The left's housing policies in Spain and the disaster they caused in Venezuela

It is often said that human beings are the only animals that stumble over the same stone twice. Some people are specialists at that.

The Spanish left’s game of musical chairs after eight years of corruption and mafia
From “that wasn't really communism” to “a left-wing Gov would be needed in Spain”

A State assault on the market that violates the Constitution

Today, we learned of the measures agreed upon by Pedro Sánchez's government and its parliamentary partners to intervene once again in Spain's housing market: banning evictions until 2031, extending rental contracts by two years, imposing taxes on tourist apartments, and preventing certain companies from purchasing residential properties. These measures infringe upon Article 38 of the Constitution, which recognizes "freedom of enterprise within the framework of the market economy."

Demagoguery designed to garner votes, not to solve problems

Essentially, the Spanish Left is using the case of an elderly woman facing eviction to impose a communist-style state-controlled economy through the back door, without bothering to assess the consequences. After all, the Left has a long history of blaming others for the effects of its policies, and Spain is no exception. We have endured eight years of a coalition government comprising socialists and communists who have been interfering in the housing market with arbitrary, demagogic measures, measures not designed to solve the real problems Spaniards face in this area. Its sole aim is to capture the votes of the most radical left, which is grounded in the most absurd economic theories.

The disaster those policies caused in Venezuela's rental market

This is not the first time the Left has implemented such policies. The socialist regime of Chávez and Maduro already applied these measures in Venezuela, placing obstacles in the way of evicting tenants who failed to pay rent—which, in turn, incentivized others to stop paying. Naturally, the market reacted: the supply of rental properties plummeted, and prices skyrocketed. Who would put apartments on the rental market if the State threatens to expropriate them—which is, in practice, what these leftist policies entail? Renting an apartment in Venezuela became extremely difficult and affordable only for the wealthiest. Another "success" of socialism, even though proponents of that ideology never mention it when putting forward their proposals. Spain is heading down the same path: 61% fewer rental homes since 2020

After eight years of left-wing governments, Spain is heading down the same path. Last March, the housing market website Idealista.com reported that rental supply in Spain has plummeted by 61% and prices have skyrocketed by 40% since 2020. It is worth recalling that the far-left party Podemos joined Sánchez's government in January of that year, and their PSOE partners ultimately adopted much of their reckless economic agenda in order to keep Sánchez in power at La Moncloa. Significantly, the sharpest drop in rental housing supply—a 90% decline—occurred in Barcelona, a city that has for some years been the Spanish capital of left-wing policies. In that same city, rental prices skyrocketed by 63%.

When the formulas fail again, they will blame capitalism

Of course, many media outlets and forums for debate simply ignore this data when discussing housing policy. Spain is living through a sort of Groundhog Day scenario in which the Left presents its economic ideas as if they were something new—as if they hadn't already been tested and yielded consequences.

Furthermore, the Left has a habit of blaming others (especially capitalism) for the poor results of its policies. Essentially, the idea they try to instill in society is that their formulas would work in an economic system completely controlled by the State—a model compatible only with a dictatorship. It is yet another attempt to promise us a utopian world in exchange for the "modest" price of surrendering our freedoms and submitting to a political model that has turned entire countries into vast prisons. What could possibly go wrong?

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Photo: Elentir.