Spanish Constitutional Court Upholds Housing Rights Law Amid Controversy

The Plenary of the Constitutional Court has rejected the unconstitutionality appeal lodged by the Madrid Community Government against several provisions of Law 12/2023, enacted on May 24th regarding the right to housing. The court determined that the State has competencies to regulate fundamental aspects of this law. This marks the fourth occasion that the Court has pronounced on the constitutionality of this state regulation. The resolution, which featured five dissenting votes, asserts that the State is entitled to define housing as a subjective right and delineate who its holders are to ensure equality in its exercise across the country. Additionally, it states that this right may also be extended to foreign citizens, under the State's competencies to regulate the legal status of foreigners and the conditions of equality. The Madrid government's appeal, which focuses entirely on competencies, criticized the challenged provisions for lacking coverage under the titles invoked by the State for their approval, as well as for infringing upon the exclusive competencies of the Community of Madrid. The appeal especially concentrated on the authority over housing and urban planning as stipulated in Article 26.14 of its Statute of Autonomy and municipal competencies in urban planning. The ruling, presented by magistrate Ramón Sáez Valcárcel, confirmed the constitutionality of Article 8a of Law 12/2023, which states that all citizens have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing, whether through ownership, rental, or any other legal tenure arrangement. The Court concluded that the state legislature is entitled to conceptualize housing as a subjective right and define its holders, thereby guaranteeing the equality of all Spaniards in exercising this constitutional right—an aim served by the competencies recognized to the State in Article 149.11.a of the Spanish Constitution, which provides the necessary support for the challenged provision. Regarding the extension of this right to foreign citizens, the Court affirmed the legitimacy of the state legislature’s actions in including foreigners within the scope of this right. It highlighted that Article 149.11.a allows the State to regulate the necessary basic conditions to ensure equality among all Spaniards. Additionally, Article 149.12.a, when read in conjunction with Article 13 of the Spanish Constitution, enables the establishment of the legal status of foreign citizens. This aspect is particularly crucial in determining the legal framework for foreigners in Spain, delineating the rights originally belonging to Spaniards that must also be granted to citizens of other nationalities residing in the country, thereby establishing conditions of equality in the ownership of constitutional rights. Furthermore, the ruling declares that the object of the appeal has become moot in relation to provisions that have previously been declared unconstitutional and null via another prior ruling. It dismissed the majority of remaining challenges by referring to the findings on similar provisions and complaints made in previous rulings related to Law 12/2023 of May 24. The TC also rejected the unconstitutionality claim against Article 174 of the law that was newly challenged, following the same line of reasoning that led to the rejection of the challenge against Article 151.a1 of the same law, noting the structural identity of both provisions and the similarity in the constitutional objections directed against them. The dissenting votes were announced by magistrates Ricardo Enríquez Sancho, Enrique Arnaldo Alcubilla, Concepción Espejel Jorquera, César Tolosa Tribiño, and José María Macías Castaño. Related Sources: • Source 1 • Source 2