Members of the Spanish hard-left party Podemos started voting on Tuesday to decide if their crucial support for this year's budget should be contingent on the government cutting ties with Israel and enacting measures to reduce rent prices by 40%. 
 
The Socialist-led government of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, which depends on a fragile coalition of smaller parties to secure approval for any legislation, requires the votes of the four Podemos lawmakers in the lower house for the budget to pass, Reuters reports.
 
Sanchez also needs the backing of two centre-right parties - Catalan separatists Junts and Basque regionalists PNV - who are expected to set their own conditions for supporting the budget. 
 
On Monday, Podemos Secretary General Ione Belarra, who was Sanchez's minister for social rights from 2021 to 2023 but is no longer part of the ruling coalition, criticised the government’s perceived inaction in a video message. 
 
Belarra stated that her party's members should determine whether to insist that the government “immediately break off diplomatic and trade relations with the genocidal state of Israel” as a condition for supporting the budget. 
 
In addition, the second condition she referred to was “tackling the housing crisis by lowering rents by 40% by law, banning the purchase of houses by anyone who's not going to live in them and dismantling squadron commandos,” in reference to private companies that act as intermediaries in squatting situations to facilitate the eviction of occupants. 
 
Spain is facing challenges in balancing the promotion of tourism, a key driver of its economy, with addressing citizens' concerns about soaring rents caused by gentrification and landlords converting properties into more profitable tourist rentals. 
 
Protests are planned nationwide this month in response to these issues. 
 
From 2018 to 2023, Podemos served as the junior partner to the Socialists, overseeing five ministries within a coalition of leftist parties. They were initially part of Labour Minister Yolanda Diaz's new leftist platform, Sumar, ahead of the 2023 general election, securing five of Sumar's total 31 parliamentary seats.
 
It withdrew from the platform in December and transitioned into opposition after its leaders were excluded from ministerial positions and assigned a secondary role within Sumar. 
 
Podemos' internal vote will continue until 27th October and the outcome will be binding, the Reuters report adds.