A huge oxygen balloon, when it was most needed. The unprecedented formula of the progressive coalition government in Spain is reaffirmed, after long months of debilitating internal struggles between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos -and in turn within this space more to the left of the political spectrum-, already at the gates of a new electoral cycle that will end up determining its revalidation... or its abrupt end, as a mere parenthesis in the history of democracy.
Pedro Sánchez, who is running for re-election as Prime Minister with the recomposition of a progressive coalition after the general elections scheduled for December, if he manages to close the path to the change in the political cycle promoted by Alberto Núñez Feijóo in front of the PP, ordered to face a last and definitive effort to try to fit all the pieces of the very complex puzzle of the first state law on Housing in Spain. An extra effort to overcome, in addition, the immense internal fracture caused by the law of only yes is yes.
And after three years of extremely tough "negotiations and renegotiations" with multiple gangs, first within the government coalition between the PSOE and Unidas Podemos, and later with the left-wing allies of the investiture bloc, particularly Esquerra and EH Bildu , yesterday the agreement was staged. And all parties sang victory. Just before the municipal and regional elections on May 28, the first great litmus test to try to neutralize the image of the end of the political cycle in Spain that encourages the PP with the concurrence of Vox.
In Moncloa they assume that it is the last of the great laws that will see the light of day in this mandate, due to the legislative calendar, due to its depth and a relevance that equates to the labor or pension reform, as main milestones of the coalition. A climax to a legislature that, despite facing a succession of unexpected crises – the pandemic, the volcano, the war in Ukraine, the energy crisis or inflation – warn that it already has more than 200 social protection laws and advances in civil rights , while maintaining economic growth and job creation, in an environment of social peace.
"Every minute that passes in these last days I am more convinced that this legislature is also going to give birth to the first housing law of democracy", encouraged Sánchez himself on Thursday afternoon during the PSOE rally that he led in Cáceres.
The definitive agreement with ERC and Bildu filed down its last edges. And just yesterday, the Government gave all the initial prominence to the spokespersons of these formations in the negotiation, Pilar Vallugera and Oskar Matute, to make the white smoke official in Congress.
The schedule for the final approval of the rule is expected to be immediate, in the coming weeks, with "a sufficient parliamentary majority." Only the PSOE, Unidas Podemos, ERC and Bildu already have 172 seats. But negotiating sources take La Vanguardia for granted that, together with other leftist minority groups, the new law on track will be able to gather an absolute favorable majority that will guarantee its approval.
Later, Minister Pilar Alegría, spokesperson for the PSOE executive, and Minister Ione Belarra, general secretary of Podemos, celebrated the news with an unusual coincidence: both declared that yesterday was "a historic day." “This has been the most difficult negotiation to carry out in the entire legislature,” Belarra acknowledged. "Today the progressive majority advances," she congratulated herself. And Alegría also celebrated the "enormous conquest" that culminated, according to her, "one of the most social legislatures in history."
"Today we are taking a giant step," said the PSOE spokesman in Congress, Patxi López. And he framed this first state Housing law as the fifth pillar of the welfare state in Spain, together with public health and education, the public pension system and dependency and social policies.
Among the key figures to unblock the law, in addition to Sánchez himself – "he is always directly involved, in everything", they highlight -, sources of the negotiation highlight the "essential role" of the Minister of Transport, the Catalan Raquel Sánchez, and from his Secretary of State, David Lucas. "It has been very hard, sometimes it seemed that they were the only ones committed," they admit. They also underline the work of the Minister of Social Rights, Ione Belarra, who thanked the work of the spokespersons for ERC and Bildu, and deputies for Podemos such as Rafa Mayoral and Pilar Garrido. "Today we are a slightly better country," settled Vice President Yolanda Díaz.
