Pedro Sánchez is the prime minister of Spain. It’s no secret the world is going through a time of turbulence. The principles that held it together for decades are under threat; disinformation is spreading freely; and even the foundations of the welfare state — which brought us the longest period of prosperity in human history — are now being questioned by a far-right transnational movement challenging our democratic systems’ ability to deliver collective solutions and social justice. In the face of this attack, Europe stands as a wall of resistance. The EU has been  — and must remain — a shelter for the values that uphold our democracies, our cohesion and our freedom. But let’s be honest, values don’t put a roof over your head. And at any rate, these values are fading fast in the face of something as concrete and urgent as the lack of affordable housing. If we do not act, Europe risks becoming a shelter without homes. The figures are clear: The housing crisis is devastating the standard of living across Europe. Between 2010 and 2025, home prices rose by 60 percent, while rental prices went up by nearly 30 percent. In countries like Estonia or Hungary, prices have tripled. In densely populated or high-tourism cities, families can spend over 70 percent of their income on rent. And individuals with stable jobs in Madrid, Lisbon or Budapest can no longer afford to live where they work or where they grew up. Meanwhile, 93 million Europeans — that’s one in five — are living at risk of poverty or social exclusion. This isn’t just the perception of experts or institutions: Around half of Europeans consider housing to be an “urgent and immediate problem.” Housing, which should be a right, has become a trap that shapes peoples’ present, suffocates their future and endangers Europe’s cohesion, economic dynamism and prosperity. The roots of this problem may differ from country to country, but two facts are undeniable and shared throughout our continent: First, the need for more houses, which we’ve been falling behind on for years. For nearly two decades now, residential construction in the EU has fallen short of demand. After a period of strong growth in the 1990s and early 2000s, the 2008 financial crisis triggered a collapse in housing investment, and the sector never fully recovered. The pandemic only widened this gap, halting permits, delaying materials and worsening labor shortages that further stalled construction. Second, and just as urgent, is that we must ensure both new construction and existing housing stock serve their true purpose: upholding the fundamental right to decent and affordable housing. Because as we continue to fall short of guaranteeing this basic right, homes are increasingly being diverted to fuel speculation or serve secondary uses like tourist rentals. In fact, according to preliminary European Parliament data, there were around 4 million short-term rental listings on digital platforms across the EU in 2025. In my home country, cities like Madrid and València have witnessed the displacement of residents from their historic centers, which are transforming into theme parks for tourists. For nearly two decades now, residential construction in the EU has fallen short of demand. | David Zorrakino/Getty Images At the same time, housing is increasingly being treated as a financial asset instead of a social good. In Ireland, investment funds have acquired nearly half of all newly built homes since 2017, while in Sweden, institutional investors now control 24 percent of all private rental apartments. Just as no one would dare justify doubling the price of a bowl of rice for a starving child, we cannot accept turning the roofs meant to shelter people into a vehicle for speculation — and citizens overwhelmingly share in this view. Seventy-one percent of Europeans believe that the places they live would benefit from more controls on property speculation, like taxing vacant rentals or regulating short-term rentals. This is what the EU stands for: When it’s a choice between profit and people, we choose people. That choice can’t wait any longer. Thankfully, with yesterday’s Affordable Housing Plan, the European Commission is starting to move on housing, taking steps that Spain has long advocated. Brussels now increasingly recognizes the scale of this emergency and acknowledges that specific market conditions may require differentiated national and local responses. This will help consolidate a shared policy understanding regarding housing-stressed areas and strengthen the case for targeted measures — which may include, among others, restrictions on short-term rentals. Crucially, the plan also stresses the need for EU financing to boost housing supply. The time for words is over. We need urgent action. A growing outcry over housing is resonating across Europe, and our citizens need concrete solutions. Any failure to act with ambition and urgency risks turning the housing crisis into a new driver of Euroskepticism. After World War II, Europe was built on two founding promises: securing peace and delivering well-being. Honoring that legacy today means taking decisive action by massively increasing flexible funding to match the scale of the housing crisis, and guaranteeing member countries can swiftly implement the legal tools needed to adopt bold regulatory measures on short-term rentals and address the impact of nonresident buyers on housing access. The true measure of our union isn’t just written in treaties. It must be demonstrated by ensuring every person can live with dignity and have a place to call home. Let us rise to that promise — boldly, together and without delay.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music “Europe is in a fight.” With those words, Ursula von der Leyen set the tone for her State of the European Union speech — framing this as Europe’s “Independence Moment.” She proposed sanctions on extremist Israeli ministers over Gaza; floated using frozen Russian assets for Ukraine; and backed calls for a drone wall to protect the bloc’s eastern flank against Russia. She also pledged action on jobs, poverty and housing. But were those fighting words enough to bridge the gap between promises and reality — or did they simply paper over a fraying coalition? Host Sarah Wheaton is joined by Rym Momtaz, editor-in-chief of Carnegie Europe’s Strategic Europe blog; Carsten Brzeski, ING’s global head of macro research; and Sorcha Edwards, secretary general of Housing Europe, to unpack the geopolitics, economics and social policy in the speech. We’ll also hear from POLITICO’s Max Griera in Strasbourg, with on-the-ground reactions from MEPs — and look across the border to France, where President Emmanuel Macron faces fresh political turmoil after the government of Prime Minister François Bayrou collapsed.

Listen on * Spotify * Apple Music * Amazon Music Europe baked, the Atomium shut early — and Brussels finally unveiled its long-delayed climate target. Host Sarah Wheaton speaks with POLITICO Climate Reporter Louise Guillot, Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Nick Vinocur and EU Politics Reporter Max Griera about the EU’s new 2040 goal: What a 90 percent emissions cut really means, why critics say it’s already being softened, and how Denmark’s presidency of the Council of the EU plans to juggle climate, migration and more amid stormy politics. We also pull back the curtain on Ursula von der Leyen’s powerful gatekeeper, Bjoern Seibert — and on Viktor Orbán’s crackdown on Budapest Pride. Later, POLITICO’s Cities Correspondent Aitor Hernández-Morales joins to explore how Europe’s cities are navigating the heat — both political and literal — and why so many mayors are now turning to Brussels for help with urgent issues like housing.

Europe’s mayors are keen to tackle the housing crisis but want more help from the EU to take on that challenge and overcome budget constraints, a new poll reveals. This year’s Eurocities Pulse: Mayors Survey — conducted in the spring and shared exclusively with POLITICO’s Living Cities — polled 86 municipal leaders from 26 European countries. According to the results, 63 percent of the bloc’s mayors say tackling climate change is the top priority for their administration — consistent with last year’s findings. But this time, the second-most pressing concern on the list is access to affordable housing. In 2023, housing had barely made the list of the top 10 priorities for mayors surveyed by the network. Its current status as one of the major concerns for the bloc’s local leaders underscores the impact of the home affordability crisis on cities across the continent today. In many of Europe’s urban centers, mayors are facing mass protests against rising rental and home prices. In response, they’ve tried measures like rent caps, banned tourist rentals or launched major building initiatives. But those participating in the survey said they desperately need EU guidance to come up with a coordinated response to the crisis. Even though housing is not, officially, an EU competence, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen vowed to tackle the issue last year, and created the role of the bloc’s first dedicated Housing Commissioner, who is tasked with presenting a plan to increase Europe’s affordable housing stock in 2026. For the first time ever, the European Parliament now also has a Housing Committee, which is analyzing how costs can be reduced across the bloc. The surveyed mayors have plenty of suggestions for how this could be done. More than half say more EU money should be allocated for home-building through programs like the signature Cohesion Policy, which was recently tweaked to allow member countries to use up to €15 billion in regional funds to address the crisis. Local leaders are also calling for a revision of competition and state aid rules, so that more public cash can be allocated to building social and affordable housing. And they’re asking for comprehensive EU regulations to rein in the short-term rentals they say are exacerbating the problem. TRUST ISSUES The mayors polled by Eurocities say budget constraints remain a major obstacle to delivering on their priorities. As high inflation and rising energy costs continue to place municipal governments under strain, many local leaders express frustration toward national administrations, which they believe make it more difficult for cities to access public funds. These frustrations may explain why less than half of the polled mayors say they trust national authorities. The local leaders appear to resent their perceived loss of municipal autonomy — a result of the increased centralization of many EU countries — and complain of national politicians imposing “top-down” decisions. However, while those surveyed appear to lack faith in the national governments they perceive to be out of touch with local concerns, they see EU officials in far-off Brussels as trusted partners. Unsurprisingly, confidence in the bloc’s institutions varies depending on the extent of municipal participation in their programs. But, overall, local leaders appreciate the EU’s efforts to engage with city leaders and provide public funding for local projects. According to the survey, nearly three-quarters of participating mayors say they are optimistic about the EU’s future. That sets them apart from their constituents: The latest Eurobarometer data indicates only 62 percent of EU citizens express similar confidence in the bloc’s positive evolution. The positive sentiment may be due mayors’ direct interaction with the bloc’s institutions, as well as their awareness of how much EU cash is used to fund municipal projects and infrastructure. It also underscore local leaders’ potential as advocates for the European project — and as major players in its future development.

BRUSSELS — The EU is in danger, and the threat posed by Russia isn’t the only thing jeopardizing its future. That’s the message from Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni, who doesn’t mince his words in describing the bloc-wide housing crisis as a “social emergency” that poses an existential risk. “In the same way that Europe has to beef up its defense capabilities to defend itself from the exterior threat we have on our Eastern borders, it has to address the internal threat posed by the housing crisis,” he said. “We’re running the risk of having the working and middle classes conclude that their democracies are incapable of solving their biggest problem.” Collboni said Barcelona, where the average home price shot up by nearly 70 percent over the past decade, is “ground zero” for a crisis generating discontent in the urban areas that house the majority of the bloc’s inhabitants. In places like the Netherlands, anti-democratic forces have already seized on popular anger over high rental and housing costs to score major wins in recent elections. The mayor acknowledged that the European Commission’s decision to create the bloc’s first-ever housing commissioner, and the formation of a dedicated committee within the European Parliament, is a positive advance. But, he said, the EU needs to take more urgent, concrete steps to address the crisis. “We need clear, European political strategies and funding mechanisms to provide affordable public housing in our cities. And mayors and local administrations — the people that know the neighborhoods, the needs of the people, the municipal companies that already build and manage social housing — need to be part of that conversation and help shape these policies,” he added. TACKLING TOURIST RENTALS Since his election in 2023, Collboni has taken a series of audacious measures to make housing more affordable in Spain’s second-largest city. Last summer, the mayor made headlines when he announced Barcelona would move to abolish short-term tourist rentals within five years — a feat he aims to accomplish by not renewing the operating licenses for these properties when they expire in 2028. The decision is being challenged by short-term rental providers and landlords, who claim it violates European law and will contribute to a boom in illegal tourists flats. The city’s conservative opposition parties also oppose measure, which they deride as being “Bolivarian.” But Collboni is confident his decision will be upheld and help stop the “expulsion” of the city’s inhabitants. The phase-out is part of what the mayor describes as Barcelona’s attempt to address its sky-high housing costs with regulation. The other pillar of this strategy is the regulation of rental prices across the city, which he said qualified as a “stressed” market, since the average family is spending over 30 percent of its income on renting or buying a home. “During the pandemic, everyone predicted that people would flee cities and never return, but just the opposite has happened,” he said. “We have to intervene in the market because it’s clear the market hasn’t been able to handle this situation on its own.” Collboni noted the rent cap is a short-term measure designed to stop the crisis from growing even more dire, but that any long-term solution to Europe’s housing problems will require a dramatic increase in the number of affordable public homes. Before major construction projects are green-lit, however, he urged national, regional and local leaders to reexamine their approach to public housing, emphasizing that demand is no longer limited to the most vulnerable members of society. “We need housing policies that are much broader, and that understand that this problem now affects urban working and middle class families,” he stressed, highlighting that 75 percent of Barcelona’s residents are potential beneficiaries of housing assistance. CONSTRUCTION ISN’T A SILVER BULLET Collboni also pointed out that in many cities —Barcelona among them — the construction of new homes isn’t a realistic solution. “Barcelona is geographically fenced in by the sea, the mountains and neighboring municipalities,” he said. “We’re constructing three new neighborhoods that can potentially host up to 45,000 homes — half of which will be public — but after that, there’s nowhere else to build.” That’s why the city’s municipal authorities are also working to expand public housing stock, and they’re doing so by exercising the city’s legal right of first refusal, which gives them first dibs on buildings being sold in areas where the market is stressed and there’s little room for new-builds. Over the past decade, together with Catalonia’s regional government, the city has acquired over 7,000 apartments that are now being let at affordable prices. Casa Orsola, an iconic building in the central Eixample district, is the city’s latest conquest. Initially purchased by an investment firm that intended to evict long-time residents and turn their homes into tourist rentals, authorities intervened after major protests earlier this month. Teaming up with a social housing organization, the city purchased the property for 30 percent below market price. “We’re changing the rules that have allowed us to end up in this situation, so that investment groups and others understand these operations will no longer be lucrative in Barcelona,” Collboni said. “We have plenty of other sectors one can invest in here; let them focus on those.”

The energy in Europe right now is all around, well, energy — and how much it costs. And it’ll be up to Denmark’s Dan Jørgensen on Tuesday to convince the European Parliament that he has a credible plan to fix that as the European Union’s energy and housing commissioner. He’ll toss out promises to “boost” this and “ensure” that and tout an “action plan.” But any bureaucratic promises will have to contend with Jørgensen’s simultaneous mandate to get Europe off cheaper Russian energy, once and for all. We’ll bring you all the live action starting at 2:30 p.m. CET on Nov. 5.  Background reading:  — How the hearings work  — Who’s most likely to get the chop  P.S. If you want to follow more of the action from the hearings, our reporters will be bringing you blow-by-blow updates from all 26 commissioner interviews here.