Shift to Diputación Permanente after dissolution
The Spanish government will attempt to approve new housing decrees this Tuesday, using the Diputación Permanente after the dissolution of parliament. This follows Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's announcement on Monday of early general elections on 29 November, which triggered the end of ordinary parliamentary activity. Once the election call is published in the BOE, legislative functions will shift to the Diputación Permanente, a 69-member body comprising MPs from all parties, including the chamber president Francina Armengol. Under Article 57 of the Congress Rules of Procedure, this body assumes the powers of the full chamber regarding royal decrees, including their convalidation or rejection.
Narrow path to approval
The government aims to pass one or more housing-related royal decrees, similar or identical to those rejected by Congress on 2 October. To succeed, it needs 35 votes in the Diputación Permanente. The current composition allows a potential majority: PSOE (25 seats), Sumar (6), ERC (1), EH Bildu (1), PNV (1), and the Group Mixto representative Ione Belarra (1) could reach exactly 35 votes. Opposition would come from the PP (27), Vox (6), and Junts (1), totalling 34 votes. This arithmetic means Junts, whose seven MPs were decisive in blocking the original measures in the full chamber, can no longer single-handedly veto the decree.
The Diputación Permanente cannot validate a decree already rejected by the plenary, but it can consider a new, substantially similar one.
However, the outcome is not guaranteed. The PNV voted against the second decree in the 2 October plenary, which included automatic lease renewals. If it maintains that position, the second measure could fail by 34 in favour to 35 against, according to analysis from rtve.es.
Legal basis and political strategy
The government's move relies on the fact that while the full Congress rejected the previous decrees, the Diputación Permanente can legally consider new ones during the electoral period. As explained by economistjurist.es, the permanent body cannot resurrect a failed vote, but it can approve a new decree if reissued by the Council of Ministers. Moncloa sources confirm the new texts will be drafted to closely mirror the original proposals, which included an extension of eviction protections until 2030 and obligations on landlords to renew tenancies without justified cause. The strategy aims to present tangible housing reforms ahead of the election campaign.
Reported by rtve.es, marca.com, economistjurist.es, lavanguardia.com, L'Empordà.
