The Minister of Housing and Urban Agenda, Denis Itxaso, has argued that housing should no longer be understood exclusively as a matter of social policy but should occupy a central place in Euskadi's economic and territorial development strategies. “Housing is no longer exclusively a social policy issue but has also become a central issue for economic policy and the country's model,” he stated during his address at the Ekonomistak PRO 2026 Forum, held at the Bizkaia Aretoa in Bilbao.
At the event, organized by the Basque College of Economists, Itxaso raised the need to incorporate housing into the major debates on competitiveness, employment, productivity, and talent attraction. In his view, the availability of affordable housing influences both personal development opportunities and Euskadi's capacity to attract investment, generate economic activity, and respond to the needs of its companies.
In this regard, he defended that housing should be considered “a strategic country infrastructure,” on par with transport connections, energy availability, telecommunications, or educational facilities. “An economy can create jobs, generate wealth, and offer opportunities, but if people cannot find affordable housing where they can develop their life project, a significant part of that potential ends up being lost,” he warned.
During his speech, the minister focused on the economic consequences of rising housing costs. When rent or mortgage payments absorb an excessive proportion of family income, disposable income is reduced, along with households' capacity for consumption, saving, and investment. Itxaso defined this phenomenon as “a silent embargo on the family economy,” as each additional euro spent on housing is no longer available for other needs, such as local commerce, culture, training, or the ability to cope with unforeseen expenses.
Therefore, he argued that expanding the affordable rental stock and facilitating access to protected housing is not only a social protection policy but also a tool to free up economic capacity, promote labor mobility, and improve the conditions under which productive activity takes place.
This relationship between housing and the economy is particularly relevant for companies needing to attract and retain qualified professionals. Euskadi is making a significant effort to strengthen its productive fabric, develop new economic activities, and improve its technological capabilities, but these objectives can be compromised if access to affordable housing becomes a barrier for those wishing to work and live in the territory.
“We cannot aspire for Euskadi to be an attractive territory to work in if we do not also make it an accessible territory to live in,” he stressed. Itxaso also alerted to the difficulties young people face in emancipating and the risk that access to housing will increasingly depend on family inheritance. “A person's place in society should not be conditioned by their family's economic capacity to provide them with the keys to their first home,” he stated.
Itxaso emphasized that responding to this challenge requires understanding how households and residential needs are evolving. Population aging, the increase in single-person households, separations, and new forms of cohabitation are modifying housing demand, even in scenarios of demographic stability. This transformation necessitates adapting the residential supply to different life stages and overcoming uniform responses. Likewise, he advocated for planning that considers the differences between capitals, metropolitan areas, intermediate cities, and small municipalities, taking into account factors such as employment location, transport, public services, and family and social networks.
In the urban planning sphere, the minister championed an integral vision that connects housing with the environment in which daily life unfolds. The real cost of residing in a place is not limited to rent or mortgage but also includes commuting, the time spent on it, and the opportunities available in the surroundings. “It is not enough to build more homes. We have to build better opportunities to live,” he pointed out. To achieve this, he advocated for promoting new, well-connected homes integrated into quality urban environments, while also leveraging opportunities in the existing city through rehabilitation, neighborhood regeneration, and improved accessibility.
This perspective directly connects with territorial balance, which Itxaso defined as the capacity to ensure that people have real opportunities to live, work, and develop their projects in different parts of Euskadi.
The minister warned that increasing the residential supply requires more than setting ambitious goals: it is necessary to build the material, administrative, and financial capacity to make them a reality. To this end, he highlighted the importance of having adequate land, financing, capable construction companies, and qualified professionals, as well as resolving obstacles related to processing times, urbanization costs, and administrative complexity.
In this context, he defended the reforms promoted by the Basque Government to simplify procedures, improve coordination between administrations, and reduce the timelines from planning to housing delivery. He also emphasized the opportunities offered by the industrialization of construction and the improvement of production processes. “It is not about reducing requirements or renouncing urban, environmental, or social guarantees. It is about ensuring that these guarantees are compatible with greater public effectiveness,” he explained.
Itxaso framed this strategy within the Housing Master Plan 2025-2027, structured around three main axes: reforms to remove obstacles and improve operational capacity; resources to sustain public policies and expand affordable supply; and agreements to combine the capabilities of institutions, the economic sector, and social agents. The minister insisted that a structural crisis cannot be resolved by a single measure and that action must be taken simultaneously on supply, mobilization of existing housing, rehabilitation, household protection, and improvement of management capacity. “We cannot choose between addressing the urgency and tackling the structural causes of the problem. We have the obligation to do both,” he stated.
He also called for stability, continuity, and cooperation to develop policies whose results transcend legislative terms, and highlighted the importance of evaluating their effectiveness through the Basque Housing Observatory and official statistics, differentiating between announced commitments, executed actions, and real outcomes in people's lives.
In the final part of his speech, Itxaso positioned the Social Pact for Housing as a fundamental tool for a national vision and for engaging various actors in its achievement. In this regard, he expressly thanked the Basque College of Economists and the professionals who contributed their experience to enrich the debate.
Within the framework of the forum, the Deputy Minister of Housing, Miguel de los Toyos, will delve into the results of the working groups and the contributions made by their participants. The day also includes the presentation of a study on territorial balance and housing in the Basque Country, followed by a debate in which the Deputy Minister of Territorial Planning, Juan Carlos Abascal, will participate alongside the research team.
Itxaso concluded by recalling that behind indicators, budgets, and construction forecasts lie concrete life projects: young people wanting to emancipate, families seeking peace of mind, older adults wishing to remain in their neighborhoods, and professionals needing to find housing to accept a job opportunity. “That is, ultimately, the true indicator of success for our policies: that economic opportunities can become life projects,” he affirmed.
The minister thus advocated for the need to continue working to ensure that Euskadi is a competitive, cohesive territory capable of offering opportunities to those who want to live and work in it. “Because housing is not just the place where we live. It is also one of the conditions that determine how we live, what opportunities we have, and what future we can build.”
