The economist and former deputy of Together for Change Martin Tetaz was at the center of a new controversy after publishing a video on his social networks in which he promoted the construction and sale of micro-apartments of just 15 square meters in the City of Buenos Aires. The problem: that surface directly contradicts the Buenos Aires building codewhich fixes on 24 square meters the minimum area for a unit to be legally called an apartment.
In the video, Tetaz tours a construction site with the real estate developer Gabriel Maioli —both with helmets— and defends the model as an accessible housing solution. The businessman himself acknowledged the irregularity: “Technically it is not called a department because the Legislature sets a limit on the minimum surface area”although he insisted that these are units inhabited by people who are proud of having their first home. Tetaz accompanied the argument and proposed calling them “Diego Maradona” if necessary, as long as they are accessible: “You could have a Diego Maradona for 38 thousand dollars”.
Tetaz himself admitted, during the tour, that the unit was “almost even a garage with a bathroom”. Despite this, he defended the model as entry point to the real estate market: buy a micro-department, build assets and then use it as collateral to access something bigger. A sequence that, on paper, seems reasonable but that in practice requires stable income, access to credit and a sustained mortgage market: conditions that are difficult to find in the Argentina 2026.
Social networks were quick to react. “Romanticize overcrowding. No”wrote one user. Another was more direct: “How did we get from Procreate to this? We eat donkeys and live in pits”. There was also humor: “On a Tetaz scale it would be like 150 meters” and “It’s perfect for him who measures 1.60” were some of the most viral comments. Beyond the mockery, the debate that the video sparked touches on a sensitive point: if the solution to the Argentine housing crisis It involves convincing society that living in increasingly smaller spaces is an achievement, or if the real problem is pulverized salaries and the absence of genuine housing policies.
