On Saturday, the Unidas Podemos minister for social rights, Ione Belarra, said that her party will be putting pressure on Spanish government coalition partner PSOE to ensure that the new housing law includes such limits.
Belarra observed that the islands (Balearics and Canaries) "are not luxury resorts, and it is absurd that people who do not live in the Balearic or Canary Islands hoard homes and cause rental prices to rise".
"We will not stop fighting against the housing emergency. For this reason, we will press within the government so that regional communities can legislate and limit sales to non-residents, as these result in the citizens of the Balearic and Canary Islands being unable to find rentals that are not abusive." Belarra added that Podemos want a tax on empty homes.
Echoing what Belarra had to say, the Podemos candidate for the Balearic presidency at the May election, Antònia Jover, said that "the housing market in the Balearics no longer obeys the interests of the citizens who reside here, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find decent homes that our families can afford".
"Luxury housing makes the entire market more expensive. We must force prices to drop, while much more social housing needs to be available. This is why we want restriction on purchases by non-residents; a regional tax on empty homes; the creation of a publicly owned real estate company; and for anyone with five or more properties to be classified as a large owner.
"With 70,000 empty homes on the islands, construction should be the last option. We are a fragile and limited territory that needs protecting. We are asking our government partner (PSOE) to help us move in this direction in order to resolve the greatest concern of the people of the Balearic Islands as soon as possible."
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AJEExcellent question.
Podemos believe foreigners are causing rental prices to surge. Small social experiment, please like this comment if your landlord/landlady is a none Spanish resident. Dislike if they’re Spanish.