Congress passed the housing law yesterday with the votes for PSOE, Unidas Podemos, ERC and EH Bildu, compared to the no vote that united the PP, Vox, Ciudadanos, PNV, Junts, PDeCAT and the Canary Islands Coalition. The satisfaction of the government partners in carrying out one of the most difficult projects for the coalition contrasted with the open opposition of the right and the refusal of nationalism from the center of Catalonia, the Basque Country and the Canary Islands to accept the perceived interference of the norm in regional powers. The text will now go to the Senate to finalize processing for elections on May 28. Their discussion will again be presented in the Senate as an ideological confrontation about the extent to which housing is a right, while it cannot be avoided that it is also a market good, and about the constitutional power of the social state to intervene in the relationship between individuals that restricts the free availability of private property. Along with the more conceptual phrasing of the debate, critiques and warnings will be presented about the real effects the law can have in terms of the effective realization of the right to housing. Concerns that allowing more time for legal proceedings to be resolved against the phenomenon of squatting will increase this phenomenon, even if by vulnerable individuals and families, and could lead to changes in the supply-demand relationship that are unfavorable to the most need. In the same way as hedging rents as it slides down to autonomous regions and town halls, the supply of tourist accommodation could well end in a pullback in housing supply. Despite the fact that the socialists have silenced their substantive reservations on this issue to avoid being singled out by their fellow travelers before the next election, they know that the rule carries a potential for unintended consequences that are impossible to avoid by stigmatizing the big homeowners. It is likely that the squatters will not multiply much because of the new regulations, only that the state of vulnerability could become a source of irregularities that also put pressure on the market. But what is already deliberately voluntaristic is the enactment of a so-called thaumaturgical law when its application depends on the approval of communities that will reject it or safely sideline it.
Source: La Verdad
I am George Kunkel, an author working for Today Times Live. I specialize in opinion pieces and cover stories that are both informative and thought-provoking – helping to shape public discourse on key issues. My work is regularly featured across the network’s many platforms, including print media and social media.
