Octavio López defended the law as a response to the “complex and diverse reality of Aragon,” where much work remains to be done. He denounced the fact that, in the 40 years during which the region has held powers in this area, it has not created its own law and only 1,289 public homes have been built.
He also highlighted the work carried out by his government over the past 36 months through the Aragon More Housing Plan, funded with 400 million euros for the next six years: “Today we are Spain’s leading autonomous community in the development and construction of public rental housing, with 3,600 homes underway. We are also the third region in protected housing, rising from a meager 160 in previous years to 700 today.”
The spirit of this bill, the Housing Minister said, is “balance” among the different stakeholders and a commitment to “more land, more public housing, more protected housing, more public-private cooperation, more renovation, more aid and greater administrative certainty.”
Octavio López urged lawmakers to pass the law with contributions from the various groups because the situation is urgent: “While we debate, young people are still waiting to move out, workers need to find a home, and municipalities need housing in order to keep growing.” The vote to allow the bill to continue through the legislative process passed with the support of the PP and Vox, the abstention of Teruel Existe, and opposition from the PSOE, CHA and Izquierda Unida.
