Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez promised higher taxes for large property owners and property funds during the election campaign. According to him, those affected would be owners who leave homes vacant, use them as holiday lets or rent them out at prices unaffordable for the public. Sánchez presented the proposal at a rally on Sunday, 15 November, in Alcorcón near Madrid.
The announcement is one of the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party’s pledges for the snap Parliamentary election on 29 November 2026. Sánchez promised new taxes for the owners concerned if he remains in government after the election. When presenting the proposal, he gave no details of tax rates, exemptions or the number of homes an owner would need to have to be affected. It is an election pledge, not a tax change that has already been approved.
Housing is a central issue in the election campaign. In October, following protests over high rents, the government announced measures; the decrees it initially put forward failed in parliament. Sánchez then called the snap election. On 12 November, the standing committee of the now-dissolved Congress of Deputies approved one of two housing decrees that were later put forward again. The other was rejected.
According to the Associated Press news agency, the measures approved include expanded protection against eviction for particularly vulnerable tenants and a tax on homes rented out to tourists. Sánchez’s new election pledge is separate from these measures. The conservative People’s Party has announced that it will reverse the housing measures if it takes office.
In Alcorcón, Sánchez also announced a new benefit from the Social security for the care of children under eight. Under his announcement, for four weeks parents would receive 100 per cent of the relevant assessment base. He gave no further details about how it would work.
Another proposal concerns legal recognition of friendships. Such a “friendship bond” would grant rights to people who are neither related nor a couple, when they care for each other. Sánchez referred to existing arrangements in Navarre and Catalonia. What specific entitlements the nationwide scheme would cover remained unclear.
Sánchez also promised support for self-employed people giving up their work and taking on caring responsibilities. He set a target for public housing to account for six per cent of the housing supply. Whether and how the proposals are implemented will depend on the election result and the parliamentary majorities that follow.
Editor: Phillipe Schmidt-Araguin (Article created with AI assistance).