Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez is contemplating a new general vote later this year if the Spanish legislature rejects a sweeping plan to cap rents and limit evictions. The government's legislative agenda faces a potential collapse after the right-wing Catalan Junts party announced it will oppose the decrees, denying Sanchez the majority needed for approval in a parliamentary vote scheduled for Friday. Protesters gathered outside the parliament building during the proceedings to demand immediate relief from a nationwide housing shortage.

The proposed regulations include a ban on evictions until 2030 and a prohibition on the purchase of residential properties by investment funds until 2028. These measures follow mass demonstrations sparked by the police eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman who was removed from her home of 70 years following a 275% rent hike. Although Abascal has since reached a deal to return to her apartment, activists continue to maintain protest camps in Madrid and Barcelona to pressure the state into establishing permanent tenant protections.