After the election announcement - will Spain's housing crisis save Pedro Sánchez?

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his left-wing allies are betting on an election campaign that will place the housing crisis at the center, hoping to revive support for their battered bloc. Sánchez presented emergency measures including tax benefits, loans for first-time buyers, and an extension of the eviction ban, stating that he will no longer allow evictions. The Vox party attacked him for cynically exploiting the death of an elderly woman.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and his left-wing allies are betting on an election campaign that will place the housing crisis at the center, hoping to revive support for their battered bloc, which according to polls is heading toward a heavy defeat. Sánchez presented emergency measures to address the housing crisis, including tax benefits, loans for first-time buyers, and an extension of the eviction ban. "We will no longer allow evictions like the one Maricarmen suffered," Sánchez declared. The nationalist right-wing party Vox quickly attacked him, accusing him of cynically exploiting the death of an elderly woman. "Without any restraint, they are using the suffering of an elderly woman to run a campaign that hides the government's responsibility for the housing disaster," the party's X account stated. Sánchez, who has been in office since 2018, has proven himself a political survivor who has weathered many crises, including corruption allegations against his associates and wife, and a prison sentence handed down to a former transportation minister in his government. Now, about 40% of Spanish citizens see affordable housing as their main concern. Sánchez's main challenge will be to convince voters that he is not to blame for the situation.