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SPANISH ELECTION

Feijóo could become Spain’s PM in September through parliament vote

The head of Spain's conservative opposition Popular Party (PP) Alberto Núñez Feijóo will face a parliamentary debate and vote to become prime minister in late September, the president of the parliament said Wednesday.

Published: 23 August 2023 12:30 CEST
Feijóo could become Spain's PM in September through parliament vote
On the face of it, Feijóo will fall short as his PP has 137 parliamentary seats while potential allies far-right Vox and two small regional parties only have 33 between them. (Photo by Pierre-Philippe MARCOU / AFP)

The announcement comes a day after Spain’s King Felipe VI called on PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo to seek to form a new government, despite his party not having a majority following a snap general election on July 23rd that produced a hung parliament.

The two-day debate will start on September 26th with the vote on Feijóo’s bid on the 27th, said president of the parliament Francina Armengol.

“I believe that this date gives more than enough time for the candidate to carry out the appropriate negotiations with the representatives of the different political formations,” Armengol said.

The PP won the most seats but neither it nor acting Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s Socialists emerged with a clear path to achieve the 176-seat majority needed to win an investiture vote and take office.

On the face of it, Feijóo will fall short as his PP has 137 parliamentary seats while potential allies far-right Vox and two small regional parties only have 33 between them.

If pooled, those would give a PP-led coalition only 172 votes.

And if Feijóo fails to get a majority during a first investiture vote, he will face a second vote where just a simple majority of more yes than no votes are needed.

If he loses again, the king has to pick a new candidate — most likely Sánchez, whose party finished second.

If no candidate secures a majority within two months of the first investiture vote, new elections have to be called, which has happened with elections in both 2015 and 2019.

Sánchez wants to return at the head of a “progressive” government of centre and radical left, and insists he could garner more votes than Feijóo.

He has the support of far-left formation Sumar and could cobble together a majority with the support of Catalan and Basque pro-independence parties.

But Catalan separatist parties have set a high bar for their support, calling for a sweeping amnesty for hundreds of activists facing legal action for their role in a failed 2017 independence bid and it is not likely Sánchez will be able to reach a deal with them.

The PP has in the past reached deals with Catalan and Basque separatist parties but its alliance with Vox – which is fiercely opposed to separatism – means they are not an option this time around.

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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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