Spanish socialist party Sumar steps up pressure and urges government to approve housing decree following elderly woman's eviction

Prior to her eviction on Wednesday, Maricarmen had been living in her flat for seven decades. Her case has now reignited the row over the housing decree, which socialist party Sumar tabled in Parliament last week.

Sumar is demanding that PM Pedro Sánchez's government bring the housing decree and the expropriation of Maricarmen's house before cabinet next Tuesday, "no matter what".

Sumar upholds the objective that prompted the proposal for the royal decree-law on housing: the government's obligation "not to allow the speculative interests of a vulture fund to take precedence over public interest". Taking Maricarmen's case as a prime example, Sumar believes that, given the refusal to negotiate by Urbagestión, the company that owns the property, the only course of action is for the government to expropriate the vacated property.

This measure would send a message to other economic actors regarding the government's resolute stance in defending the right to housing and, as Sumar spokesperson Verónica Martínez Barbero stated, "prevent vulture funds from playing Monopoly".

Ombudsman Ángel Gabilondo has also called on the authorities and public bodies to adopt "urgent measures to prevent the eviction of vulnerable people". In Maricarmen's case, Gabilondo said that "there are shortcomings, including legal ones, that need to be rectified".

Meanwhile, at a press conference during his trip to the UN General Assembly in New York, Pedro Sánchez described the eviction as a "social tragedy". Emphasising the gravity of Maricarmen's situation, Sánchez called for people to ask themselves "who bears primary responsibility".

He pointed the finger at Madrid city council and the regional government of Madrid, whose president he accused of being "more concerned with buying and selling luxury penthouses" than with the plight of residents such as Maricarmen.

Sumar has not forgotten PSOE's (the prime minister's party) abstention in last week's vote on the housing decree, which has led it to press even harder for its approval by cabinet.

Minister Sira Rego's social media post regarding the royal decree-law on housing, in which she states that "after a year of negotiations, time has run out", sums up Sumar's position on this package of measures.

Ever since the draft stage, the decree has proved difficult to pass in Parliament due to the differing priorities of the political groups. PSOE and Sumar envisaged legislation that would, on the one hand, include measures to bring down rents, provide stability for tenancy agreements and combat rental fraud.

This, however, forced the government into a delicate balancing act: while for Sumar a rent freeze and extension were non-negotiable, for Junts (Catalan party) this was the reason to vote against it and left-wing Podemos threatened to withhold its support due to the reform of the land law included in the decree.

Following the rejection in Parliament last July, the package suffered its second setback last week, this time due to PSOE'sabstention. Now that Maricarmen has been evicted, Sumar is confident that this "will be a turning point" and is calling on the government to "rise to the occasion".

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