Rufián admits that housing "is already crushing the left"

The spokesperson for ERC in Congress acknowledges the electoral weariness due to the housing crisis and limits his political project to Catalonia, where he opens the door to a front with Podemos.

The spokesperson for ERC in Congress, Gabriel Rufián, has acknowledged that the housing crisis is taking an electoral toll on the left. He made this statement in an interview on the programme 'Salvados', from La Sexta, where he warned that no government progress will matter if access to housing is not resolved, as reported by elperiodico.com.

"Housing is going to crush. In fact, it is already crushing the left"

Rufián insisted that the measures approved by the Executive, no matter how positive they may be, will amount to nothing without a housing solution: "Nothing we have done, nothing this Government has done, however good it may be, and there have been some very good things, will matter if it does not solve the housing issue."

The republican leader has criticized the PSOE for its management in this area. In his opinion, the socialists always choose the large property owner over the precarious tenant. He recalled that ERC has proposed measures such as taxing rent-seeking and accumulation starting from the third property, initiatives that, according to him, the PSOE systematically blocks.

When asked about a possible state leadership of the alternative left, Rufián was blunt: "I just don’t see myself beyond Catalonia." He explained that betting on a broad national front would be "to falsify myself", although he defended that his proposals are common sense and clash with the interests of the parties.

Where he has left a door open is in Catalonia, where he sees a possible coalition between ERC and Podemos for the upcoming elections. His goal, he said, is to stop the far-right in the Catalan Parliament: "I believe that in the next elections, it could become the territory with the most fascism in its Parliament."

To conclude, he issued a warning about the fragmentation of the progressive space: "If Sumar, Podemos and the mother who gave birth to us do not agree, we deserve to be crushed."

These statements come at a time when housing has become the main headache for left-wing voters in Catalonia, where rental and purchase prices continue to reach record highs. Rufián did not specify deadlines or formulas for that possible Catalan front, which will depend on negotiations between the parties before the upcoming elections.