Left-Wing Candidates Push for Market Intervention
Mohamed Lahlou, 29-year-old political scientist and candidate for Figueres en Moviment, placed affordable housing at the heart of his campaign launch in Plaça del Gra on Monday 28 September 2026. Standing alongside Ernest Urtasun, Spain’s Minister of Culture and a key supporter, Lahlou called for increased municipal acquisition of properties, expansion of public housing stock, and the mobilisation of vacant homes in Figueres. Lahlou’s platform, developed under the Comuns umbrella, reflects broader left-wing strategies to intervene in local housing markets through direct action and regulation.
Industry Leader Warns of Chronic Housing Shortfall
The day after Lahlou’s announcement, Anna Gener, CEO of Savills Barcelona, delivered a stark warning at the IV Jornades Empresarials de s’Agaró on 25 September 2026: Catalonia faces an accumulated housing deficit of 140,000 units. She attributed this to policies that prioritise regulating existing housing over enabling new construction. According to Gener, Catalonia needs between 25,000 and 30,000 new homes annually to meet household formation, but only around 15,000 were built in 2025. Over six years, this has created a shortfall of 140,000 homes, a gap she says will widen unless production accelerates.
"When you apply for a building licence, you don’t know if it will be granted in eight months or 24,"
, Anna Gener, highlighting regulatory uncertainty affecting developers. She called for a national housing pact to ensure long-term planning stability, noting that project cycles often exceed political terms. Gener also pointed to a lack of developable land, rising construction and financing costs, labour shortages, and complex, shifting tax rules as major barriers.
Criticism of Rent Controls and Public Housing Gaps
Gener specifically criticised rent price caps, citing data from Incasòl showing a drop in new rental contracts. She argued this reflects a retreat from the rental market by institutional investors, insurers, and private landlords due to reputational risk rather than just profitability. She also stressed that addressing housing vulnerability is the state’s responsibility, yet the public housing stock in Catalonia remains "practically nonexistent", calling this a "collective failure."
Clash of Ideologies Deepens Divide
The contrasting positions highlight a growing ideological split. While political figures like Lahlou and Urtasun advocate for stronger municipal intervention, including price controls and expropriation of vacant properties, business leaders like Gener warn such measures create legal uncertainty and deter investment. With municipal elections in Figueres set for 2027, the debate over how to tackle the housing crisis, through regulation or supply expansion, is expected to intensify across Catalonia.
Reported by emporda.info, elperiodico.com, elperiodico.cat, GIRONA NOTÍCIES, europapress.es, cincodias.elpais.com, L'Empordà.
