Overview

• The EPP’s Committee of the Regions summit in Badalona concluded with the “Declaration of Badalona,” a roadmap of 18 measures to improve access to housing.
• Speakers labeled illegal occupation and weak owner protections as major obstacles and urged an EU register of occupations alongside effective, proportionate mechanisms to recover properties.
• Badalona mayor Xavier García Albiol said he will promote a municipal register of occupations to share data with other European cities.
• The plan emphasizes regional leadership, legal certainty, simpler procedures, public guarantees, tax relief and public‑private collaboration to accelerate building and expand rental supply.
• Spanish PP figures attacked the 2023 national housing law as harming construction and rentals, while MEP Borja Jiménez’s housing report—described by coverage as either presented or still being finalized—backs lighter bureaucracy, private investment and tailored rules for tourist flats to curb illegal listings.