Spain Faces Housing Crisis as Eviction Moratoriums end,Pension Increases Stall
spain is bracing for a surge in evictions and utility disconnections as a key social safety net collapses,while a planned pension increase hangs in the balance following a contentious vote in Congress.
starting this Wednesday, procedures to evict vulnerable families unable to pay rent will resume across Spain. Concurrently, energy companies will regain the power to cut off electricity, water, and gas to households lacking sufficient income to cover these essential bills. These measures are direct consequences of the Spanish CongressS rejection of the renewal of the “shield decree,” which expired tuesday after opposition votes from the People’s Party (PP), vox, and Junts.
The planned increase to pensions for 2026, initially included in the decree, has also been derailed. The government will now be forced to re-approve the measure – as demanded by the opposition – to prevent a reduction in benefit payments starting in February.
Junts’ Pivotal Role and Accusations of “Blackmail”
Even though it’s position remained undisclosed until the last moment, the vote of Junts, a Catalan independentist party, proved decisive in defeating the decree. Party spokesperson Míriam Nogueras delivered a scathing critique, accusing the government of attempting to “blackmail” Junts by linking the pension increase to eviction protections. She argued that the government was using “people’s dignity” as a bargaining chip and insisted that Junts would not yield to such tactics.
Nogueras specifically targeted the decree’s provisions regarding evictions, claiming the government’s narrative focused on “small landlords” with rental properties. However, this claim is an oversimplification. The defeated decree extended the eviction moratorium only to families demonstrably unable to afford rent. Protection against eviction for okupas (squatters) was limited to cases where the property owner possessed more than 10 dwellings or was a company, and the occupant was either dependent or a victim of gender-based violence, also demonstrating economic vulnerability.
Furthermore, the moratorium did not apply to cases of violent entry or suspected illegal activity. It also excluded properties used as the owner’s primary or secondary residence, in this very way instances would be considered trespassing – a more serious offense than occupying an uninhabited property.
PP Aligns with Junts on Key Issues
The PP echoed Junts’ concerns. Deputy Juan Bravo attributed the impending defeat of the decree to the government’s decision to bundle consensus issues, like the pension increase, with more contentious measures like eviction protections. “The government is endangering the pension increase,” Bravo asserted, accusing the executive of attempting to “use pensioners as hostages.” He maintained that it is the duty of the government to ensure the 2026 pension revalorization is not suspended.
Bravo justified the PP’s opposition by stating they “do not agree with continuing to stifle the owner who has a rented property” through measures prohibiting evictions or utility disconnections. “We agree to support the vulnerable, of course, but the work that is the State’s cannot be entrusted to the owners of occupied homes,” he declared.
Last-Minute Efforts to Secure Support
In a final attempt to sway the opposition, Justice minister Félix Bolaños offered new measures to support landlords facing difficulties with vulnerable tenants. “The decree includes a line of guarantees for cases of unpaid rent to small landlords,” bolaños explained, assuring that the government’s “commitment to citizens who rent does not end there” and that it is indeed “studying formulas to expand this protection mechanism for landlords.”
Despite this offer, Bolaños strongly criticized the opposing groups. “Voting ‘yes’ to this decree is voting ‘yes’ to increasing pensions, guaranteeing the supply of water and energy to people with low resources, avoiding evictions for people who have nowhere to go, and establishing tax exemptions for the unemployed, victims of the DANA, and those affected by last summer’s fires. Voting ‘no’ is harming pensioners, people who cannot pay for water and electricity, who cannot afford a home, and the unemployed, victims of the DANA, and those affected by forest fires. It’s that clear: it’s harming millions of citizens who voted for them to be their representatives in this Congress,” Bolaños stated.
