The Parliament of Catalonia has today given the green light to process by single reading a bill, proposed by Junts, to deal with conflictive occupations. The post-convergents, thanks to the support of the PSC, Cs and the PP, have managed to speed up the procedures and the initiative will be definitively validated in the next plenary session. ERC, the commons and the CUP have harshly criticized the content of the proposal and that this procedure has been chosen. Vox has also opposed it.
The modifications included in the bill are in line with the legislative changes announced in September by the councilors of Junts Violant Cervera (Drets Socials) and Lourdes Ciuró (Justícia), when the post-convergents were still in the Government and that with the break with CKD did not materialize. That announcement, which implied giving tools to city councils and neighboring communities to act against occupations "of a criminal nature", generated discomfort among Republicans, because the Department of Interior had not been notified.
Those of Laura Borràs and Jordi Turull made this issue their battle horse, also after their departure from the Executive, and already in October they managed to approve a motion in this regard with the votes of the PSC, Cs, the PP and Vox. This demand has become one of the mainstays of the post-convergent formation strategy for the municipal elections next May, especially in the metropolitan area of Barcelona, where Junts has proposed to recover part of the lost ground.
This morning in Parliament, Junts has requested that the bill be processed by single reading, a procedure that allows the text to be approved with a single vote in exceptional cases. The deputy Marta Madrenas, who has led the preparation of the law, has used "little complexity" of the legal changes and "social alarm" and, therefore, urgency in resolving this aspect, to opt for the single reading. The mayor of Girona has also warned that criminal behavior in homes, which generates coexistence problems such as noise or dirt-she has argued-cause "social peace to degrade".
On the part of the PSC, Eva Candela has justified that it is a "need" of the municipalities, given the "impotence" that the mayors can feel when the owners do not act against an occupation. The PP has shown its good predisposition to the law, although it has described it as "insufficient", while Cs considers it a "small step" to face an issue that also affects, according to Anna Grau, the "drama of housing".
Pau Morales, from ERC, has pointed against Junts for betting on the emergency route, in view of the municipal ones, as the deputy has stressed. Susanna Segovia, from En Comú Podem, has warned that the law has a "competence problem", because those in this area belong, she has assured, to the State.
The proposal has collected the votes of the PSC, Cs and PP, and the Board of the chamber has given until Friday at 12 noon to present amendments.
The proposition implies a modification of the Catalan housing law and the Civil Code to empower city councils and neighboring communities to denounce occupations that alter coexistence, according to the text. At this time only the owners can report these situations, and there is -according to Junts- inaction on the part of some of them when their assets are occupied.
In the event that it has a parliamentary majority, as planned, the municipal corporations and residents may send a request to the owners (only to the large holders; that is, those who own a minimum of ten properties) and they must certify within 30 days if there is an enabling housing title or if the eviction has begun. If compliance is not given, the municipalities may proceed to vacate and allocate the space, temporarily, to social housing.
Citizens, for their part, also registered a bill that went in a similar direction, and although it has been debated in Parliament, the driving group has finally withdrawn it due to its similarity with the one presented by Junts.
