š 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, 2024 | Madrid | Issue #85
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š„ This Week in a Nutshell: Itās 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!
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No Costa del Sol for you!
SĆ”nchezās New Housing Reform Has British Buyersāor at Least Their TabloidsāSeeing Red š”
Time to start considering Bristol as an option for your second home, eh?
This week, Prime Minister Pedro SĆ”nchez announced a 12-point housing reform with the aim of addressing Spainās society-breaking housing crisis (as in, Spaniards canāt afford to buy or rent houses)āand saving his popularity, and government, in the process. āThe West faces a decisive challenge: to not become a society divided into two classes, the rich landlords and poor tenants,ā SĆ”nchez told an economic forum in Madrid.
Spainās lack of accessible housing is a massive issue. As weāve 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. Spainās 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, itās a noble ideaāthe question is whether SĆ”nchezās plan would work, and whether itās politically possible.
Now that we got that out of the way, what does SƔnchez 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 Spainās ābad bankā (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 governmentās 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, butā¦ Those werenāt the headline news. The point that set the fires burning (and got all the headlines), dear reader, was SĆ”nchezās plan to levy a tax of up to 100% on property purchases by non-residents from countries outside the EU. The reason? According to SĆ”nchez, 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.ā
And the British tabloidosphere exploded. Brits are major buyers in AndalucĆa 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 storiesāor maybe SĆ”nchez had killed someoneās mum: āSpain moves to STOP Brits from buying homes in the countryā¦ā; āEnd of the Spanish relocation dream? The devastated Brits who face a 100% tax raid on their house in the sunā¦ā; āBritons will invest their money in places such as Greece and Cyprus instead of Spain, experts warnā¦ā; and (for variety) āSpanish 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'ā.
But seriously, will the proposal help Spain beat its housing crisis? Honestly, probably notāfor 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 ānonsenseā, Colliersās Spain and Portugal CEO Mikel Echavarren calls going after the 27,000 properties bought by foreigners "a drop in the oceanā compared to the 600,000 sold each year.
Wrong targetāand too slow. For Francisco IƱareta of the real estate portal Idealista, the proposals follow the same path that has led to Spainās housing emergency: ātax increases for international investors, increased sanctions for property owners, and plans that wonāt offer new housing for another 3-4 years. āThe worrying lack of supply in the market requires incentives to bring back as many properties as possible,ā he added. āAnd it seems that this objective has become secondary in the government's attempt to set prices.ā
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 expectedāand 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 SƔnchez 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. šš
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š¬ Five things to discuss at dinner parties this week
1. āļø SĆ”nchez judicial reform isnāt about his family. Honestly
PM SĆ”nchez proposed a pretty major judicial reform at the end of last week that would, if passed, likely benefit his family and government. Actually, he didnāt present it. Patxi LĆ³pez, his PSOE partyās 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, letās explain whatās behind the bill.
Freelance accusations. One of the great oddities of Spainās justice system, in our view, is the āpopular accusationā (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 āstandingā). The concept is pretty (or maybe totally) unique to Spain.
Nuisancesābut 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 ā Clean Hands ā 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 acusaciĆ³n 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 donāt follow up on the news (out of being politically compromised, for example), shouldnāt we let āthe peopleā bring suit?
PSOE reform to stop āharassment through abusive judicial actions.ā The reform proposed by the PSOE would prohibit political parties and groups linked to them from bringing acusaciĆ³n 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, butā¦ In a calm political situation, most parties could agree to limit the most frivolous suits (judge speech limits are trickier). But thereās something else going on here. Besides the last bitāwhich basically decriminalizes critical religious speechāthe other three parts have one thing in common: they would help SĆ”nchezās family and government disentangle themselves from the legal difficulties they face.
Which areā¦ SĆ”nchezās wife BegoƱa faces an influence-peddling investigation: his brother David is facing something similar; and his attorney general, Ćlvaro GarcĆa OrtĆz faces a Supreme Court investigation into his possible revelation of confidential citizen data. All based on acusaciones populares.
Thatās why theyāre calling it the Ley BegoƱa. Because it could end all these suits retroactively, the bill was attacked by anyone whoās not in the PSOE. We wonāt bore you with a list (hereās one), but letās just say those on the right called it āan outrage,ā āa first step towards a silent dictatorship,ā āan attack on the legal systemā. Madrid Presi (and Spainās Troll Queen) Isabel Diaz Ayuso said, āThe Ley BegoƱa is a preventative amnesty for SĆ”nchezās family and the attorney general.ā Judge and prosecutor groups didnāt like it either. Even parties allied to SĆ”nchez didnāt offer support (they werenāt even consulted, after all).
Un-like-ly. The broad rejection suggests this bill just wonāt see the light of day.
2. š³ļø Could Vox and Junts join forces to oust SĆ”nchez?
PP leader Alberto NuƱez FeijĆ³o got so wound up by the Ley BegoƱa (see #1 š) he compared SĆ”nchez to former dictator Francisco Franco (who doesnāt like a little overstatement?) and said he was open to promoting a motion of censure to remove SĆ”nchez from office and call for general elections if far-right Vox and Catalan separatist Junts decided to join him.
Ridiculous, right? Vox wouldnāt 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 donāt think Junts are the devil, they do think they are very, very bad.
But strange times make for strange bedfellows. Thatās a clichĆ©, but also true here. As in, reacting to FeijĆ³oās offer, Vox party leader Santiago Abascal has said heād be open to voting with the PP and Junts due to the āgravityā of the situationāand as long as they donāt 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 āsick jokeā. So no cats lying with dogs (for now).
But that doesnāt mean SĆ”nchez it out of the woodsānot by a long shot. Thatās because (as we wrote in December) Junts is unhappy with the PSOE for not living up to their investiture dealāwhich was basically that Junts would vote to make SĆ”nchez PM again if the PSOE gave them tons of stuff, including amnesty for Carles Puigdemont, the former regional president/āchubby Beatleā 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 didnāt apply to the embezzlement charges he faces.
To make their unhappiness clear. The separatist party last month registered a parliamentary initiative to demand SĆ”nchez call a confidence voteāwhich, if he lost would mean heād have to resign and the King would name a new PM candidateābut the PSOE is not having any of that. In fact, the PSOE-controlled parliamentary board āpostponedā the debate of the initiative back in December, and did so again today.
You wouldnāt like me when Iām 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. āDecisions will have to be made that the PSOE will not like,ā said Junts secretary general Jordi Turull.
Scary meeting! In fact, Puigdemont has called a meeting tomorrow with his partyās executive members to analyze todayās decision by the government regarding the initiative, a meeting that will āshape the future of the legislatureā.
Whistling past the graveyard. The socialists say the proposal āmakes no senseā, but are aware that the refusal to meet Puigdemontās 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 BegoƱa 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 twiceā¦ But Junts insists that the Socialists āhave deceived us up until now, so we wonāt settle for smokescreens like that judicial reform.ā
What will happen? Some political leaders in PSOE coalition partner Sumar are certain Puigdemont is bluffing. But Puigdemont has little faith in SƔnchez (or the Ley BegoƱa), so this game of chicken may end up with a crash.
3. š¢ Fistfight of biblical proportions over squat in high-end Madrid building
Whose apartment is it anyway? Imagine thisāyou show up to the apartment youāve 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 youāve bought and are already occupying. Quite the quandary, no? Well, thatās whatās been happening in a new high-end building in Madridās 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 arenātāhow shall we say this?āon 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 ālarge sums of money [in one case ā¬3,000] and an IDā and after signing a āfake contractā they were allowed to move in. The people who offered them the apartments, they say, came from a ārental websiteā, and they blame a āmafiaā that targeted them because they were desperate for a houseāand that had found a way to access the building and change the locks.
Nope. The propertyās legal residents (around 100), however, are not buying itāthey say this is what the squatters have been told to say. āThey havenāt been scammed. They knew they were becoming squatters and now they say they had no idea. Quite a bargain they got,ā one of the legal buyers said.
This conflict has led to, um, problems between the groups. The legal residents complain of āloud noises and in-fightingā, with the police being called constantly. Also, the elevators have been broken (only one is operational) and thereās the presence of āblood on the wallsā because āthey keep fighting each otherā. Um, blood on the walls? š©ø
Eviction fisticuffs. Then the whole kerfuffle became national news when one of Spainās (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 weāre down to 26!). Itās the little victories that count.
But, but, butā¦ The remaining squatters werenāt happy about this peaceful resolution and referred to the ones leaving as ātraitorsā. Cāmon, smile š!
Madrid mayor JosĆ© Luis MartĆnez Almeida chimed in last week after the story broke, saying that the law must be changed so squatters can be removed āin 24 to 48 hoursā and that all those who claim Spain doesnāt have a āsquatting problemā should take note.
The story once again sheds light on Spainās 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. š¦
EspaƱoles en el mundo: Italia
The Italian Serie A football team S.S. Lazio has one of the best mascots in the worldāa 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, Olympiaās eagler has been the Spaniard Juan BernabĆ©, from CĆ”diz.
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 š!).
But that is where the happy part of this story ends. Because Lazio fired BernabĆ© on Monday š. With a press release and all. So no more eagle for now. Our hearts are broken š.
But why? Well, how to say this gently? Okay, we canāt. Itās justā¦ fine, here it is: BernabĆ© 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.
BernabĆ© and Antonini were quickly fired. "Both of them violated the ethical code that governs Lazio,ā said Lazio owner (and Italian senator) Claudio Lotito. āI 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?"
Thatāsā¦it? That would be the whole story except for the fact that BernabĆ© is an extreme sharer. Before and after his firing he hit the mediaāand how.
Pro-sex. āI had surgery to improve my sexual performance because I am very active,ā he told a radio program, noting that it was āfor medical reasonsā and he doesnāt 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 āopens unknown horizonsā for a couple.
Itās for my homies. "I did it to give a signal and courage to the many people who have the same problem,ā he said in La Repubblica. āIt is a very delicate subject, men are ashamed, impotence is a taboo and society judges you.ā
Weāre like this in CĆ”diz. āI 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,ā he also told La Repubblica. āI come from Cadiz, Spain, where there is a beautiful beach. We have always been nudists.ā
Your sharing almost had us. But then thereās that Il Duce thing. BernabĆ© was fired (temporarily) once before, in 2021, for making the fascist salute and chanting āĀ”Duce, duce!ā with some Lazio fans (Lazio ultras have a historic reputation for far-right chants and signs). Afterwards, he said he wasnāt a fascist, just a Vox supporter. And, well, āMussolini? I admire him a lot.ā
Juan BernabĆ©āA Spaniard in the world.
5. š Dumb Controversy of the Week: This party poster
Pink likes to sing that God is a DJ, and in this particular case, sheās 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 weekās scandal surrounding a heifer and a holy card and are now going after the ācontroversialā poster promoting a party taking place this weekend in Mallorca.
First, the facts. What in Godās name is that party and how can I attend?
Saint Sebastian (Sant SebastiĆ ) 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 Sebastianās 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 āalternativeā parties and a popular fireworks show.
One of these āalternativeā parties, sponsored by far-left Podemos, is La Santa Punxada ā Sant SebastiĆ 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 šø!).
The most offensive part (if you are offended by sexual lunchmeat jokes) can be found here: that is, Saint Sebastianās 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 LucĆa MuƱoz, and LluĆÆsa Febrer, the artist responsible for creating the poster. Because oh-my-god-how-could-you!
The organization claims Podemos may have committed āan offense of mockery and another of hateā. Its president, Polonia Castellanos, argues that āthis 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.ā
Barfs all around. Palmaās PP mayor Jaime MartĆnez has referred to the poster as āvomitiveā, 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 MuƱoz has said that Saint Sebastian has been a āgay" iconā and ācontroversial saint for more than 600 yearsā who was ādepicted as an eroticized figureā and was ācelebrated by the LGBTQ+ community for a long timeā.
Payback time. MuƱoz added that their decision to organize an alternative Q+ party this year was made because the PP-led Town Hall āfell short in promoting equality and diversity in its festival programmingā.
Former Podemos Equality Minister Irene Montero also chimed in (as she does), tweeting/exing that what really offends the Christian Lawyers is āthat LGBTQ+ people in Palma have a safe space to be themselvesā¦ Never again silent or invisible.ā 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 Sundayās party is creating a lot of hype and organizers are expecting a large turnout.šŗ š
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"Which apparently was not fine." - perfect understatement! I died.