Spanish Congress rejects housing laws despite Sánchez's warning: 'They'll be judged sooner than they think'

Spain's parliament rejected two housing decree-laws proposed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government on Friday, delivering the votes in a voice ballot. The rejections marked a setback for the executive, coming after last-minute negotiations and uncertainty over parliamentary partners' support. Sánchez spoke before the vote, urging MPs to "do the right thing or history will judge you sooner than you think and more harshly than you can imagine."

The first decree was rejected by 172 votes in favor and 178 against, prompting a march to Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square chanting "General strike!" The second decree was also voted down. The vote came after speeches from housing minister Isabel Rodríguez, who urged different groups to back the measures, including Junts per Catalunya, which announced it would oppose both texts and submit its own proposal to the government.

Rodríguez asserted that one of the decrees incorporated many of Junts' proposals, but pledged to process the decrees as a bill in case clarifications or corrections were requested. The vote also sparked a debate within the PSOE and the government about the possibility of holding early elections if the decrees were rejected. Protesters gathered outside the Congress of Deputies, demanding a solution to Spain's housing crisis.