The Generalitat has not fined any owner for having empty apartments in three years.

The Generalitat has not imposed any fines against empty apartments since the measure was approved three years ago, according to what has been announced. In March 2022, Parliament amended the housing law to empower the government to fine large landlords who had vacant apartments for at least two years. However, since then, neither Pere Aragonès's (ERC) government nor Salvador Illa's (PSC) current government have made use of this power, according to the public radio morning show.

City councils such as Barcelona's, on the other hand, have imposed fines for unoccupied homes. Government sources cited by the station claim that the Socialist government came to power this summer and that they are studying it, while distancing themselves from the actions of the previous cabinet. The Republicans, in fact, had gone further and announced in 2023 that .



"Laws and regulations are useless [...

] if governments don't provide resources and have no will to enforce them," the Renters' Union reacted upon learning the news. "It's unacceptable and gives us even more reason to march tomorrow for the demonstration for the right to housing," said its spokesperson, Enric Aragonès, referring to the large mobilization called for 6 p.m.

in Barcelona's Plaza España. "The government is doing nothing to guarantee the right to housing," he added. In a statement, the organization called for the establishment of a "well-equipped" inspection force to enforce the mobilization of empty apartments, as well as price regulation and the rest of the measures established by current regulations.

It also calls for the regulation of seasonal and room rentals and an end to the disqualification of tens of thousands of subsidized apartments. "These are three minimum conditions. Nothing should be approved by this government until these measures are implemented," the union claims.

In its statement, it points out the contradiction between the efforts of Salvador Illa's government to put housing "at the center of the discourse" and the "vague" announcements. , or "measures that are due, such as "While governments aren't implementing measures that go against the interests of profiteering and speculation, it's the organized citizenry that is standing up and resisting evictions and price increases," he concludes..