Itxaso regrets that only two of the 43 municipalities that could be declared problem areas have requested this

The advisor of Housing and urban agenda, Denis Itxasoexplained to a parliamentary committee that his department is working to “speed up the statements”. stressed areas of the Basque municipalities that meet the requirements, there are 43 in total, since only two of them, the Gipuzkoas of Errenteria And Zumaia They asked for it.

He warned that housing “is a real social emergency today”, with 90,000 housing units registered in Etxebide, and listed the actions that his department will promote during this term with the aim of making effective the subjective right of access to housing, recognised by law.

You remembered that the fhigh housing and its scarcity are the main reasons for access to one of she and has argued that this is the most direct route to power prices includefor Itxaso, are the stress zone reports according to state law, which says “it will happen in the coming weeks.”

Itxaso explained that his department is working “intensely” with city councils to “accelerate the declarations that will allow rents to be limited.”

Are 43 Basque municipalities who meet the requirements to participate in this classification which makes it possible to limit rents, where 68% of the Basque population livesapproximately 1.5 million people.

Besides the previously mentioned Errenteria and Zumaia, San Sebastian, Irun And Zarautz have maintained conversations with the Ministry to take steps towards recognition as a problem area and they are in the process of collecting the required documentation to apply for this.

The department is also involved in drafting the Territorial sectoral plan for tourist resourcestogether with the Ministry of Tourism, which provides for the possibility, with regard to municipal autonomy, “various types of restrictive measures” against tourist accommodation in areas declared as stressed areas.

Itxaso pointed out that “it makes no sense” that if a city council wants to join this denomination because it has housing problems, “the number of tourist apartments would increase.”

Shock plan for San Sebastian

Itxaso stressed that the problem is most pressing in the three capitals, with particular relevance in San Sebastianin which he regretted that his department’s intervention capacity ‘has not yet been able to develop with the same flexibility as in the other two capitals’.

After recalling that 258 homes have been completed in the Txominenea neighborhood so far this semester and explaining the ongoing projects, the councilor considered that with the current level of “investments and cooperation (with the municipal authorities) are not sufficient to cope with the scale of the problem”.

For this reason, he has shown his willingness to take actions “of the same level and calibre as in Bilbao and Vitoria” and has proposed to the City Council to agree on a shock plan that will be monitored by a permanent commission.

As for the other two capitals, in Bilbao there are agreements to build 1,500 houses, and in Vitoria to build 960 and rehabilitate 62.

Land policy

The Director of Housing Plan 2025-2027 will include the actions planned to increase affordable housing, an objective for which the Advisor recalled that the land policy.

In this sense, she has expressed her intention to between the Basque government, provincial councils and municipal councils search for formulas that activate land that is already eligible for construction in Euskadi sheltered housing.

At that time he stated: There are qualified lands for 75,000 protected houses that “for some reason they remain blocked or asleep.”

Among the measures that should be taken to increase the public stock, he mentions extending the right of first refusal on protected properties put up for sale, acquiring properties that private developers cannot sell, and seizing uninhabited homes.