Briefing
On 2 October 2026, the Minister for Housing and Urban Agenda, Isabel Rodríguez, made an impassioned appeal in the plenary session of the Congress of Deputies to members of Junts not to join the votes of Partido Popular and Vox in the decisive ballot. The issue is two Real Decreto-ley adopted by the Council of Ministers on 29 September 2026, which provide emergency measures to protect the function of housing and ensure the stability of tenancy agreements (Real Decreto-ley 26/2026 and Real Decreto-ley 27/2026).
Rodríguez offered Junts the chance to provisionally convalidate the decrees through an abstention and then consider them as bills, allowing amendments to be tabled. The government argues that this would be a practical solution: the urgent protective measures would remain in place, while there would still be room for parliamentary improvements. President Pedro Sánchez and government representatives stressed that an abstention by Junts would be enough to secure the convalidación of one of the decrees and thereby circumvent the joint PP and Vox majority.
Junts, represented in Congress among others by Míriam Nogueras, has repeatedly called for the texts to be withdrawn and indicated that it would otherwise oppose the decrees. Junts says its position is based on substantive disagreements and a demand for more comprehensive negotiations “on an equal footing”. Support for the government came from members of Partido Nacionalista Vasco and Coalición Canaria, who had backed parts of the decrees, while PP and Vox remained firmly opposed.
The vote on 2 October 2026 is a political barometer: failure to secure convalidación could have political consequences, potentially including early elections. The government is now relying on pragmatic mediation and Junts’ willingness to abstain tactically, in order to keep the emergency measure in force promptly and refine it through the ordinary legislative process.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).