Spain's cabinet approved two new decrees on Tuesday to address the national housing crisis after parliament rejected similar measures, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced.
The executive action follows the defeat of identical housing legislation during the previous week, according to statements from Sanchez reported by news agency Reuters.
The failure to pass the housing measures in parliament forced Sanchez to call snap national elections for November 29, escalating a political showdown over living costs across the country.
Sanchez, who leads the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, has served as prime minister of Spain since 2018. His minority coalition government relies on parliamentary allies to enact major economic policies.
Parliamentary Defeat and Street Protests
The decision by ministers comes after parliament voted down the government's second statutory decree on housing on October 2. As news of the failed vote filtered outside the parliamentary building in Madrid, hundreds of angry protesters gathered to shout shame at lawmakers.
Public anger over unaffordable accommodation had already boiled over on September 30, when demonstrators established protest camps in the central square of Madrid and across several other Spanish cities to demand that parliament pass housing relief measures.
Following the parliamentary collapse, the junior left-wing coalition partner Sumar described the upcoming November 29 election as a referendum on the housing crisis. Meanwhile, recent opinion polls show that the most likely outcome is the formation of a new government led by the conservative People's Party.
Sumar is a progressive electoral alliance formed to champion housing rights and worker protections in Spain. The People's Party, led by Alberto Nunez Feijoo, serves as the main centre-right opposition force in the Spanish parliament.
Impact on European Politics and Foreign Relations
The political crisis in Madrid threatens to disrupt the broader political balance within European Union institutions in Brussels. Spanish lawmakers currently form the largest national delegation within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group in the European Parliament.
The defeat of the housing decrees followed another major diplomatic setback for the administration on September 30, when the Spanish Senate rejected the ratification of a bilateral friendship treaty with France.
Sanchez subsequently offered an apology to French President Emmanuel Macron. The Spanish leader stated that he regretted the outcome of the Senate vote while respecting the decision, adding that he considered the original treaty text to be sound.
Economic Support Packages and Fuel Discounts
In response to broader economic pressures on households and businesses, the Spanish government announced on September 29 an extension of state financial support measures. The relief package includes direct discounts on petrol and diesel fuel for consumers throughout October.
Regional Crises and Border Operations
The central government has also been managing concurrent security and environmental emergencies across Spanish regions. On October 4, Spanish police moved to remove thousands of migrants from a beach in the North African enclave of Ceuta after they crossed the border from Morocco two months earlier.
Ceuta is a Spanish autonomous city situated on the North African coast, sharing a land border with Morocco and serving as a border point for entry into Europe.
On the same day, severe torrential rainfall struck the northeastern region of Catalonia, leaving two people dead and one person missing. Emergency service workers maintained extreme danger alerts across parts of Barcelona and Girona as floodwaters inundated local infrastructure.
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, where Barcelona serves as the regional capital and Girona is a major provincial city.
Voters across Spain will go to the polls on November 29 to choose a new parliament, with the newly approved housing decrees facing immediate political resistance from opposition parties.
