Deal collapses ahead of Cabinet vote
Junts has pulled out of a pre-agreed housing deal with the Spanish government just hours before the Council of Ministers was due to approve a royal decree on Tuesday 29 September 2026. The pro-independence party said the final draft had been substantially altered, incorporating measures not discussed during prior negotiations. According to party sources, an agreement had been reached earlier on 28 September with the PSOE, based on a draft submitted by MP Míriam Nogueras earlier in the month. Direct talks between Junts’s Marta Madrenas and Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez had narrowed differences, allowing the ministry to prepare a version expected to pass parliamentary scrutiny.
'Omnibus decree' adds unagreed measures
However, Junts now accuses the government of turning the decree into an 'omnibus' measure by adding 34 amendments to the Urban Leases Law without prior notice. The party says these changes were pushed by Sumar and the left wing of the PSOE, including automatic two-year extensions for rental contracts expiring before 31 December 2028. Junts claims the new text effectively validates squatting and places small property owners on equal footing with vulture funds. The party had previously warned against broad reforms via royal decree, especially since a comprehensive housing law is already under debate in Congress with cross-party participation.
They are attempting a shortcut to prevent any of these 34 measures from failing in parliament, as they do not have the necessary support.
The party argues the government is bypassing democratic process to satisfy its left-wing allies. Jordi Turull, Junts’s general secretary, had already stated on 27 September that his party would not back any decree that criminalises private landlords or shifts financial burdens onto them.
Pressure from left stalls consensus
Sumar and allied groups had demanded indefinite rental contracts and a full eviction ban, but the current draft only allows for limited extensions and includes conditions such as tenants being up to date on rent for the past eight months. Despite the breakdown, Junts says it remains open to negotiation.
We want there to be an agreement. It won't be for lack of trying on our part. We are willing to continue talking and working until the end to find a text that addresses real housing problems.
The party reiterated that housing policy should not be driven by political optics: "The goal should not be a photo, a tweet, or a headline: it should be to find solutions."
The Council of Ministers is scheduled to meet later today. Whether the government will proceed with the decree without Junts’s support remains unclear.
Reported by abc.es, en.ara.cat, elconstitucional.es, news365.es, J.A. López-Bueno, Má Navas-Martín, Agencia Estatal de Meteorología, ABC Cataluña.
