MADRID, Oct 6 (Reuters) – Spain’s government is set to approve on Tuesday two housing decrees whose rejection by parliament last week prompted Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to call a snap election, Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun said.
The decrees will then be sent for approval by a reduced body of caretaker lawmakers who remain in place after parliament was dissolved ahead of the November 29 election, state broadcaster TVE said.
The standing body of 69 members, when including lower house speaker Francina Armengol from Sanchez’s Socialist Party, has a slim majority in favour of the measures, which include rent caps, a temporary ban on evictions and limits on corporate purchases of residential property, according to state broadcaster TVE.
The decrees would be implemented temporarily until a new parliament is formed, TVE said.
Urtasun told reporters on Monday the decrees would have some small variations but no major changes compared to those approved by the cabinet but rejected by parliament last week.
“In terms of protection, they will certainly be on a par with, or even exceed, what we agreed last time,” Urtasun said.
Sanchez, who will hold a press conference after the cabinet meeting, said on Monday he needed more seats in parliament after failing to garner enough support for his proposals to address a housing crisis that has drawn nationwide protests following the attempted eviction of an 87-year-old woman in Madrid.
(Reporting by Charlie Devereux, Editing by Andrei Khalip and Timothy Heritage)
