đ This Week in Spain: 'Xenophobic' Housing Reform
Also: more dumb religion-related controversies and a Spanish eagle handler gets fired.
By @IanMount and @AdrianBono | January 16, 2025 | Madrid | Issue #85
đ Welcome to The Tapa, an English-language, weekly newsletter about all things Spain!
đ„ This Week in a Nutshell: Itâs a bad week for non-EU foreigners aiming to buy property in Spain because, if a new bill proposed by the government is passed, they will be imposed a tax of up to 100% on homes they buy. Will it, though? Read more to find out!
đ Remember that if this email gets truncated at the bottom because itâs too long, just click here to read the rest on Substack.
đ One more thing for new subscribers: we are offering paid subscriptions, and weâd be thrilled if you purchased one to help build this enterprise weâve had so much fun creating. (And to those of you who have already subscribed, thanks for the love đ„°.)
đșIf you havenât subscribed yet, please do so by clicking on the button below.
𫶠And if you already have, please send this newsletter around to your friends and family and help us keep growing.
No Costa del Sol for you!
SĂĄnchezâs New Housing Reform Has British Buyersâor at Least Their TabloidsâSeeing Red đĄ
Time to start considering Bristol as an option for your second home, eh?
This week, Prime Minister Pedro SĂĄnchez announced a 12-point housing reform with the aim of addressing Spainâs society-breaking housing crisis (as in, Spaniards canât afford to buy or rent houses)âand saving his popularity, and government, in the process. âThe West faces a decisive challenge: to not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants,â SĂĄnchez told an economic forum in Madrid.
Spainâs lack of accessible housing is a massive issue. As weâve noted before, 66% of young people 18-34 in Spain live in their parental home, compared to 50% in 2010. Salaries have gone up less than 20% since 2015 while home prices have gone up over 50% in Madrid, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands. Spainâs central bank says that the country faces a 600,000 housing unit deficit. But barely 90,000 new units are being built yearly, less than half the numbers in the 1990s.
So, like many reforms, itâs a noble ideaâthe question is whether SĂĄnchezâs plan would work, and whether itâs politically possible.
Now that we got that out of the way, what does SĂĄnchez wanna do? Many of the 12 points the PM announced Monday are versions of previous ideas, made more urgent by recent protests demanding 50% rent cuts and threatening rent strikes. Here are a few:
New public housing company. The transfer of more than 3,300 homes and almost 2 million m2 of residential land to the newly created Public Housing Company, for the construction of protected housing, and the incorporation of more than 30,000 homes held in Spainâs âbad bankâ (SAREB), 13,000 of them during this first half of 2025.
Tax break on cheap rent. A 100% tax break on income from apartments that landlords rent at the governmentâs suggested reference level (way below market). We wrote about this quasi-rent-control scheme before.
Punishment for tourist rentals. Tourist flat owners would pay VAT (up to 21%) on income from their rentals. The government would also tighten regulations around fraud in seasonal rentals and create a fund for regional and municipal governments to increase inspections of illegal tourist housing.
But, but, but⊠Those werenât the headline news. The point that set the fires burning (and got all the headlines), dear reader, was SĂĄnchezâs plan to levy a tax of up to 100% on property purchases by non-residents from countries outside the EU. The reason? According to SĂĄnchez, such people bought 27,000 of the 600,000 or so sold in 2024, "not to live in [but] to make money from, which, in the context we are in, we obviously cannot allow.â
And the British tabloidosphere exploded. Brits are major buyers in AndalucĂa and with, um, Brexit, they are no longer EU residents. So the sharp end of this proposal felt like it was pointed directly at them (or at least Daily Mail editors felt so).
The entire paper? Almost. For a while it felt that the Mail was only publishing outraged Spanish real estate storiesâor maybe SĂĄnchez had killed someoneâs mum: âSpain moves to STOP Brits from buying homes in the countryâŠâ; âEnd of the Spanish relocation dream? The devastated Brits who face a 100% tax raid on their house in the sunâŠâ; âBritons will invest their money in places such as Greece and Cyprus instead of Spain, experts warnâŠâ; and (for variety) âSpanish fury over bid to stop Brits buying holiday homes: Politicians slam 'xenophobic' 100% tax plan and say they will REFUSE to enforce it - as estate agents dismiss the idea as 'silly'â.
But seriously, will the proposal help Spain beat its housing crisis? Honestly, probably notâfor a variety of reasons. The construction and real estate industry, as well as right-of-center parties, are complaining, as would be expected, but they do agree on one point worth making: that the reforms focus on regulating prices on the little available housing there is, but do very little to address the housing deficit by building or attracting new units to the market.
Too small. Referring to the proposal as ânonsenseâ, Colliersâs Spain and Portugal CEO Mikel Echavarren calls going after the 27,000 properties bought by foreigners "a drop in the oceanâ compared to the 600,000 sold each year.
Wrong targetâand too slow. For Francisco Iñareta of the real estate portal Idealista, the proposals follow the same path that has led to Spainâs housing emergency: âtax increases for international investors, increased sanctions for property owners, and plans that wonât offer new housing for another 3-4 years. âThe worrying lack of supply in the market requires incentives to bring back as many properties as possible,â he added. âAnd it seems that this objective has become secondary in the government's attempt to set prices.â
That may not even matter. The usual fight between the property industry (which wants lower taxes and easier permitting) and left-of-center politicians (who want to appease public anger by forcing greedy landlords to cut rents) is to be expectedâand a good argument to have. But the outcome of that argument may not even matter here.
Why? Because almost half the proposals will need to go through parliament, where SĂĄnchez struggles mightily to build a majority for even the least divisive bills. A 100% tax on sales to non-EU foreigners or IVA on tourist rentals? Probably not anytime soon.
More news below. đđ
đ But First, A Message From Our Sponsor
Bucólico Café is a project of connection that was born as a specialty coffee shop.
We value time and understand that it represents both a cycle and an instantâchronology and nostalgia. BucĂłlico is a space that connects oneâs soul with the purity, lightness and beauty of the countrysideâwhile being in the city. Via a cup of coffee, a piece of cake or a songâŠ
Located on Calle de Barbieri 4 â a few blocks from Plaza Chueca â BucĂłlico reassures the soul with a feeling of home.
Follow Bucólico Café on Instagram.
đŹ Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1. âïž SĂĄnchez judicial reform isnât about his family. Honestly
PM SĂĄnchez proposed a pretty major judicial reform at the end of last week that would, if passed, likely benefit his family and government. Actually, he didnât present it. Patxi LĂłpez, his PSOE partyâs parliamentary speaker, presented the bill on a Friday, alone, without any support from the parties it would need to pass. Which gives you an idea how it went over: badly.
But before we explain what the PSOE wants and why, letâs explain whatâs behind the bill.
Freelance accusations. One of the great oddities of Spainâs justice system, in our view, is the âpopular accusationâ (acusacion popular) recognized in Article 125 of the Spanish constitution. In simple terms, it allows a private person or group to make legal accusations in cases in which they are not directly involved or affected (unlike in the U.S., for example, where the plaintiff must have âstandingâ). The concept is pretty (or maybe totally) unique to Spain.
Nuisancesâbut not always. Because most anyone can file a lawsuit this way using things like newspaper articles for evidence, many are nuisance suits that are quickly dismissed (the group Manos Limpias â Clean Hands â has made a kind of career of getting its suits dismissed). Which explains why both the PSOE and PP have tried to regulate them at various times. But proponents of the acusaciĂłn popular say it's a vital tool in calling out government corruption (which Spain has had plenty of). If a newspaper uncovers wrongdoing but prosecutors donât follow up on the news (out of being politically compromised, for example), shouldnât we let âthe peopleâ bring suit?
PSOE reform to stop âharassment through abusive judicial actions.â The reform proposed by the PSOE would prohibit political parties and groups linked to them from bringing acusaciĂłn popular suits (to harass their opponents); prohibit suits based on newspaper clippings; recuse judges who make statements in favor of a political party; and eliminate the crime of insulting religious sentiments.
Yes, but⊠In a calm political situation, most parties could agree to limit the most frivolous suits (judge speech limits are trickier). But thereâs something else going on here. Besides the last bitâwhich basically decriminalizes critical religious speechâthe other three parts have one thing in common: they would help SĂĄnchezâs family and government disentangle themselves from the legal difficulties they face.
Which are⊠SĂĄnchezâs wife Begoña faces an influence-peddling investigation: his brother David is facing something similar; and his attorney general, Ălvaro GarcĂa OrtĂz faces a Supreme Court investigation into his possible revelation of confidential citizen data. All based on acusaciones populares.
Thatâs why theyâre calling it the Ley Begoña. Because it could end all these suits retroactively, the bill was attacked by anyone whoâs not in the PSOE. We wonât bore you with a list (hereâs one), but letâs just say those on the right called it âan outrage,â âa first step towards a silent dictatorship,â âan attack on the legal systemâ. Madrid Presi (and Spainâs Troll Queen) Isabel Diaz Ayuso said, âThe Ley Begoña is a preventative amnesty for SĂĄnchezâs family and the attorney general.â Judge and prosecutor groups didnât like it either. Even parties allied to SĂĄnchez didnât offer support (they werenât even consulted, after all).
Un-like-ly. The broad rejection suggests this bill just wonât see the light of day.
2. đłïž Could Vox and Junts join forces to oust SĂĄnchez?
PP leader Alberto Nuñez FeijĂło got so wound up by the Ley Begoña (see #1 đ) he compared SĂĄnchez to former dictator Francisco Franco (who doesnât like a little overstatement?) and said he was open to promoting a motion of censure to remove SĂĄnchez from office and call for general elections if far-right Vox and Catalan separatist Junts decided to join him.
Ridiculous, right? Vox wouldnât normally be caught dead
datingvoting with Junts because they consider the Catalan separatists the literal devil, and while the PP is center-right like Junts (whose predecessor CIU was basically the PP in Catalonia) it would almost never be caught voting with them because while they donât think Junts are the devil, they do think they are very, very bad.
But strange times make for strange bedfellows. Thatâs a clichĂ©, but also true here. As in, reacting to FeijĂłoâs offer, Vox party leader Santiago Abascal has said heâd be open to voting with the PP and Junts due to the âgravityâ of the situationâand as long as they donât make any concessions to the pro-independence bloc (of course).
Phew! At least Junts kept their head about them. Their party secretary general said voting together with Vox would be akin to a âsick jokeâ. So no cats lying with dogs (for now).
But that doesnât mean SĂĄnchez it out of the woodsânot by a long shot. Thatâs because (as we wrote in December) Junts is unhappy with the PSOE for not living up to their investiture dealâwhich was basically that Junts would vote to make SĂĄnchez PM again if the PSOE gave them tons of stuff, including amnesty for Carles Puigdemont, the former regional president/âchubby Beatleâ who fled to Brussels to avoid prison for his role in running the illegal secession referendum in 2017.
This has not happened. Puigdemont is still holed up in Brussels because the Supreme Court decided the amnesty didnât apply to the embezzlement charges he faces.
To make their unhappiness clear. The separatist party last month registered a parliamentary initiative to demand SĂĄnchez call a confidence voteâwhich, if he lost would mean heâd have to resign and the King would name a new PM candidateâbut the PSOE is not having any of that. In fact, the PSOE-controlled parliamentary board âpostponedâ the debate of the initiative back in December, and did so again today.
You wouldnât like me when Iâm angry. Junts has now warned that if the government once again postpones the proposal (as it has), it will break ties with the coalition government definitively. âDecisions will have to be made that the PSOE will not like,â said Junts secretary general Jordi Turull.
Scary meeting! In fact, Puigdemont has called a meeting tomorrow with his partyâs executive members to analyze todayâs decision by the government regarding the initiative, a meeting that will âshape the future of the legislatureâ.
Whistling past the graveyard. The socialists say the proposal âmakes no senseâ, but are aware that the refusal to meet Puigdemontâs demands could result in Junts withholding their support for the 2025 budget (and anything else) so they are asking the separatists to negotiate.
What about this shiny thing? In fact, they are hoping that the Ley Begoña will be incentive enough for Puigdemont to back down, as it would benefit him, since the current wording of the law would likely allow him to return to Spain with the prospect of having the charges against him dismissed.
Fool me twice⊠But Junts insists that the Socialists âhave deceived us up until now, so we wonât settle for smokescreens like that judicial reform.â
What will happen? Some political leaders in PSOE coalition partner Sumar are certain Puigdemont is bluffing. But Puigdemont has little faith in Sånchez (or the Ley Begoña), so this game of chicken may end up with a crash.
3. đą Fistfight of biblical proportions over squat in high-end Madrid building
Whose apartment is it anyway? Imagine thisâyou show up to the apartment youâve just bought to find a family already in it. Or take the flip side: You get a knock on the door from someone saying they own the apartment youâve bought and are already occupying. Quite the quandary, no? Well, thatâs whatâs been happening in a new high-end building in Madridâs southern district of Carabanchel.
The new luxury apartment building, ironically located on Excellent Street, has apparently been partially taken over by multiple squatter families. In total, 28 apartments out of the 160 that were for sale have been taken over by people who arenâtâhow shall we say this?âon the deed.
But things are not as simple as they appear. The families who occupied the apartments, mostly of Peruvian descent, claim that they were scammed into thinking they were legal residents.
We paid! Some of them say they provided âlarge sums of money [in one case âŹ3,000] and an IDâ and after signing a âfake contractâ they were allowed to move in. The people who offered them the apartments, they say, came from a ârental websiteâ, and they blame a âmafiaâ that targeted them because they were desperate for a houseâand that had found a way to access the building and change the locks.
Nope. The propertyâs legal residents (around 100), however, are not buying itâthey say this is what the squatters have been told to say. âThey havenât been scammed. They knew they were becoming squatters and now they say they had no idea. Quite a bargain they got,â one of the legal buyers said.
This conflict has led to, um, problems between the groups. The legal residents complain of âloud noises and in-fightingâ, with the police being called constantly. Also, the elevators have been broken (only one is operational) and thereâs the presence of âblood on the wallsâ because âthey keep fighting each otherâ. Um, blood on the walls? đ©ž
Eviction fisticuffs. Then the whole kerfuffle became national news when one of Spainâs (in)famous squatter removal services showed up last week to try to forcibly evict the squatters and it ended in a fistfight of biblical proportions (see video above).
Silver lining. After the first move failed, another company was called in to try a different (and gentler) approach: rather than trying to use force, they negotiated with the squatters and let them know that if they left the apartments all charges would be dropped. With this carrot, they managed to vacate two of the apartments (so now weâre down to 26!). Itâs the little victories that count.
But, but, but⊠The remaining squatters werenât happy about this peaceful resolution and referred to the ones leaving as âtraitorsâ. Câmon, smile đ!
Madrid mayor JosĂ© Luis MartĂnez Almeida chimed in last week after the story broke, saying that the law must be changed so squatters can be removed âin 24 to 48 hoursâ and that all those who claim Spain doesnât have a âsquatting problemâ should take note.
The story once again sheds light on Spainâs long-running (and, while justified, likely overblown) fear of squatters, which often translates into landlords adding draconian clauses in rental contracts to cover their backs
15,000 a year. According to the most recent studies, over 15,000 squatting accusations were made in Spain in 2023 (though there may be many more).
Things may change soon, as an amendment to article 795.1 of the Criminal Procedure Law passed last year and that is now in the Senate plans to make it possible to remove squatters from a property in 15 days through expedited trials.
4. đŠ
Españoles en el mundo: Italia
The Italian Serie A football team S.S. Lazio has one of the best mascots in the worldâa bald eagle. As in a real, living bald eagle named Olympia that is sent soaring around Stadio Olimpico on game days. And you know what you need when you set a bird of prey free in a stadium? A falconer or, perhaps better, an eagler. And since 2010, Olympiaâs eagler has been the Spaniard Juan BernabĂ©, from CĂĄdiz.
We are so proud. We love local-guy-makes-good-abroad stories, which is why we titled this story after the RTVE show about Spaniards living outside of Spain (its 19 seasons are full of glorious cultural misunderstandings. We like đ!).
But that is where the happy part of this story ends. Because Lazio fired BernabĂ© on Monday đ. With a press release and all. So no more eagle for now. Our hearts are broken đ.
But why? Well, how to say this gently? Okay, we canât. Itâs just⊠fine, here it is: BernabĂ© recently announced that he was going to undergo an operation to solve an erectile dysfunction problem that had been caused by a fall from a horse. Which is fine. Then he underwent the operation under the direction of one of Lazio's doctors, urologist Gabriele Antonini. Which is also fine. Then after the operation he published a video on his socials in which he showed off his erect penis thanks to the new implant. Which apparently was not fine.
BernabĂ© and Antonini were quickly fired. "Both of them violated the ethical code that governs Lazio,â said Lazio owner (and Italian senator) Claudio Lotito. âI have not missed a single mass in 67 years, I behave irreproachably at all levels, I fight for change and for values, and they behave like this?"
ThatâsâŠit? That would be the whole story except for the fact that BernabĂ© is an extreme sharer. Before and after his firing he hit the mediaâand how.
Pro-sex. âI had surgery to improve my sexual performance because I am very active,â he told a radio program, noting that it was âfor medical reasonsâ and he doesnât see why people relate his video with pornography. Oh, and the implant lets him have sex for as long as he wants, he told La Repubblica, which âopens unknown horizonsâ for a couple.
Itâs for my homies. "I did it to give a signal and courage to the many people who have the same problem,â he said in La Repubblica. âIt is a very delicate subject, men are ashamed, impotence is a taboo and society judges you.â
Weâre like this in CĂĄdiz. âI grew up in a healthy, clean, non-judgemental family that taught me to have a healthy relationship with my body and with sex. My genitals are like my hands. They are part of my body,â he also told La Repubblica. âI come from Cadiz, Spain, where there is a beautiful beach. We have always been nudists.â
Your sharing almost had us. But then thereâs that Il Duce thing. BernabĂ© was fired (temporarily) once before, in 2021, for making the fascist salute and chanting âÂĄDuce, duce!â with some Lazio fans (Lazio ultras have a historic reputation for far-right chants and signs). Afterwards, he said he wasnât a fascist, just a Vox supporter. And, well, âMussolini? I admire him a lot.â
Juan BernabĂ©âA Spaniard in the world.
5. đ Dumb Controversy of the Week: This party poster
Pink likes to sing that God is a DJ, and in this particular case, sheâs right because as you can see in the image above, that one-eyed Jesus is having a hell of a time with those turntables.
The ones not enjoying this at all, however, are the members of the Association of Christian Lawyers, who have moved on from last weekâs scandal surrounding a heifer and a holy card and are now going after the âcontroversialâ poster promoting a party taking place this weekend in Mallorca.
First, the facts. What in Godâs name is that party and how can I attend?
Saint Sebastian (Sant SebastiĂ ) is the patron saint of Palma, the capital of Mallorca. Back in the 1500s, the city was ravaged by a plague until someone allegedly brought a piece of bone from Saint Sebastianâs arm to the island and poof! No more plague! Every year since, Palma has celebrated with a weeklong party that involves giant dragons, demons running around and medieval battle reenactments. The whole thing ends on Jan. 19, with multiple âalternativeâ parties and a popular fireworks show.
One of these âalternativeâ parties, sponsored by far-left Podemos, is La Santa Punxada â Sant SebastiĂ Q+, which has become national news due to its, ahem, racy poster (above, in part). The artwork not only depicts Jesus as a DJ, but it also shows Saint Sebastian and a female saint being harassed by demons (and enjoying it đž!).
The most offensive part (if you are offended by sexual lunchmeat jokes) can be found here: that is, Saint Sebastianâs penis was replaced with a sobrasada (a traditional delicacy from the Balearic Islands). This was not on our bingo cards.
Enter the Association of Christian Lawyers, which was so outraged by the poster it announced it was filing a lawsuit against the Podemos party leader in Palma, councilwoman LucĂa Muñoz, and LluĂŻsa Febrer, the artist responsible for creating the poster. Because oh-my-god-how-could-you!
The organization claims Podemos may have committed âan offense of mockery and another of hateâ. Its president, Polonia Castellanos, argues that âthis is a gratuitous and unnecessary attack to promote a musical event. Once again, it reflects the sense of impunity that exists in Spain when Catholics are targeted.â
Barfs all around. Palmaâs PP mayor Jaime MartĂnez has referred to the poster as âvomitiveâ, while far-right Vox has also filed a lawsuit against it.
Podemos is not having any of this and has responded that the poster will not be taken down. In fact, councilwoman Muñoz has said that Saint Sebastian has been a âgay" iconâ and âcontroversial saint for more than 600 yearsâ who was âdepicted as an eroticized figureâ and was âcelebrated by the LGBTQ+ community for a long timeâ.
Payback time. Muñoz added that their decision to organize an alternative Q+ party this year was made because the PP-led Town Hall âfell short in promoting equality and diversity in its festival programmingâ.
Former Podemos Equality Minister Irene Montero also chimed in (as she does), tweeting/exing that what really offends the Christian Lawyers is âthat LGBTQ+ people in Palma have a safe space to be themselves⊠Never again silent or invisible.â She did not mention the sobrasada.
In the meantime, our sources in Palma (because we do have them) are telling us that all of this unexpected promotion of this Sundayâs party is creating a lot of hype and organizers are expecting a large turnout.đș đ
đ Before you go, please remember to share this newsletter with your friends on social media. The more we grow, the more information weâll be able to offer each week.
"Which apparently was not fine." - perfect understatement! I died.