The Government of the Generalitat assures that it will seek “legal measures” to protect the right to housing in Catalonia following the opinion of the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE) which warns that the regulation agreed upon by the Catalan Executive with the commons violates several legal precepts of the Constitution and the Statute, including the right to private property, freedom of enterprise, or the principle of legal certainty.
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“The Government will seek all legal measures, all possible ways according to the Statute, to protect the right to housing in Catalonia,” assures the sector counselor, Sílvia Paneque, in her first reaction, released in a statement.
Paneque also warns that “the commodification of housing is a danger when having a home becomes a problem for most of the people of Catalonia” and defends that “it is necessary to find ways that according to the law provide solutions to a structural issue like this.” “We must follow a stage in which the path must be found so that the main function of a home in our country is to provide a roof for a person or a family,” concludes the Territory counselor.
Although the Palau de la Generalitat does not specify which path the Executive of Salvador Illa will choose, it is clear that there will be a modification of the current wording or that work will be done to draft a new law following the adverse report from the Catalan advisory body, which is not binding. The groups, in fact, could ignore the recommendations of the Consell de Garanties, but it is clear from the counselor’s words that this will not be the path chosen by the Catalan socialists.
The PSC supported the commons’ regulation because the Executive agreed to it in exchange for that group’s support for the Generalitat’s budgets, although within the socialist ranks there were those who dragged their feet and were wary of the proposal from Jéssica Albiach’s group.
The Parliament approved processing this law by a single reading, with an abbreviated procedure, with the support of the PSC, Esquerra, and the commons. The opinion requested by both Junts and PP, however, halted its approval and this report, which presents several objections to the wording, will open a new amendment period that will almost certainly delay the approval of the regulation.
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The Catalan advisory body, in an extensive report accessed by this media outlet, points out that the law violates several legal precepts such as the right to freedom of enterprise, the right to private property and to receive an inheritance as set out in the Constitution, or the principle of legal certainty. All points were approved unanimously.
The CGE also warns that it intends to legislate matters related to civil law through a modification of the Catalan urban planning law, that state competencies in contract matters are being invaded, and questions the use of the single reading procedure, which to approve the regulation skips several steps such as consulting local entities, which would be responsible for applying the law if it goes ahead.
The commons, for their part, assure that they do not share the analysis of the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries on their bill and point out that they will use August and September to discuss the next steps with the groups and with the Tenants’ Union. Their president in Parliament, Jéssica Albiach, has stated in a message on X that they will continue “exploring the legal margins to make housing in Catalonia a right and not a financial asset.” “We have to study the opinion in depth and discuss it with the experts who have endorsed the proposal,” she added. The ecosocialists consider that the CGE “has not understood that it does not limit acquisition but the use of the housing.”
The other group essential for the regulation to pass is Esquerra, and the truth is that the CGE’s opinion has added more doubts to those they already initially had about the law. Party sources indicate that “it will have to be reconsidered” because “it is evident that the regulation has too many objections.” The republicans warned during the law’s processing of their doubts about its “legal robustness.” For them, the urban planning law is not the best way to regulate speculative housing purchases, an objective with which they agree.
Republican sources consider that there are other possibilities to fit this restriction such as civil law, acting through taxation, or in their own housing legislation instead of modifying the urban planning law. In ERC they point out that “they do not understand” that taxation treats every buyer the same.
