Congreso de los Diputados
Lower house of Spain's parliament; 350 MPs.
Last refreshed: 30 April 2026
Why does Spain's housing policy keep depending on decree-laws the Congreso then unwinds?
- Why did the Spanish Congress reject the rental price-freeze extension?
- On 28 April 2026 PP, Vox and Junts coalesced to defeat the PSOE-Sumar government's decreto-ley; PNV abstained. The vote Left tenants who filed prórroga requests during the decree's one-month effect window in legal limbo.Source: El País
- How many MPs sit in Spain's Congreso de los Diputados?
- 350 deputies, elected to four-year terms by Closed-list proportional representation across 52 multi-member constituencies.
- What is the Cortes Generales?
- Spain's bicameral Parliament, comprising the Congreso de los Diputados (lower house, 350 MPs) and the Senate. The Congreso carries the bulk of legislative weight; the Senate acts largely as a chamber of revision.
Background
The Congreso de los Diputados is the lower chamber of Spain's bicameral Parliament, the Cortes Generales, with 350 members elected to four-year terms by Closed-list proportional representation across 52 multi-member constituencies. Together with the Senate, it scrutinises legislation, approves the state budget, and confirms the prime minister; in practice the Congress carries the bulk of legislative output and political weight, with the Senate acting largely as a chamber of revision.
On Tuesday 28 April 2026 the Congreso voted down the PSOE-Sumar government's decreto-ley extending Spain's rental price-freeze for two further years, with PP, Vox and Junts coalescing against the measure and PNV abstaining . The vote Left thousands of inquilinos who filed prórroga requests during the one-month window of the decree-law in legal limbo, with resolution likely to fall to the Tribunal Constitucional or Tribunal Supremo.
The Congreso's procedural architecture, where decretos-ley require parliamentary ratification within 30 days of cabinet approval, means executive housing measures are perennially exposed to opposition arithmetic. With the legislature fragmented across at least eight parties since the 2023 general election, the Sánchez government has struggled to pass durable legislation on contested distributional questions. The 28 April vote is the clearest recent example: a measure passed by decree, sustained for one month in regulatory effect, then unwound at the moment it required cross-party assent.
