Esquerra demands sovereign governance-related proposals from the Catalan Socialist government and holds the Spanish government to its promises on more housing

Esquerra Republicana has recently motioned for Catalonia to take a meaningful hand in dealing directly with the consequences of the war in Iran. Esquerra’s groups in the Catalan Parliament and the Spanish Congress have pressured both the Catalan and the Spanish executives, demanding measures to alleviate the effects of the crisis.

The parliamentary group has already met with the Catalan government and other parties over the last two weeks at the seat of the president of Catalonia—the Palau de la Generalitat—to discuss actions to take. Esquerra’s parliamentary spokesperson Ester Capella and deputy spokesperson Jordi Albert demanded that the Catalan Executive should decide on, design and manage policy from Catalonia. “The Government must step forward and design and manage the funds,” said Ms Capella.

Against this background, Esquerra has also set specific proposals on the table for four priority areas, i.e. measures for farmers and agriculture; ​​business and labour; on the energy transition; and support for families.

The Governmental Accord announced this week by President Illa includes some of these measures Esquerra has proposed. This was set out by Ester Capella at a press conference. The policy package thus includes lines of support for businesses and aid for the agricultural, fishing and industrial investment sectors, among others.

This support for businesses will be on condition of maintaining jobs, ensuring that not one is lost, and for Energética, Catalonia’s public renewable energy utility, support for which is to be increased.

Regarding the Spanish Congress, Esquerra’s group has submitted a package of economic, fiscal and social measures to the Spanish government, with the aim of protecting the citizens’ purchasing power and ensuring economic stability. The proposals include setting a cap on the Housing Rental Reference Index (IRAV), bolstering controls on basic product and fuel prices by the government and the National Commission for Markets and Competition (CNMC), re-establishing subsidies for public transport, reducing personal income tax rates on low incomes, increasing the contribution by high incomes, and studying an extraordinary tax on energy utilities.

The package also includes measures on renewable energies, shared self-consumption and support for the agricultural sector, as well as banning dismissal of workers by businesses receiving public aid. It also includes guaranteed provision of basic services for vulnerable households, along with the extension of the social electricity tariff.

As to housing and fundamental rights, Esquerra’s group in the Spanish Congress has introduced measures to protect tenants and for those who are struggling. Among the measures are automatic extension of rental contracts ending in 2026 and 2027, and the freezing of rentals. These have finally been included in the Royal Decree to be debated in Congress. Esquerra had proposed going even further, with the suspension of evictions and caps on the increase in mortgage payments linked to the Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor), but these measures were eventually not included.