马德里/伦敦，10月21日——在87岁的玛丽卡门·阿巴斯卡尔被驱逐出马德里的住所两周后，西班牙民众对她的死亡感到愤怒；首相佩德罗·桑切斯清楚地知道，这场日益严重的住房危机究竟该由谁来负责。
MADRID/LONDON, Oct 21 - As anger boiled over in Spain about the death of Maricarmen Abascal two weeks after the 87-year-old pensioner was evicted from her Madrid home, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez had no doubt who was to blame for the mounting housing crisis.
在解散议会并宣布于11月29日举行提前大选后，桑切斯表示，新通过的紧急住房法规将有效遏制“秃鹫基金”的投机行为。他称这些法规“只会针对那些将住房视为可投机商品的人”。过去五年间，租金上涨了44%，房价上涨了58%，抗议者们强烈要求制止这些“秃鹫基金”的投机活动——许多人认为正是这些基金导致了包括阿巴斯卡尔在内的众多居民被驱逐的悲剧。
Emergency housing legislation passed after he dissolved parliament and called a snap election for November 29 would "stand up to vulture funds," Sanchez said on October 6, adding that the measures would "target only those who regard housing as just another commodity to be speculated on." With rents rising 44% and house prices 58% over five years, protesters clamoured for a halt to speculation by so-called "fondos buitre" (vulture funds) that many blame for a raft of evictions such as Abascal's.
然而，在西班牙，许多人仍难以准确识别这些所谓的“掠夺者”究竟是谁。
But many in Spain are struggling to pin down exactly who these supposed predators are.
在阿巴斯卡尔的案例中，她的房东并非大型私募股权公司，而是一家名为Urbagestión的小型咨询公司。根据西班牙房地产登记协会的数据，这家公司由两兄弟共同拥有，仅有8名员工，去年的净利润为2,990欧元（约合3,350美元），名下拥有两处房产。据代表阿巴斯卡尔的租户联盟称，Urbagestión在八年前收购她的公寓后，将她的月租金从570欧元涨到了1,650欧元——这一金额远远超过了她的月养老金。法庭文件显示，Urbagestión是在发现阿巴斯卡的租金合同已经到期后才将她告上法庭的。
In the case of Abascal's eviction, her landlord was not a big name private equity firm but rather a small consultancy called Urbagestión. Owned by two brothers, it has eight staff, a net profit of 2,990 euros ($3,350) last year and two properties to its name, according to the Association of Spanish Registrars. After buying Abascal's apartment eight years ago, Urbagestión increased her monthly rent to 1,650 euros from 570 euros, more than her monthly pension, according to the tenants' union that represented her. The company took Abascal to court after discovering that her regulated rent contract had expired, court documents show.
“虽然Urbagestión可能不属于‘大型基金’，但它确实属于‘小型和中型企业’（即‘秃鹫型中小企业’），”住房部长伊莎贝尔·罗德里格斯指出。
“Urbagestión may not have been a ‘fund,’ but it is a ‘vulture SME (Small and Medium-sized Enterprise),’” Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez said.
“秃鹫基金”这一术语最早出现在2008至2014年的金融危机期间，用来指那些收购受租金管制公寓并哄抬租金的私募股权基金或投资银行。
WIDENING THE NET Vulture funds first entered the Spanish lexicon after the 2008-2014 financial crisis to describe private equity funds or investment banks that bought rent-controlled flats and jacked up rents.
根据西班牙央行的数据，包括投资基金在内的公司仅占西班牙租赁市场的8%。马德里房地产分析公司Acuña的总监费尔南多·罗德里格斯·德·阿库尼亚表示，政府现已将监管范围扩大至在市场上获利的任何人，这将构成西班牙租赁市场大多数的小房东也卷入其中。
But companies including investment funds account for just 8% of Spain's rental market, according to the Bank of Spain. The government has now widened the net to include anyone that makes a profit in the market, enmeshing small landlords who make up the majority of Spain's rental market, said Fernando Rodriguez de Acuña, general director of Madrid-based real estate analysis firm Acuña.
他说：“在市场上获利是理所当然的。否则，一开始就不会参与其中。”
"It’s only natural that anyone should make a profit in the market. Otherwise, you wouldn’t get involved in the first place," he said.
政府首次尝试在2023年的一项住房法中界定和监管秃鹫基金，该法限制了“大持有者”的活动——即拥有10套或以上房产的个人或公司。
The government first attempted to define and regulate vulture funds in a 2023 housing law that limited the activities of "large holders" – people or companies who own 10 or more properties.
本月发布的法令调整了参数，规定在被认定为住房短缺的地区拥有5套或以上房产的人也必须被纳入监管范围。他们现在被禁止以低于市场价值70%的价格购买房产。
In the decrees issued this month, the parameters were tweaked so that those who own five or more properties in areas deemed to have housing shortages must also be included. They are now banned from buying property for less than 70% of its market value.
立法进一步规定，拥有两套以上房产的业主不得驱逐租户，直至2030年；而所有房东都将面临合同自动续签和租金冻结。
The legislation goes further by banning owners of more than two properties from evicting tenants until 2030, while all landlords will be subject to automatic contract extensions and rent freezes.
驱逐激增 秃鹫基金定义日益模糊，上周将社会党议会发言人蒙特塞·明格斯也卷入其中。西班牙网站《Articulo 14》报道称，她丈夫拥有一家出租30套公寓并曾驱逐多名租户的房产公司，随后她辞职。
EVICTION SURGE The increasingly nebulous definition of a vulture fund last week ensnared Montse Minguez, a parliamentary spokesperson in the Socialist party, who stepped down after Spanish website Articulo 14 reported that her husband owned a property company that rented out 30 apartments and had evicted several tenants.
当Antena 3电视台问她为何Urbagestión被视为掠夺性公司而她丈夫的公司不是时，她说那是一家遵纪守法、依法纳税的家族企业，而秃鹫基金是“外国资金买下整栋公寓楼，赶走居民将其改为度假屋出租”。“我们只是说，不能刺向要害，也不能搞投机或秃鹫基金那一套，”她说。
When Antena 3 asked her why Urbagestión was considered predatory and her husband's company was not, she said it was a family company that abided by the law and paid its taxes while vulture funds were "foreign money that buys up entire blocks of flats to drive people out of their neighbourhoods to turn them into holiday lets." "All we’re saying is that you can’t go for the jugular, nor can you turn to speculation or vulture funds," she said.
自3月份一项疫情时期保护弱势租户的法律失效以来，西班牙的驱逐案件激增。据租户工会称，由于该法律未获延期，约7万份驱逐令重新生效。
Spain has seen a surge in evictions since March when a pandemic-era law to protect vulnerable tenants expired. Orders for about 70,000 evictions were reinstated after the law was not extended, according to the Tenants Union.
奥尔加·马图特于9月7日自杀身亡，此前她于4月被驱逐。自2020年以来，她的案件一直处于待决状态，起因是一家银行将她的公寓出售给一只基金，后者拒绝接受减租。
Olga Matute took her own life on September 7 after she was evicted in April. Her case had been pending since 2020 after a bank sold her apartment to a fund which would not accept a reduced rent.
包括租户工会在内的社会团体在一份声明中表示，新措施为近500万人提供保护，其中包括122,683名面临驱逐风险的人。
The new measures give protection to nearly 5 million people, including 122,683 at risk of eviction, social groups including the Tenants Union said in a statement.
小投资者感到不安 加泰罗尼亚租户工会发言人恩里克·阿拉贡内斯表示：“这些法令距离实际需要还有很长的路要走，但它们代表了在保障住房权利方面取得的胜利。”
SMALL INVESTORS UNSETTLED The decrees "are still a long way from what is needed, but they represent victories in guaranteeing the right to housing,” said Enric Aragonès, a spokesperson for the Catalonia Tenants’ Union.
但埃萨德经济政策中心主任豪尔赫·加林多表示，从长远来看，这些措施只会加剧租赁住房短缺。“这些政策是以还没有房租的人为代价，来保护那些已经有房租的人，”加林多说。
But the measures will only serve to exacerbate the shortage of rental homes in the long term, said Jorge Galindo, director of Esade Center for Economic Policy (EsadeEcPo). "These are policies that protect those who have a rental at the expense of those who don't yet have one," said Galindo.
全国房地产经纪人协会联合会（FAI）称，约600名房地产经纪人报告称，在法令颁布后的几天里，约2,067套长期出租房源被撤回。另有1,523份租赁协议被搁置。
The National Federation of Estate Agents' Associations (FAI) said some 600 estate agents had reported the withdrawal of some 2,067 properties for long-term let in the days after the decree. A further 1,523 letting agreements have been put on hold.
根据埃萨德经济政策中心的研究，西班牙近一半的租赁住房存量由单一房产房东持有，而大房东仅占个人手中市场的3.6%。
Nearly half of Spain's housing rental stock is owned by single-property landlords, while large landlords account for just 3.6% of the market in the hands of individuals, according to EsadeEcPo research.
外国私募股权已有一段时间在减少对西班牙住宅房地产的敞口。黑石集团已将其在西班牙的住宅物业组合从2017年峰值时的40,000套削减至12,000套。
Foreign private equity has been cutting its exposure to residential real estate in Spain for some time. Blackstone has reduced its portfolio of residential properties in Spain to 12,000 from a peak of 40,000 in 2017.
基金转而投资学生公寓以及共享、短期租赁项目，这些项目通常包含健身房会员资格等配套设施，被称为灵活居住，不受相同法规约束。
Funds are investing instead in projects such as student housing and shared, short-term rents often inclusive of amenities like gym membership known as flexible living, which are not governed by the same regulations.
根据MSCI数据公司的数据，投资公司在过去12个月购买的近24,000套西班牙住房中，超过40%为学生公寓。
More than 40% of the nearly 24,000 Spanish homes bought by investment firms over the past 12 months were student flats, according to MSCI data company.
CPP和Greystar是过去两年西班牙住房市场前四大跨境投资者中的两家，它们表示，其投资完全或主要集中在学生住房和灵活居住领域。
CPP and Greystar, two of the top four cross-border investors in Spanish homes over the past two years, said their investments were entirely or mostly in student housing and flexible living.
“事实是，市场并非由大型基金控制，而是掌握在小投资者手中。因此，现在所有的负担都要由小投资者来承担，”罗德里格斯·德·阿库尼亚说。($1 = 0.8923欧元) 路透社
"The fact is that the market isn’t controlled by large funds; it’s in the hands of small investors. So now it’s all the small investors who have to bear the entire burden," Rodriguez de Acuña said. ($1 = 0.8923 euros) REUTERS