The leader of the Comuns in the Parliament of Catalonia, Jéssica Albiach, accused President Salvador Illa on Tuesday in Barcelona of failing to honour key housing commitments in the investiture agreement with her parliamentary group. She cited as the immediate reason for her criticism the failure to implement a planned Unit Against Evictions and a system of penalties for breaches of housing regulations. She also called for higher taxes on investment funds that buy large portfolios of homes.
Albiach stressed that the Unit Against Evictions must become operational quickly and must not be postponed indefinitely. The penalty system should cover landlords and institutional owners who breach rent-cap rules or fail to protect particularly vulnerable households. Her group expects the Generalitat to introduce in full and within the agreed deadlines the measures promised during the formation of the government. The Comuns see this as a prerequisite for their continued support in parliament.
Specifically, Albiach argued for tax surcharges on transactions in which investment funds acquire several dozen or hundreds of homes in blocks. She said such purchases fuel price rises and make it harder for local authorities to secure affordable housing. The measure should make speculative acquisitions more expensive while raising funds for social housing programmes. The Comuns frame this demand as part of the priorities negotiated with Illa on rents, evictions and public housing stock.
In the plenary session, Salvador Illa pointed to steps already under way to expand housing supply and support low-income households, according to parliamentary sources. He also rejected the criticism that he had broken his word across the board. The debate left open the timetable for implementing the agreements and the question of additional regulations for funds. Both sides reiterated their commitment to continuing the talks.
The political question now is whether the Comuns will put pressure on future budget decisions if implementation continues to stall. The conflict is a sensitive one for the Generalitat: without a stable majority in the Parliament of Catalonia, the risk of delays to housing initiatives increases. It is uncertain whether tougher taxes on fund purchases would dampen market trends; supporters see them as a corrective, while opponents warn of declining investment. What is clear is that housing remains one of the key tests for Illa’s government in Barcelona.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).