VIDEO | Montserrat Nebrera dismantles the left's narrative on rentals

The housing crisis has emerged as one of the key issues of this legislature in Catalonia. The debate is skewed by political and especially media loudspeakers that bolster the left's narrative as an absolute truth. They present it as a class struggle and propose regulation as a solution, ignoring how the law of supply and demand works in the real estate market.

This Friday, former deputy Montserrat Nebrera had the opportunity to present on TV3 an opinion that barely has a place in public and subsidized media in Catalonia. She dismantled the left's mantra on this issue with solid arguments.

Montserrat Nebrera reminded us of something as basic as the lack of public and private housing limiting supply amid growing demand. "This is an essential principle of market economics: when demand rises and there is little supply, prices go up."

But she also pointed out the problem of the imbalance between rising prices and stagnant wages. She noted that prices in Catalonia are comparable to those in other European countries, but here wages are lower. This means that people have to allocate a higher percentage of their salary to rent.

Why there is little supply

Regarding the low supply, she highlighted the legal insecurity of property owners. "For many people, more important than how much they earn is that they can earn," she stated. The former deputy emphasized that "many owners, when people don't pay, can't evict them."

At this point, she contradicted the Sindicat de Llogateres on evictions. "When there is an eviction, a part of society mobilizes, and the judicial commission doesn't dare to evict," she warned.

She also questioned the concept of vulnerability. "Before, it was someone without a salary, then with a precarious salary, and now someone who allocates 50% to rent," she said. But she added that the responsibility lies with public authorities and not private ones.

Dismantling mantras

Nebrera debunked another mantra, saying that "decent housing is not a right but a guiding principle of social and economic policy." It is established that "public authorities must promote the conditions" for access. The state's responsibility, she said, is to create public housing and protect vulnerable cases.

She points out that the problem can't be solved with seasonal rentals. With the current housing stock, even if everything were allocated to residential, for every apartment, there would be fifteen tenants left out. "And ironically, for the Sindicat de Llogateres, those left out would be the most vulnerable," she noted.