The President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, opened a period of reflection this Friday, October 2, in which he will evaluate over the weekend whether to call early elections or not, according to Moncloa sources cited by the local press. The movement came amid echoes of electoral advancement due to the rejection in the Congress of Deputies of the two housing decrees presented by the ruling coalition to try to alleviate the housing crisis throughout the country. The measures collapsed after votes against the right-wing parties, PP and Junts per Catalunya, as well as the far-right party, Vox.

First modification: 10/02/2026 - 14:23 Last modification: 10/02/2026 - 21:39

Chronicle of a death foretold. The title of the book by the late writer and Nobel Prize winner in Literature, Gabriel García Márquez, already seemed to describe the outcome of two crucial votes in the Spanish Congress.

An outcome that could also lead to an early election.

The President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, opened this Friday, October 2, a period of reflection to examine over the weekend whether or not to call early elections, according to Executive sources cited by the local press.

The echoes of early elections already surrounded the hours before the vote. When the collapse of the two housing decrees was expected, due to the 'NO' announced by the right-wing political groups: Popular Party (PP) and Junts per Catalunya, as well as the far-right Vox, leaders of the ruling Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) urged that the general votes be brought forward. Without alterations, the electoral calendar is scheduled for 2027.

"General strike now"

But if the elections were finally brought forward, citizens would go to the polls on November 29, since it would be the first Sunday allowed by the Organic Law of the General Electoral Regime (Loreg).

To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies.

Following the result of this vote in Congress, hundreds of activists in Madrid marched shouting "general strike now." Those participating in a camping trip in Puerta del Sol, in front of the headquarters of the Government of the Community of Madrid, controlled by the PP, announced that they will remain in the streets until a solution to the housing crisis is achieved.

Likewise, activists announced demonstrations for this Saturday, October 3, in some 50 cities in the country.

Read alsoSpain: Sánchez evaluates whether to advance elections after the collapse of the housing decrees in Congress

This is how the votes that sank the housing decrees took place

It was a vote with an uncertain outcome until the last moment. The extraordinary plenary session of Congress debated the two decrees approved by the Council of Ministers last Tuesday. One by one, the legislators went to the podium to outline their reasons for or against the measures, while in the streets hundreds of activists maintained – and maintain – the mobilizations with which they urge solutions to the housing shortage and the high prices that make a large part of the population spend up to 80% of their salary on rental prices. Buying your own home is almost an impossible task for the common denominator of citizens in this country.

The result of the vote came as expected, the two decrees were rejected due to the vote against the opposition Popular Party (PP), Vox and Junts per Catalunya. The first decree was disapproved with 172 votes in favor and 178 against, among the 350 members that make up the Congress of Deputies.

A few minutes later the other negative came. The second decree obtained 166 votes in favor compared to 184 against.

The Government decided to maintain the vote despite Junts' request to withdraw both decrees. The Executive emphasizes that the regulations were developed over months and that they incorporate a good part of the demands raised by different parliamentary groups.

The Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, asked Junts to change its position and, at the very least, abstain. According to Rodríguez, the Government would have incorporated around 90% of the proposals put forward by the Catalan independence party.

But his calls were in vain.

Read alsoSpain approves measures due to housing crisis; Its application depends on Congress: what changes and what remains pending?

What did the two decrees contain?

The first concentrates most of the measures announced by the Executive: it extends protection against evictions until 2030, introduces regulation on seasonal and room rentals, limits certain home purchases by investment funds and large operators until 2028 and contemplates an extraordinary extension of certain rental contracts.

The second decree focused primarily on the automatic renewal of rental contracts, a measure designed to prevent certain tenants from being left without protection at the end of their contracts.

The vote, therefore, was not limited to a single reform: it put into play a package of measures aimed at intervening at different points of a crisis that affects access to housing, rentals and eviction procedures.

Junts maintained the 'no' and presented its own text

Hours before the vote, Míriam Nogueras, spokesperson for Junts in Congress, confirmed that her group maintained its rejection of both royal decrees. The party demanded that the Government withdraw the regulations and proposed continuing to negotiate to draft a new text "behind closed doors."

Junts also delivered a 59-page alternative proposal to Minister Isabel Rodríguez. Among its proposals are an agreed extraordinary extension of rents, tax modifications, protection measures for mortgage debtors and temporary limits on the acquisition of homes by financial entities, investment funds and large holders.

The document also contemplates measures to suspend certain launches promoted by large operators until the end of 2028, mechanisms against the evictions of vulnerable people and state guarantees aimed at expanding the stock of social or affordable housing.

Junts' position is, therefore, different from that of the Government not so much in the existence of a housing crisis as in the legislative response that must be given to it. The group maintains that the decrees do not sufficiently stop speculation and that they pass on the cost of protecting vulnerable households to other families.

The Government sought to save the measures

The Executive defended until the last moment that the decrees represent an immediate response to a situation that it considers urgent. Rodríguez has appealed to all parliamentary groups to prevent the measures from declining.

The Government also directed its criticism at the PP and Vox, after announcing its rejection, while calling on Junts to facilitate the approval of the texts.

In parallel, other groups asked Junts to reconsider its position. ERC, EH Bildu, PNV, Podemos and Canarian Coalition questioned whether the Catalan party maintained demands that they consider difficult to reconcile with the need to carry out some legislative response.

The PP, for its part, maintained its opposition to the decrees and criticized the Government for bringing them to the plenary session despite not having sufficient support.

From Maricarmen to a national protest: Sol maintains the camp while Congress votes

This week's political crisis has a specific trigger: the case of Maricarmen Abascal, 87 years old.

The woman was evicted on September 23 from the apartment in the Madrid district of Retiro where she had lived for more than seven decades. The case quickly became a symbol of the tension around rentals, big landlords and protecting vulnerable people. Finally, Maricarmen was able to return to the home after an agreement with the company that owned it, with the intermediation of the Madrid City Council.

But the mobilization that followed the case is not explained solely by that eviction. Tenant organizations have been denouncing for years the increase in rent prices, difficulties in accessing housing and the displacement of residents from certain neighborhoods.

The Maricarmen episode thus functioned as a catalyst for unrest that had accumulated for years and contributed to bringing the housing issue to the center of the national political debate.

Puerta del Sol continues to be the main scene of the mobilization in Madrid. The camp began last Saturday, after a demonstration for access to housing, and this Friday reaches its seventh day.

Hundreds of people traveled from Sol to Congress this Friday to demand the approval of the decrees. The National Police established an extensive security device around the Chamber and traffic was restricted in the nearby streets.

The protest is not limited to Madrid. There have been mobilizations and camps in other Spanish cities and there are new demonstrations called during the weekend. Some organizations have even proposed a general strike for housing if the measures are rejected.

Sol's camp remains a symbol of a protest that aims to transcend this Friday's vote. Its organizers have proposed turning the one-off mobilization into a permanent organization in neighborhoods and neighborhood communities.

A crisis that goes beyond this vote

The result of the plenary session will determine the immediate future of the two decrees, but it will not by itself resolve the housing crisis that has brought them to Congress.

The dispute faces different proposals on how to increase supply, protect tenants, limit certain speculative operations and distribute the cost of housing policies between owners, administrations and large operators.

For the Government, the decrees constitute an urgent response to social pressure that can no longer be ignored. For Junts, PP and Vox, the texts do not offer an adequate solution and should be rejected, although their arguments and alternatives differ from each other.

While the deputies voted in Madrid, the pressure continued outside Parliament. The case of an 87-year-old woman ended up becoming the trigger for a mobilization that has placed an issue that had accumulated for years—who can access housing and under what conditions—at the center of the Spanish political agenda.

With local media and EFE

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.