OrganisationES

Junts

Junts per Catalunya, the Catalan independentist party, which joined PP and Vox in defeating Spain's rental price-freeze extension on 28 April 2026.

Junts voted with the Partido Popular and Vox on 2 October to sink both of Spain's new rental decrees: the seasonal-rental decree fell 172-178 and the five-year lease-renewal decree 166-184.

Last refreshed: 3 October 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic

Key Question

Why do Catalan independence politicians keep blocking Spain's housing protection laws?

Timeline for Junts

#14 2 Oct

Voted against both decree-laws

Nomads & Communities: Congress sinks Spain's two rent decrees

#12 27 Jul

Rejected elements of the national housing decree

Nomads & Communities: Navarra writes the rule Madrid could not

#11 13 Jul

Won landlord IRPF deductions for voluntary rent cuts

Nomads & Communities: Sumar yields landlord break to Junts

#10 7 Jul

demanded landlord tax deductions

Nomads & Communities: Spain rent decree stalls on party split

#4 20 May

Signalled willingness to renegotiate RDL 8/2026 if landlord tax incentives included

Nomads & Communities: Madrid court silent; Bustinduy aims at summer rent freeze

View full timeline →

Follow Nomads & Communities →

Background

Junts per Catalunya is a Catalan pro-independence party founded in 2020 by former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont. Since the 2023 general election it has held seven seats in the Congress of Deputies, a bloc the PSOE-led government needs for a majority on contested legislation.

The party treats each vote as a negotiation. It won the 2024 Amnesty law for Catalan independence leaders from the PSOE, and in July 2026 it secured landlord income-tax deductions as the price of backing the housing decree. Its stated reason for opposing national housing measures is that emergency rent caps and similar instruments are a competence of the Catalan government, so a uniform national rule would narrow Catalonia's own room to legislate.

Pivotal seats and a regional-competence argument together make Junts a recurring veto point on Spanish housing law. Its votes decided the fate of the April rent-freeze extension and of the two rental decrees on 2 October.

Key Issues

Housing votes

Junts keeps sinking national housing rules

Junts voted against Spain's rental price-freeze extension on 28 April 2026, alongside the Partido Popular and Vox, with the Basque PNV abstaining. In July its seven deputies traded support for the government's housing decree for landlord income-tax deductions, which Sumar conceded on 13 July over Podemos's objections.

On 2 October the party again sided with the Partido Popular and Vox. Congress refused to validate Royal Decree-law 26/2026, which required seasonal and room lets to state a provable reason and run at least 31 days, and Royal Decree-law 27/2026 on five-year lease renewals, so both lapse. Junts argues that rent rules belong to the Catalan government, and its votes have helped end three national housing measures since April.

Common Questions

Reference

Is Junts in government in Spain?

Junts is not in the Spanish Coalition government but provides external support to Pedro Sánchez's minority administration on a case-by-case basis, often extracting concessions on Catalan autonomy and economic policy.Source: nomads-and-communities topic context

What is Junts and why does it matter to Spanish housing policy?

Junts (Junts per Catalunya) is a Catalan pro-independence party that holds parliamentary leverage over the minority Spanish government, enabling it to condition votes on housing and nomad-Visa legislation.Source: nomads-and-communities topic context

Why did Junts vote against Spain's rent freeze in April 2026?

Junts argued that rent regulation is a Catalan competence and that a national emergency CAP would constrain the Generalitat's own housing legislation; the party's defection was decisive in the vote's defeat.Source: El País / Congress records

What does Junts want in exchange for supporting Spain's housing decree?

Junts is demanding IRPF landlord tax deductions as its price for the 176-vote majority the July 2026 housing decree needs, the same transactional demand that sank the April rent-freeze extension when it was refused.Source: Lowdown

What position does Junts take on housing and rentals in Catalonia?

Junts has pushed for tighter Catalan rent controls and has opposed policies it sees as accelerating gentrification from international remote workers displacing local residents.Source: nomads-and-communities topic context