Sánchez Calls a Snap Election: Spain Votes, the Rent Does Not Wait

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Monday called an early general election for 29 November. The trigger: right-wing opposition parties in parliament blocked two emergency decrees from his minority government aimed at curbing evictions and property speculation. For weeks people across the country have been protesting over the housing crisis, which found a symbol in the eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid.

Two days later Sánchez went further and announced 21 urgent housing measures, including extended eviction protection for vulnerable tenants and a new tax on seasonal rentals. In Spain right now, campaigning and governing are hard to tell apart. For tenants that may even be good news.

When parliament will not play along, Sánchez lets the voters roll the dice. The rent is still due before the count.

It is a risky gamble. His Socialists trail Alberto Núñez Feijóo's conservative People's Party in nearly every poll. An election can shift the balance of power, but it guarantees neither a stable majority nor a single new flat. Spain is once again deciding who gets to explain why the housing shortage is so hard to fix.