Mark Stücklin
Catalonia’s progressive government has passed an emergency Decree Law that hikes property taxes for affluent buyers whilst reducing the tax for victims of gender violence in a gesture of token compassion.
On 25 March 2025, the Catalan government (the Govern) approved Decree Law 5/2025, a package of “urgent measures” that includes sharp increases in property transfer taxes for higher-value homes and large property holders. The pretext? Combating what the decree describes as the “scourge” of gender-based (machista) violence and the housing crisis faced by low-income families.
A crisis so serious, it calls for an emergency property tax hike
The official justification for the emergency decree is outlined in its lengthy and impassioned preamble, published in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya (DOGC). The decree has two principal aims:
“It addresses the difficulty of accessing a basic right such as housing,” the preamble explains.
“The housing crisis has become a serious problem affecting a large part of the population, especially families with fewer resources.”
That’s reason number one: Catalonia has a housing crisis. No surprise there. Reason number two is where things take a more surprising turn:
“Secondly, this decree includes measures aimed at ensuring the protection of victims of machista violence. Gender-based violence is a scourge that deeply affects society, and it is essential for public administrations to adopt effective measures to protect victims and prevent these acts.”
And so, to tackle both the housing shortage and gender violence in one go, the Catalan government is introducing steep new taxes on property purchases for some, and reductions for others. According to the decree:
“It is essential and urgent to implement measures that facilitate access to housing for victims of machista violence, through tax deductions. These measures would not only contribute to their protection and safety, but also help reduce some of the factors that negatively affect their lives. Ensuring safe and affordable housing is fundamental in providing these individuals—who often find themselves in extremely vulnerable situations—with a stable environment where they can rebuild their lives and regain autonomy. This promotes the well-being and dignity of victims and helps them maintain economic independence, reducing dependence on the aggressor and facilitating recovery and social reintegration.”
“In summary, this decree law is a necessary and urgent response to two major social problems: the difficulty of accessing housing and the protection of victims of machista violence. The measures adopted aim to guarantee fundamental rights and improve citizens’ quality of life, demonstrating the institutions’ commitment to social welfare.”
“The Catalan Government proposes to face these challenges, which cannot be postponed, through a series of tax measures.”
How many will benefit?
The decree does not quantify how many victims of gender violence actually purchase property in Catalonia each year—or how many could, given the barriers to credit and affordability. We have to assume that there are enough of them to justify an emergency decree that offers this group a flat 5% property transfer tax rate as a tool for independence and security. Otherwise it’s just a symbolic gesture used as political cover for a much broader fiscal measure: a tax increase aimed at high-end buyers, male and female alike.
Key takeaways from the decree
From 27 June 2025, the new progressive Property Transfer Tax (ITP) rates come into effect in Catalonia:
- 10% on the first €600,000
- 11% on the next €300,000 (up to €900,000)
- 12% on the next €600,000 (up to €1.5 million)
- 13% on anything above €1.5 million
- 5% for victims of “machista” violence
Example: a buyer of a €1 million home will now pay €105,000 in transfer tax, up from €100,000 previously. That’s a €5,000 increase—equivalent to a 5% rise in this price bracket.
Large property holders, meanwhile, face a fixed 20% transfer tax. The same applies to buyers of entire residential buildings, unless you’re a private individual buying up to four homes for personal or family use.
Of course, this new 20% rate on major owners will have minimal impact in practice, since few large investors or institutional buyers are interested in Catalonia anymore, thanks to years of hostile policies and tax instability.
Political statement
On one level, Decree Law 5/2025 can be understood as a political statement dressed up as emergency legislation. It allows the regional government to signal its progressive credentials—acting decisively to fight gender violence and support housing access—while quietly hiking taxes on a minority of affluent buyers unlikely to generate much public sympathy. This move is also necessary for the Socialist government to keep the hard-left Comuns party onboard.
If the Catalan government were genuinely committed to helping female victims of gender violence buy homes, it could eliminate the property tax for them altogether. Instead, it has opted to reduce it to 5%—still a significant burden, and only one percentage point lower than the standard rate in Madrid, where progressive machista Iñigo Errejón could buy a home and pay almost the same tax rate as a battered woman in Catalonia. Andalusia recently reduced the rate to 3.5% to hep buyers in rural areas, and buyers pay less than 5% in quite a few other countries and regions in Europe.
The fact is Catalonia could scrap the tax entirely for victims of gender violence and still come out ahead, thanks to the increased revenue from taxing far larger groups of buyers.
Token compassion, real taxation
The reduction in ITP to 5% for victims of machista violence is being marketed as a bold, compassionate step—but in reality, it’s a token gesture. A 5% tax is still high by any standard, and very few victims are likely to be in a position to benefit. It’s the kind of measure that sounds meaningful but delivers almost nothing in practice. There’s something rather distasteful about using such a serious issue to distract from what is, in essence, a broader property tax hike—especially when the practical impact on the group supposedly being helped is negligible.
A high price for moral high ground
Only Catalan progressives could convince themselves that hammering battered women buying a home—likely the biggest investment of their lives—with a 5% tax is an act of compassion, and then claim the moral high ground for it.
Perhaps the Govern is making a big show of supporting victims of machista violence with what amounts to a largely symbolic gesture, all to deflect attention from the real substance of the decree: a property tax hike that will affect far more people.
