The Japan Times - Spain's PM calls snap election after housing bill defeat

The defeat on Friday was just the latest political setback for the Socialist premier Pedro Sanchez, one of the few left-lening government leaders still in power in the European Union.

"To do more, we need to renew and broaden the support of the people," Sanchez said in a televised address, adding that his aim was "to secure a much broader, progressive majority in parliament".

The next general election was scheduled to take place by August 2027.

Sanchez brought the polls forward as protests over Spain's housing market have ballooned.

His announcement came after tens of thousands of protesters marched in Madrid and other Spanish cities on Saturday to demand action on housing affordability.

The proposed measures, which included automatic renewal of tenancy contracts and restrictions on evicting vulnerable tenants, were voted down by opposition parties in Spain's parliament.

The defeat infuriated those protesting the country's increasingly expensive housing market and underscored the difficulties his minority coalition government faces in passing legislation.

The demonstrations were fuelled by the eviction last month of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal from her Madrid flat, where she had lived for decades.

Hundreds of protesters have occupied a tent city in the heart of Madrid for more than a week, calling for housing reforms.

"This wave of indignation is unstoppable and we are not going to stop," Alicia del Rio, a spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which has led the protests, said while renewing a call for a general strike.

- Limit 'further erosion' -

Recent opinion polls have generally put the main opposition conservative Popular Party (PP) ahead of the Socialists.

The PP would likely need to partner with the far-right Vox to form a government.

Making housing the central campaign issue "could mobilise left-leaning voters", said Federico Santi, a Europe analyst at political risk consultancy Eurasia Group.

He said an early election could help limit further erosion of support for the Socialists, amid resurgent inflation, legislative deadlock and corruption scandals.

Housing has for years been a top concern for Spaniards as supply falls short of demand, with rents and house prices rising, as elsewhere in the European Union.

Average rents in Spain have almost doubled over the past decade, while asking prices for homes have risen by about 90 percent, according to real estate website Idealista.

Abascal's eviction catalysed long-running anger about runaway housing costs..

The backlash led the corporate new owners of the building that includes her flat to reach a deal allowing her to return at a low rent.

- Migrant crisis -

The housing bills were rejected after the Catalan separatist party Junts -- on whose support the government relies -- voted against, arguing they were hastily drawn up and would make the housing crisis worse.

Sanchez, in power since 2018, defended his government's record in his address on Monday, saying Spain's economy has grown faster than those of its main European peers and that unemployment had fallen during his tenure.

But after eight years in power, Sanchez is also under pressure over corruption scandals involving people close to him, including his wife and top figures in his Socialist Party.

Sanchez, one of Europe's chief critics of US President Donald Trump, has also faced widespread criticism over his handling of the crisis in the North African territory of Ceuta, where thousands of migrants from Morocco entered in late July.

Many ordinary Spaniards say they have not felt the benedits of the country's economic growth, with inflation outpacing wage growth and rent taking up an increasing share of household incomes.

PP leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo welcomed the snap election announcement.

"If eight years have not been enough, why would four more be?" he said.

K.Abe--JT