The Housing Decree Definitively Breaks the Pro-Separatism Unity in Parliament

After the end of the historic pro-independence majority in Parliament, all the pieces of Catalan politics are being rearranged. They are doing so around the most pressing and current issues. Considering the current situation, that is synonymous with the housing problem.

In all respects, PSC has adopted the real estate measures catalog of ERC and, above all, of the Comuns. This translates into more interventionism, that is, more withdrawal of supply and market contraction. In this case, the interventionism has consisted of extending rent control to seasonal rentals.

The investiture bloc (which has counted on the picturesque support of CUP) claims that seasonal rental is solely for vacation or leisure. Shortly after approving this new regulation, Junts presented an alternative regulation for seasonal rentals. From Junts, they understand that the regulation approved by the left "kills seasonal rentals for students," said the deputy Glòria Freixa (Junts).

With their usual rhetoric, Junts presents the Govern's decree as a failure for Catalonia compared to Madrid. In this sense, Puigdemont's group doesn't deviate from the script. Since they have been in opposition, they denounce that PSC is a branch of PSOE that goes against the "national" interests of Catalonia:

Another Face of Post-Processism

Beyond the economic debate, the most notable aspect of this situation is that it confirms the collapse of processism. Without a majority to divide the spoils, the processist parties (Junts, ERC, and CUP) are now each going their own way. "We are facing a cordon sanitaire against Junts. The image is so wonderful that CUP joins hands with PSC," said deputy Freixa.

In the midst of this internal war, are the Comuns, who capitalize as best they can on their role within the tripartite. As explained in E-Notícies, the left - and the Comuns in particular - have staked their future on the housing debate. For this reason, they present the new real estate regulation as an achievement they have wrested from the PSC's Govern. The socialists, meanwhile, emulate the strategy inaugurated by PSOE in Madrid: yielding to the investiture partners in exchange for keeping power.

In the end, this is another example of the political disintegration of Catalonia, which is framed in post-processism. There is no longer a common action horizon that allows for an understanding among the processists through common interests. From now on, almost all issues will be a point of division between Junts, ERC, and, to a lesser extent, CUP.