Coalition Partner Wanted Government to Take the Apartment
Sánchez’s governing coalition includes Sumar, a hard-left political party that supported the idea of government expropriation involving the apartment of an evicted tenant whose case had attracted widespread attention.
The proposal sparked an immediate backlash.
Bolaños publicly rejected the notion, arguing that outright government seizure could not simply be imposed without regard for constitutional protections.
Sánchez instead brought two more limited housing decrees before the Congress of Deputies on October 2.
The first measure sought to prevent investment funds from evicting certain vulnerable tenants while also placing additional restrictions on investors purchasing residential properties.
The second would have required landlords to renew residential leases automatically, regardless of whether the property owners wanted to continue the arrangement.
Sánchez attempted to frame the measures as necessary government action in response to Spain’s housing emergency.
“What is behind these decrees is the desire to instill order and a sense of humanity in a market that if we do not rein it in will destroy our society,” he told lawmakers.
But Spanish lawmakers were not convinced.
Both measures went down to defeat.
The result was especially damaging for Sánchez because the opposition was not limited to Spain’s conservative parties. Junts, the Catalan separatist party whose support has been crucial to Sánchez’s ability to remain in office, voted against the measures.
The center-right Popular Party also opposed them, as did the nationalist Vox party.
The Basque center-right party and a coalition representing the Canary Islands went a step further by voting specifically against the mandatory lease-renewal proposal, even though they had supported portions of the eviction protections.
In other words, Sánchez failed to secure the parliamentary support needed to advance measures that his government had presented as an answer to Spain’s housing crisis.
The political consequences could be significant.
Sánchez’s office declined to say whether the defeat would lead to a snap election, leaving Spanish political observers wondering whether the prime minister could attempt to move the next national vote forward.
Spain’s Housing Crisis Is Getting Harder to Ignore
The parliamentary confrontation came as Spain’s housing crisis has become increasingly visible.
In February, Sánchez announced a public investment fund worth €120 billion, presenting the enormous commitment as part of an effort to address the country’s housing shortage.
Yet the underlying problem has continued to grow.
Rents across Spain have roughly doubled over the past decade, while wages have failed to keep pace. The country also faced a shortage of more than 700,000 homes during the 2021–2025 period, according to estimates cited in the debate.
That gap between demand and supply has put enormous pressure on renters.
In May, tens of thousands of people took to Madrid’s streets demanding lower rents. Organizers claimed more than 100,000 people participated, although regional officials estimated the turnout at roughly 23,000.
The demonstrations did not end there.
By late September, protesters had returned to the streets. Around 100 tents appeared in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol as the eviction case involving Maricarmen became a national political flashpoint.
Political scientist Estefanía Molina summarized the frustration facing younger and lower-income Spaniards: today’s protesters cannot even rent a room, let alone buy a home.
That sentiment captures the desperation surrounding the crisis.
But it also raises a fundamental question: Can Spain solve a supply problem by imposing more restrictions on the people who provide housing?
More Government Control May Not Create More Homes
Critics of Sánchez’s approach argue that the government has focused too heavily on blaming landlords and property investors while failing to address the fundamental shortage of housing.
The consequences of that strategy are becoming increasingly difficult to overlook.
Squatting has become another major political issue. In the Canary Islands alone, squatting networks have occupied more than 4,000 properties since 2018 — a figure reportedly 76 percent higher than during the previous seven-year period.
Meanwhile, property owners facing an eviction can be forced into lengthy legal proceedings. The average process can approach two years, creating enormous uncertainty for landlords who are already reluctant to enter the rental market.
Critics argue that such delays can create incentives for illegal occupants to establish residency, seek public assistance and attempt to build legal claims around properties they do not own.
Spain’s center-right Popular Party has proposed an Anti-Squatting Law designed to dramatically accelerate the removal of illegal occupants.
The proposal would allow authorities to remove squatters within 24 hours, increase penalties and prevent occupants from registering their residency at an illegally occupied property.
Sánchez’s government rejected the proposal.
That decision has become another major point of contention in the broader housing debate.
A Warning for the United States?
The Spanish experience also offers a familiar warning to American observers.
Across the United States, especially in heavily Democratic cities, rent-control policies and tenant-friendly eviction restrictions have frequently been promoted as immediate solutions to rising housing costs.
The political promise is straightforward: protect tenants and make housing more affordable.
But critics argue that excessive restrictions can produce the opposite result over time.
When landlords face greater legal risks, tighter price controls and more difficulty removing nonpaying tenants, some may decide that renting property is no longer worth the investment.
Others may sell their properties, convert them to different uses or simply stop expanding their rental portfolios.
That can reduce the supply of available housing precisely when demand is increasing.
Spain’s crisis demonstrates the political dilemma clearly.
A government can impose additional rules on landlords, but legislation alone cannot manufacture hundreds of thousands of missing homes.
Sánchez now faces the difficult task of convincing a deeply divided coalition that more intervention is the answer — even after lawmakers from across the political spectrum rejected his latest proposals.
For frustrated Spanish renters, the housing crisis remains.
For landlords, the uncertainty remains.
And for Sánchez, one uncomfortable reality is becoming increasingly difficult to escape: after years of promising government action, Spain still does not have enough homes — and his coalition cannot even agree on how to fix it.
