Esther Hernández to take Fuerteventura’s housing emergency to the Senate “to put it on the national agenda”

Esther Hernández Marrero, the People’s Party candidate for the Senate from Fuerteventura, has pledged to put the housing problem on the national agenda, saying it will be one of her top priorities in the upper house after the next elections on 29N.

Hernández says the island is facing a worrying housing emergency that requires state investment, available land, institutional cooperation and fewer bureaucratic hurdles.

“There is something we should not accept as normal: that someone can work in Fuerteventura and still be unable to find a home. Housing is not a luxury but a right — a right to live independently, start a family or build a future here,” the People’s Party candidate says.

She stresses that this serious problem “cannot be solved with two almost improvised decrees, such as those Pedro Sánchez pushed through by the back door, without the backing of the legislative chamber that represents all Spaniards, or by banning things through a law that has only ended up harming the most vulnerable. Spain’s housing problem can be solved with real state funding to build public and affordable housing,” she says.

Hernández points out that little progress has been made on housing during eight years of Socialist government. In Fuerteventura, she says, the commitment has been “clearly insufficient”, and “the housing solution will not be available to residents until the next legislature, at the earliest, as some developments have not even begun construction and have no start date”, the candidate explains.

“Those who claim to defend the most vulnerable and the welfare state, but have not stopped families with children from being left out on the street because of an eviction — what have they done over these eight years?” the candidate asks.

Against this backdrop, she recalls Alberto Núñez Feijóo’s commitment to tackling Spain’s housing problem: building one million public homes across the country.

Criticism of the 2023 Housing Act

Esther Hernández also points to the negative impact of Law 12/2023 on the Right to Housing, which she says has created considerable legal uncertainty and taken thousands of homes out of the traditional rental market, both nationally and in Fuerteventura.

“After the law came into force, many property owners chose to switch their homes to temporary rentals or put them up for sale because of excessive burdens, a lack of protection against non-payment, or difficulties recovering their property,” the candidate explains. She says “this situation has ultimately harmed tenants directly, particularly young people and vulnerable families, because of the stricter financial requirements imposed on them”.

In response to what she calls the “failure” of Pedro Sánchez’s policies, Esther Hernández reiterates the People’s Party’s commitments.

“Whenever we govern, we show through our actions, not our words, that we deliver on our promises. We will do so again after 29N,” the candidate concludes.