Spain's Left Pushes PSOE on Housing Crisis

Key vocabulary

• presionarv.

  to pressure, to push

  “Quieren presionar al PSOE para que apruebe un decreto.”— They want to pressure PSOE to pass a decree.

  Pattern presionar a alguien to pressure someone

  Compare forzar (to force) / insistir (to insist)

  presiono, presionas, presiona, presionamos, presionáis, presionan

  💡 From the noun presión (pressure), with the -ar verb suffix, meaning 'to apply pressure'.

• decretom.

  decree, official order

  “Quieren presionar al PSOE para que apruebe un decreto sobre la vivienda.”— They want to pressure PSOE to pass a housing decree.

  Pattern real decreto royal decree

  Compare ley (law) / norma (regulation)

  Plural: decretos

  💡 From Latin decretum, meaning 'a thing decided'. The Spanish government often uses decreto-ley for fast legislation.

• alquilerm.

  rental, rent

  “Hay un choque sobre los contratos de alquiler.”— There is a clash over rental contracts.

  Pattern contrato de alquiler rental contract

  Compare arrendamiento (lease)

  Plural: alquileres

  💡 From the verb alquilar (to rent); note that the noun form alquiler is not spelled like alquilar.

• desahuciom.

  eviction, forced removal

  “Su desahucio causó mucha indignación.”— Her eviction caused a lot of outrage.

  Pattern protección frente a desahucios protection against evictions

  Compare expulsión (expulsion) / desalojo (eviction)

  Plural: desahucios

  💡 Evolved from des- (negation) + ahuyentar (to drive away), referring to forcing someone out of their home.

• renovarv.

  to renew, to extend

  “Sumar quiere que los contratos de alquiler se renueven automáticamente.”— Sumar wants rental contracts to renew automatically.

  Pattern renovar un contrato to renew a contract

  Compare actualizar (to update) / prorrogar (to extend)

  renuevo, renuevas, renueva, renovamos, renováis, renuevan (o→ue)

  💡 re- (again) + nuevo (new), meaning 'to make new'. Note that o changes to ue in conjugation.

• especulaciónf.

  speculation

  “Dicen que limita la especulación.”— They say it limits speculation.

  Pattern limitar la especulación to limit speculation

  Compare acaparamiento (hoarding)

  Plural: especulaciones

  💡 From Latin speculatio (observation, investigation); in economics it refers to profiting from price fluctuations.

• imprescindibleadj.

  essential, indispensable

  “Para Sumar, esta medida es imprescindible.”— For Sumar, this measure is essential.

  Pattern medida imprescindible essential measure

  Compare necesario (necessary) / esencial (essential)

  Singular unchanged, plural: imprescindibles

  💡 im- (negation) + prescindir (to do without) + -ible (able to be), meaning 'that cannot be done without'.

• ambiciosoadj.

  ambitious, bold

  “Pero la izquierda exige un decreto ambicioso.”— But the left demands an ambitious decree.

  Pattern decreto ambicioso ambitious decree

  Compare aspirante (aspiring) / osado (bold)

  Feminine: ambiciosa; plural: ambiciosos/ambiciosas

Grammar spotlight

Sentence patterns to steal

• Quieren presionar al PSOE para que apruebe un decreto sobre la vivienda.

  They want to pressure the PSOE to pass a housing decree.

  presionar a alguien para que + subjunctiveYou can replace presionar with pedir or exigir, and PSOE with another target.

• Para Sumar, esta medida es imprescindible.

  For Sumar, this measure is essential.

  Para + person/organization, algo es imprescindible.You can replace imprescindible with necesario or esencial.

• "O se está con los especuladores o se está con las familias", dicen.

  "You are either with the speculators or with the families," they say.

  O se está con A o se está con B.You can replace A and B with two opposing sides.