The Generalitat will revise or draw up a new law to limit speculative home purchases after the Consell de Garanties Estatutàries (CGE), Catalonia's advisory body on constitutional and statutory safeguards, raised unanimous objections to the proposal on 4 August 2026. For residents waiting for restrictions in designated high-pressure housing areas, the measure will not be approved on the timetable previously envisaged for early October.

The non-binding CGE opinion opens a new period for amendments in the Parlament, Catalonia's legislature. The proposal had been agreed by the PSC, Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) and the Comuns, and was being handled through the single-reading procedure, an accelerated parliamentary route.

“The Govern will seek every legal measure and every possible way, in accordance with the Estatut, to protect the right to housing in Catalonia,” said Sílvia Paneque, the Generalitat minister responsible for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.

According to the CGE's opinion, the planned restrictions conflict with constitutional and Estatut protections for private property, freedom of enterprise and legal certainty. Its conclusions on those points were unanimous.

The advisory body also questioned the use of an amendment to Catalonia's planning law to regulate matters connected with civil law. It said the proposal could intrude on state powers over contracts and criticised the use of the single-reading procedure, which bypasses stages including consultation with local authorities that would apply the law.

  • The proposed law sought to restrict purchases of homes in high-pressure areas where the buyer did not intend residential use.
  • Junts and the Partido Popular requested the CGE opinion.
  • The CGE's finding is advisory rather than binding, so parliamentary groups could have proceeded with the original text.

Paneque said the Generalitat would pursue solutions within the legal framework, but did not specify whether it would amend the current text or introduce a new bill.

The Comuns said they disagreed with the CGE's analysis and would use August and September to discuss next steps with parliamentary groups and the Sindicat de Llogateres, a tenants' union. Their parliamentary leader, Jéssica Albiach, said the group would examine the opinion with experts who had backed the proposal.

ERC said the proposal would need to be reconsidered because it had too many objections. The party had already questioned its legal strength and suggested that civil law, taxation or Catalonia's own housing legislation could offer other routes for restricting speculative purchases.

Reported by Source Text Link, Iñaki Pardo Torregrosa, cronicaglobal.elespanol.com, Daniel Tercero, europapress.es, Quim Bertomeu, Berto Sagrera, Metrópoli, 20minutos |, EP, Judit Pellicer, eleconomista.es, M. Àngels Rodríguez López, Departament d'Edicions del Parlament de Catalunya, La Vanguardia.