of her mayoral salary during eight years in office, said the market was geared towards dual incomes, whether couples or people sharing, adding she had gone to live with a relative. The lawyer for Abascal said UrbaGestion offered a preliminary agreement late on Monday that could allow her return if she agrees to its terms, paying 30 per cent of her pension over the next eight years, equivalent to around 500 euros a month.
This would see her paying a similar level as prior to the eviction. Madrid's tenants' union criticised splitting the measures into two decrees and said encampments across Spain would continue until their full demands were met, with further demonstrations planned.
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abcnews:This story was compiled and edited by the HeadTopics newsroom and HT AI from the reports above.
Eviction Ban Maricarmen Abascal Vulture Funds Tenants Union
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