Spain heads to snap election overshadowed by housing crisis and protests

Spain has called an early election at a time when mass protests are sweeping the country over the failure of Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist government to secure lasting protection for tenants against rent increases. A commentary in the Latvian newspaper Diena describes the move as an attempt to harness public anger, but considers it a risky one.

How the protests began

The demonstrations started after an 87-year-old woman was evicted from her flat because she could not pay a raised rent. She later died in hospital. Public anger grew further when the Spanish parliament rejected the government's bill on tenant protection.

Political backdrop

Opinion polls show a steady decline in support for the Socialists and other left-wing parties, while the opposition right is gaining. The centrist-conservative People's Party and the national-conservative Vox together have enough backing to form a majority government. Spain has not had a majority government since 2015. The commentary names corruption scandals, the migrant crisis in Ceuta and the government's favourable stance toward immigrants as the main reasons for the Socialists' slide.

Why the bill failed

Catalan separatists, who had previously backed Sánchez's minority government, voted against the bill alongside the right. According to the commentary, they did so not because they oppose tenant protection, but because the government refused to withdraw provisions favourable to immigrants, especially undocumented ones.

The right regards housing allocated to immigrants as the main cause of the housing shortage and high rents. The author concludes that the attempt to turn the election into a referendum on housing is very likely to turn against Sánchez and the left.