A2 · ElementaryAdapted from El Mundo

Spanish Politician's Husband Owns 30+ Homes

El marido de la política y sus casas

Oct 17, 20261 min readGraded Spanish · word-by-word audio

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Montse Mínguez es una política del PSOE. Su marido se llama Sergi Vélez. Él tiene muchas casas. Es un gran propietario en Lérida. Su fortuna es muy grande. Montse habla mucho sobre la vivienda. Pero su marido es un gran casero.

Sergi tiene un grupo llamado Nest Capital. Tiene al menos 30 casas. Solo hay un empleado en el grupo. También tiene dos empresas en Panamá. Un inquilino dice: «No puedes decir 'vota con v de vivienda' si tu marido es un fondo buitre». Los vecinos no quieren que Montse sea alcaldesa otra vez.

Montse dice que su marido paga impuestos y trabaja legalmente. Pero también dice: «Si un inquilino no paga, se le desahucia». Muchas personas están enfadadas. Ella dimite de su puesto. El PSOE pierde su campaña sobre la vivienda. Es un momento muy difícil para el partido.

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Watch out, English speaker

Spanish 'tener' covers both possession and age, but English splits these into 'have' and 'be.' Say 'Él tiene muchas casas' (he has many houses), yet for age you must say 'Tiene 40 años,' literally 'he has 40 years'—never 'he is 40 years' with 'ser.' English speakers often wrongly reach for 'ser' or 'estar' when expressing age or possession. Watch the subject-verb agreement: 'tener' is irregular in the 'yo' form ('tengo') and stem-changes in 'tú/él/ellos' ('tienes, tiene, tienen'), while 'nosotros/vosotros' keep the stem ('tenemos, tenéis'). English has almost no verb conjugation by comparison, so learners forget to change the form and default to 'tiene' for every subject. Memorize the full paradigm rather than translating word-for-word from English.

Key vocabulary

políticom./f.
politician, political figure
“Montse Mínguez es una política del PSOE.”— Montse Mínguez is a PSOE politician.
Pattern político del PSOE PSOE politician
Compare dirigente leader
Plural: políticos / políticas
💡 From Greek polis (city-state), related to "politics"
maridom.
husband
“Su marido se llama Sergi Vélez.”— Her husband's name is Sergi Vélez.
Pattern su marido her husband
Compare esposo spouse
Plural: maridos
💡 Opposite of "mujer" (wife); be careful not to confuse it with "mari"
casaf.
house, home
“Él tiene muchas casas.”— He has many houses.
Pattern muchas casas many houses
Compare vivienda housing
Plural: casas
💡 Basic vocabulary; note that "casa" means house, while "hogar" means home
propietariom.
owner, property owner
“Es un gran propietario en Lérida.”— He is a major property owner in Lleida.
Pattern gran propietario large landowner
Compare dueño owner
Plural: propietarios; feminine: propietaria
💡 From Latin proprietas (ownership), related to "propiedad"
fortunaf.
fortune, wealth
“Su fortuna es muy grande.”— His fortune is very large.
Pattern gran fortuna huge fortune
Compare riqueza wealth
Plural: fortunas
💡 Note that "fortuna" can also mean "luck"; here it means wealth
viviendaf.
housing, dwelling
“Montse habla mucho sobre la vivienda.”— Montse talks a lot about housing.
Pattern campaña sobre la vivienda housing campaign
Compare casa house
Plural: viviendas
💡 Formal term, often used in policy and legal contexts
caserom.
landlord
“Pero su marido es un gran casero.”— But her husband is a major landlord.
Pattern gran casero big landlord
Compare arrendador lessor
Plural: caseros; feminine: casera
💡 From "casa", referring to a person who rents out housing
inquilinom.
tenant, renter
“Un inquilino dice: «No puedes decir 'vota con v de vivienda' si tu marido es un fondo buitre».”— A tenant says: "You can't say 'vote with a v for vivienda' if your husband is a vulture fund."
Pattern inquilino no paga tenant doesn't pay
Compare arrendatario tenant
Plural: inquilinos; feminine: inquilina
💡 From Latin inquilinus, referring to a person who lives in someone else's house

Grammar spotlight

Present tense of tener

Tener (to have) is a fundamental Spanish verb. Its present tense conjugation is: yo tengo, tú tienes, él/ella tiene, nosotros tenemos, vosotros tenéis, ellos tienen. It is used to express possession, age, and more.

“Él tiene muchas casas.”— He has many houses.

⚠️ Do not write 'tiene' in any form other than 'tiene'; note that the third person singular is 'tiene'.

Sentence patterns to steal

No puedes decir 'vota con v de vivienda' si tu marido es un fondo buitre.
You can't say 'vote with the v of vivienda' if your husband is a vulture fund.
No puedes decir X si Y.X and Y can be replaced with other content to express 'if Y, you can't say X'.
Los vecinos no quieren que Montse sea alcaldesa otra vez.
The neighbors don't want Montse to be mayor again.
no querer que + subjunctiveThe subject and the clause content can be replaced to express 'not wanting someone to do something'.
Es un momento muy difícil para el partido.
It is a very difficult moment for the party.
Es un momento + adj. + para + nounThe adjective and noun can be replaced to express 'it is a ... moment for ...'.

Housing Politics in Spain

In Spain, housing is an important political issue. The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) once proposed the slogan 'votar con v de vivienda' (vote with the v of housing), emphasizing housing policy. However, politicians' family members owning many properties often sparks controversy and is accused of hypocrisy.

Source: Based on El Mundo news background

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