Sánchez Courted 'Vulture Funds' in 2018, Now Calls for Solidarity

From Vulture Funds in 2018 to the Sol Campout Over Maricarmen

In 2018, the message from La Moncloa to international investors was that Spain was a good place to put money into real estate. According to The Objective, Pedro Sánchez then encouraged so-called vulture funds to invest in the country. Years later, that same government is asking property owners to lend a hand and keep rents down. The contrast is the core of everything discussed around the Maricarmen decree.

The Shift from 2018 to 2020: From Attracting Funds to Paying Them Aid

It wasn't just a change in discourse. In 2020, the anti-eviction decree approved at the height of the health crisis included financial aid for banks and large property holders, as reported by Izquierda Diario. Unidas Podemos yielded to the PSOE and agreed to compensate large landlords to ensure continuity of their income. The bill, in that instance, was paid by the public treasury.

The paradox is difficult to sustain in a rally. First, foreign capital is invited to buy housing; then, it is compensated when the tenant cannot pay; and finally, the ordinary property owner is asked to forgo rent increases. Each piece sounds reasonable on its own. Together, they paint a very uncomfortable picture.

The Party with the Most Landlord Deputies After Junts and Bildu

The PSOE is the party with the most landlord deputies in Congress after Junts and Bildu, according to El Debate. This data, uncomfortable for someone who champions price controls, intersects with another fact: the Minister of Housing, owner of seven properties, asks landlords for solidarity to lower rents. Some dismiss it as a mere asset anecdote; the counterargument is that those who legislate on rentals should not be on the landlord's side. The coincidence, at the very least, invites a wry smile.

Who Pays for a Vulnerable Tenant's Non-Payment?

This is the question that underpins the struggle. Trinc the Maricarmen case, the government has proposed that community associations cover the non-payment of vulnerable tenants, as well as outstanding utility bills, according to the draft published by The Objective. The measure shifts the cost to organized property owners, not the state.

This is where the compatibility problem begins. A large holder with an empty or rented-out apartment is little affected by this. If the target is the landlord with a single property who needs that rent to pay their mortgage, the equation changes completely. Solidarity, depending on who it is requested from, carries different weight.

The Protest in Sol: 'Either Landlordism Falls or the Government Falls'

The march demanding the Maricarmen decree culminated in a sit-in at the Puerta del Sol. The slogan summarizing the protest, "Either landlordism falls or the government falls", targets property owners before funds. And it is precisely here that the analysis gets stuck.

A calculation in circulation attributes around 8% of rental properties to institutional funds. The remaining 92% would correspond to individual landlords. If this proportion holds, the 'landlord' on the banner and the actual lessor are not the same person. No one has yet published a census to confirm or deny this.

Asking for solidarity from someone with seven properties and from someone with one property and a mortgage is asking the same thing from two subjects who are nothing alike. The decree, for now, does not distinguish. Neither does the sit-in.