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Spain approves one of housing decrees that triggered snap election

Reuters

By Mireia Merino

MADRID, Nov ‌12 (Reuters) - Spanish lawmakers on Thursday approved one of two housing ​decrees ‌whose rejection by parliament last month ‌triggered a November 29 early general election, a day after Wednesday's general strike in ‌protest over housing costs.

• By a one-vote margin, the standing body of 69 caretaker deputies who remain in place after parliament's ⁠dissolution passed the decree, which includes rent ‌caps, a temporary ban ⁠on evictions and limits on corporate purchases ​of residential property

• The body rejected, also by one vote, another ​measure, sought by tenants' associations, calling ​for ‌the automatic renewal of rental contracts

• The ​leftist government's measures, aimed at ⁠tackling rising housing costs, came ‌into effect ​temporarily when the decrees ​were published in the official state gazette in early October

• Opposition leader Alberto Nunez Feijoo, whose conservative People's Party ‌leads in opinion polls, said on Wednesday he would repeal the decrees if ‌he ​becomes prime minister

• The opposition has argued that the measures only reduce housing supply and push up prices

(Reporting by Mireia Merino, Editing ‌by Andrei Khalip and Tomasz Janowski)