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MIGRANT CRISIS

Mauritania and Spain pledge cooperation on migration

Mauritania and Spain agreed Wednesday to cooperate to manage migrant flows, during a visit by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to the West African country as his government faces an upsurge in migrant arrivals.

Published: 28 August 2024 13:35 CEST
Mauritania and Spain pledge cooperation on migration
Mauritanian re-elected President Mohamed Ould Cheikh Ghazouani welcomes Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (L) upon his visit at his arrival at Nouakchott airport. (Photo by Fernando CALVO / LA MONCLOA / AFP)

The two countries expressed “their commitment to work together to promote safe, orderly and regular migration” and guarantee “the fair and humane treatment of migrants”, in a joint declaration.

Nearly every day, Spain’s coastguard rescues a boat carrying dozens of African migrants towards the Canary Islands off the northwest coast of Africa.

READ ALSO: Spain’s Canary Islands mark 30 years of clandestine migrant arrivals

The Atlantic route is perilous due to the strong currents, with thousands of deaths and disappearances every year on overloaded, often unseaworthy boats.

Sánchez arrived in Mauritania’s capital Nouakchott on Tuesday, marking the start of a three-day trip that also takes in The Gambia and Senegal – three key countries in the migration crisis.

Alongside the joint declaration, Spain and Mauritania have signed a memorandum of understanding to implement “a pilot project for the selection of Mauritanian workers in their country of origin” to work in Spain, according to a separate document sent to AFP on Tuesday, without giving figures.

It includes “circular migration programmes… with a particular focus on young people and women”, the joint declaration said.

Sánchez, who on Wednesday visits The Gambia and then Senegal, also held talks with Mauritanian President Mohamed Ould Cheikh El Ghazouani.

The Mauritanian presidency on Monday said MPs would meet on September 2 to examine texts aimed at tightening legislation on illegal migration.

They include the creation of a specialised court to crack down on migrant smuggling and the introduction of new criminal provisions.

Madrid estimates there are some 200,000 people in Mauritania waiting to go to the Canaries.

Between January 1 and August 15 this year, 22,304 migrants reached the Islands, compared with 9,864 in the same period in 2023 — an increase of 126 percent, according to interior ministry figures.

Across all of Spain, there were 31,155 arrivals up to mid-August, a 66.2-percent increase on the 18,745 a year earlier.

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PROPERTY

Spain’s plan to limit temporary accommodation rejected

Spain's left-wing government had planned to tighten its grip on temporary accommodation rentals as a potential means of making more long-term rentals available, but the country's right-wing parties on Tuesday rejected the proposal in parliament.

Published: 18 September 2024 11:53 CEST
Spain's plan to limit temporary accommodation rejected

If passed, the new law would have meant that anyone who wanted to temporarily rent a property would have to explain why and provide a valid reason.

For example, students or researchers would have to show the research contract or course booking to show it would only last a few months.

It would have also meant that if more than six months passed or more than two consecutive contracts issued, it will have automatically become a long-term habitual residence instead.

On Tuesday September 17th, the proposal was ultimately rejected in the Spanish Congress, voted against by Spain’s three main right-wing parties – Catalan nationalists Junts, Spain’s main opposition party the PP and far-right Vox.

The aim in part was to try and rectify the controversial Housing Law, which came into effect in 2023.

In most people’s eyes, the legislation has failed as landlords have found several loopholes to get around the restrictions, prices have continued to increase and the stock of rental properties is even more diminished.

READ ALSO: Has Spain’s Housing Law completely failed to control rents?

As a result of the fear of heightened regulation for landlords, many have left the traditional market and turned to tourist rentals or temporary accommodation instead, which are far more lucrative. 

This has had the opposite effect, increasing rental prices instead of stabilising or decreasing them.

READ MORE: Why landlords in Spain leave their flats empty rather than rent long-term

Seasonal contracts and room rentals allow landlords to raise prices every six or nine months and they not subject to the price limitations of the housing law.

The idea of this new law was to try and set the maximum duration of a temporary rental contracts at six months in order to avoid this, but it could have potentially also caused problems for many who need this type accommodation such as students, digital nomads, those living here on a short term basis etc. 

During the debate, Sumar’s spokesperson, Íñigo Errejón, defended the law saying that it is a “solvent”, “fair” and “precise” proposal, which will help “correct an abuse” and “close the gap through which “Landlords can use to avoid the LAU (Urban Leasing Law) and rent regulation”.  

Far-left party Podemos blamed the ruling PSOE for having left this “hole” in the housing law, but also agreed that the restrictions on temporary accommodation were needed to try and rectify this.

READ ALSO: Has Spain’s Housing Law completely failed to control rents?

Junts (Catalonia’s main pro-independence party) and the PNV, the Basque nationalist party, were firmly against it. They agreed that the problem must be solved and that “accessible decent housing was needed”, but raised the situation of students, interns, residents or workers who need housing for flexible periods.

Junts party member Marta Madrenas warned of the harmful effects that this limitation on temporary rentals can have for university cities such as Girona.

Vox and the PP meanwhile argued that they don’t want to help cover up the mistakes made by the left with regards to the Housing Law.

Vox deputy Ignacio Hoces stated that the increase in seasonal rentals has occurred due to the “failure” of the Housing Law, since this has caused rental prices to “skyrocketed” by 13 percent and the supply to be reduced by 15 percent.

Temporary accommodation, referred to as alquiler temporal or alquiler de temporada in Spanish, is considered to be anything that’s longer than a month but shorter than a year, middle ground between short-term and long-term rentals. It is also referred to as monthly accommodation or seasonal accommodation.

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