Madar (International) - A smaller parliamentary council in Spain on Thursday, 12 November 2026, passed a government decree extending tenants' protection against eviction by 35 votes to 34, while a second decree aimed at curbing property speculation failed by 34 votes to 35, Al Jazeera English reported, citing AFP and AP.
The decree extends eviction protection for tenants whom social services consider to be in a "precarious financial or social position", as long as regional authorities cannot offer them alternative housing.
The failed measure would have barred companies in the property market from buying properties for less than 70 percent of their value. A Basque centre-right party, which had backed the first decree, voted against it with the right-wing bloc, arguing that it could push owners to withdraw properties from the rental market, reducing supply and raising prices.
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had reintroduced two nearly identical decrees after parliament failed to pass the earlier versions, which also included automatic renewal of rental contracts. That failure led him to call a snap general election, originally due in 2027.
The vote came a day after a 24-hour nationwide general strike on Wednesday, joined by hundreds of thousands of Spaniards protesting soaring rents and living costs, called by the main unions.
Spain has seen large protests over housing costs since September, after televised images of the eviction of an 87-year-old woman, whose death in October caused national uproar.
The conservative Popular Party, the main opposition force, rejected the measures, proposing a building drive instead, and has pledged to repeal them if it takes power. Their future depends on the snap election due later in November, which polls suggest the PP could win.
