Catalan News | Politics
New ‘only yes is yes’ law passes in Congress with harsher prison sentences
Catalan News | Madrid
April 21, 2023 11:39 AM
Bill approved with votes in favor of Catalonia’s PDeCAT, after previous legislation led to sentence reductions
Spain to build or renovate 43,000
social and affordable housing units using European funds
Catalan News | Madrid
Spanish PM vows to make housing the ‘fifth pillar of the welfare state’
April 19, 2023 09:58 AM
Parliament to
appeal Electoral Board’s potential decision to remove speaker’s MP status
Catalan News | Barcelona
Move aimed at defending chamber’s regulations that seats are only removed with final convictions
April 19, 2023 10:21 AM
Catalonia could declare
water emergency in September if current use and rain trends continue
Catalan News | Barcelona
Lowering average daily consumption by 5 liters since January not enough, authorities say
April 18, 2023 01:17 PM
Spain to
limit rent price increases to 3% in 2024
Catalan News | Madrid
Pro-independence ERC agrees with Spanish cabinet to also set future rate to limit annual prices in new housing law
April 14, 2023 12:55 PM
Electoral board gives parliament 10 days to determine speaker Borràs’ status following corruption sentence
Catalan News | Barcelona
Politician was suspended as head of chamber and sentenced to 4. 5 years for helping friend secure public contracts
April 13, 2023 04:50 PM
Central Catalonia water authority warns of
supply cuts if no rain before May
Catalan News | Barcelona
Government to invest additional €25M to create more drinking water in Besós river
April 12, 2023 03:00 PM
Spain affirms
stance against referendum following Catalan president’s committee launch
ACN | Barcelona
Aragonés: “Pretending problems do not exist does not make them go away”
April 12, 2023 01:19 PM
President launches
Quebec-style Clarity Act committee, calls meeting with parties in June
Catalan News | Barcelona
Aragonès commissions first report from group to study independence referendum negotiated with Spain
April 11, 2023 01:02 PM
Exiled independence leader behind
Tsunami Democràtic protest group according to police
Catalan News | Barcelona
National Court investigation points to Marta Rovira and other ERC officials, says ‘El Confidencial’
April 11, 2023 09:40 AM
Former Spanish minister and Catalan conservatives leader,
Josep Piqué, dies at 68
Catalan News | Barcelona
Worked as foreign affairs minister during José María Aznar’s government before Iraq War
April 6, 2023 09:23 AM
50% of Catalans against independence and 43% in favor, says CEO poll
ACN | Barcelona
9% of residents prefer a unilateral decision but 33% are in favor of a deal with Spain
April 5, 2023 01:41 PM
Socialists would surpass governing pro-independence Esquerra in election, says CEO poll
Catalan News | Barcelona
Ruling party would come in second followed by opposition Junts
April 5, 2023 11:18 AM
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Catalan News | Spain to limit rent price increases to 3% in 2024
The Spanish government, the Catalan pro-independence party Esquerra Republicana, and the Basque nationalist EH Bildu group have reached an agreement for a new housing law.
The new legislation increases the number of reasons why rent prices should be limited in tense areas. The law will also limit the annual increases to 3% in 2024 and set a future rate to limit annual prices by 2025, always below the inflation rate.
Parliamentary groups also halved the number of properties needed to be considered a “gran tenidor,” , a large-scale property owner, from ten to five.
The new housing law will “affect all rents in massified areas” whenever regional governments ask for it,” Pilar Vallugera, ERC MP, said during a press conference on Friday, hours after reaching a deal with the Spanish cabinet.
In those zones, there will be a price cap for large-scale property owners but also for those with less than five properties.
For the latter, there will be an index rate based on the previous rent price, while for the former, there will be a rent cap price.
Your browser does not support the video elementSpain will limit rent price increases to 3% in 2024, but housing activists call for changes to ensure it is effective / Catalan News
To consider an area tense, governments will have to prove that only one of the different conditions the law considers applies. Either the average cost of the mortgage or rent including expenses surpasses 30% of the average income in the neighborhood, or the cost of buying or renting a property surpasses by at least three percentage points the inflation rate in the five years prior.
The housing bill has been blocked in Congress for over a year, and it will now continue its parliamentary procedure after ERC and EH Bildu reached a deal with the Socialists and Unidas Podemos left-wing coalition.
Entities such as Amnesty International have welcomed the law, but while others believe it is a step to fight the housing crisis, they also think the agreement may be difficult to implement.
Catalan rent cap law
Spain’s Constitutional Court annulled in March 2022 the vast majority of the Catalan rent cap law. The legislation came into effect in September 2020 and affected up to 61 cities and towns in Catalonia.
The court revoked the law to limit rent prices in some areas of the territory as it is the “state who sets the obligatory contractual standards,” a press release read at the time. This means, according to magistrates, Catalonia has overstepped its powers related to housing.
With the new Spanish housing law, all the considered “affected areas” with the Catalan legislation will continue to be considered as such, therefore the Catalan cabinet will be able to implement new measures “immediately,” Vallugera said.
No more dateless evictions
Regarding evictions, ERC and EH Bildu agreed with the cabinet to strip the dateless eviction practice from the legislation, meaning no more evictions can be filed without a specific time and date.
New protocols will also be in place, and regional governments can find other solutions outside of going through courts.
Owner to pay paperwork expenses
The new law also sets that owners will be the ones to pay for the expenses and renting fees of the property. Authorities have also limited increasing other expenses related to the property, such as the rubbish taxes, to use them to cover up the paperwork fees.
Check out our podcast, published in June 2021, on soaring rents in Barcelona for an in-depth report on the underlying crisis:
Barcelona Noticia
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Cities ”
Barcelona
Barcelona (Barcelona) – the main city of the province of the same name and the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia, located on the Costa Brava. The second most populated city in Spain – 1 million 615 thousand people (according to data for 2011). In 2015, activist and human rights activist Ada Colau was elected mayor, replacing Javier Trias.
In 1992, the Summer Olympic Games were held here. Barcelona is the capital of the Mediterranean Union, which includes 43 states.
Barcelona is an industrial city. The factories of the world’s largest companies are located here, the automotive, textile, and chemical industries are widely represented. Catalonia, led by Barcelona, being an economically developed region, is seeking tax independence, but so far without success.
The Mediterranean climate with mild winters makes the city a popular tourist destination at any time of the year. Summer is hot and humid, but the proximity to the sea and city beaches saves. However, not only the weather attracts millions of tourists to the Catalan capital. Barcelona is famous for its well-developed tourist infrastructure, which includes many hotels of various categories, a convenient public transport network, and El Prat Airport, which in 2012 overtook Madrid International Airport in terms of passenger traffic. The city is extremely rich in various sights, is a major cultural center, which makes it one of the most important points on the tourist map of Europe.
You can choose and book a hotel in Barcelona at the best price and without a commission, as well as read hotel reviews in Russian here.
The Catalan capital is a modern dynamic city. The information portal Noticia.ru daily monitors the most important events of the metropolis, promptly acquainting the reader with the latest news in Barcelona.
17.04.2023
Accidents
A watch worth 70,000 euros was stolen from a Bulgarian tennis player in Barcelona
03/30/2023
Real estate
Media: digital nomads raise rental prices in Barcelona 3.2023
Incidents
In Barcelona, a tourist jumped off a bridge to escape robbers
03/17/2023
Tourism
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Tourism
Barcelona will increase the tourist tax from April
03/15/2023
Society
Michelin stars will be handed out in Barcelona in 2024
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03.2028 0003
Barcelona will have a pet cemetery
11.03. 2023
Tourism
A night train will be launched between Barcelona and Amsterdam
03/10/2023
Incidents
Hackers stole test results from a Barcelona hospital and demand 4 million euros for them
News of Spain
04/22/2023
CCOO and UGT ultimatum to employers and threat of strikes
Union patience in wage negotiations is running out. The CCOO and the UGT syndicate warned the CEOE (Spanish Confederation of Business Organizations) this Thursday that either they would submit a proposal for a government wage increase pact and advance negotiations before May Day, or protests and strikes would begin.
20.04.2023
Benefits in Spain: 1000 euros for young people to rent or buy a home housing. In addition, he advocated the extension of the youth allowance in Spain for rental housing.
04/19/2023
Inflation in Spain has forced citizens to reduce spending on groceries
Inflation in Spain in the past has led to a decrease in citizens’ spending on food and beverages by 1.8%. Rising prices have led families to change their consumption habits and have been forced to stop buying some essentials, according to an industry association of employers and the Department of Agriculture.
04/18/2023
Housing Act: Tenants no longer have to pay agency fees
The Housing Act, agreed last Friday 14 April by the government, ERC and Bildu, will prohibit real estate agency fees for brokering tenant rentals. This was stated by ERC MP Pilar Valugera, pointing out that these costs will always be paid by the landlord. Thus, tenants are relieved of one of the initial expenses that they have to face when renting an apartment.
03/27/2023
Immigration to Spain can save the labor market
Immigration to Spain will become one of the most important trends in the world of work in coming years.
Population aging and a declining birth rate will lead to a change in the demographic structure, which will create serious problems in the world of work. Demographic changes in the world of work will lead to a generational shift and will create a need for more nursing homes as well as fewer schools.
03/27/2023
Spaniards’ plans for Easter 2023: increased spending and travel
21% of Spaniards plan to spend more this Easter than in 2022. The budget of 90,083 families will average 429 euros, which is 8% more than last year, when it was at the level of 399 euros. This is evidenced by an analysis of surveys about Easter plans by Observatorio Cetelem, the results of which are based on 6,000 online surveys.
03/27/2023
Property in Spain: Investment in the retail sector reaches an all-time high in 2022
Real estate investment in Spain in the retail sector last year reached 4.
45 billion euros. The growth was 310%, which is an absolute record at the moment. This was mainly driven by a deal to purchase a portfolio of 659 bank branches worth about $2 billion.
02/28/2023
Shopping center sales up 16%, above pre-pandemic levels
According to the Spanish Association of Shopping Centers and Parks (AECC), shopping center sales grew by 16.3% in 2022 compared to the same period of the previous year. This means that the turnover reached 47.763 billion euros, and the figures for 2019 before the pandemic were exceeded by 1.8%.
02/28/2023
The number of foreign residents in Catalonia with a residence permit in Spain increased by 1.7%
The number of foreign residents with a residence permit in Spain living in Catalonia increased to 1.271.810 people, according to the census data as of January 1, 2022. This is 1.7% more than the previous year, according to a report by the Institute of Statistics of Catalonia (Idescat).