Lorraine Williamson
Spain has introduced sweeping new housing measures, giving tenants greater protection against eviction, regulating temporary and room rentals, and allowing some existing rental contracts to be extended for another two years.
The first package was published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on Wednesday, just days after the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal triggered protests over Spain’s housing crisis. A second, more controversial decree could go considerably further, including automatic rental renewals and compensation equivalent to a year’s rent in some cases.
Real Decreto-ley 26/2026 was published in the BOE on 30 September and introduces changes affecting both tenants and landlords. They include extraordinary extensions for qualifying rental contracts, restrictions on rent increases, tighter rules for temporary and room rentals, additional eviction protection and a new income-tax deduction for some tenants.
The measures still face an important hurdle. Royal decree-laws take effect after publication but must subsequently be validated by Congress, with an extraordinary parliamentary vote expected on Friday.
Some tenants can stay for another two years
One of the most important changes for people already renting a home in Spain is an extraordinary extension of up to two additional years. It applies to qualifying habitual-residence rental contracts that are already in force when the decree takes effect and whose compulsory extension period ends before 31 December 2028, as well as certain contracts reaching the end of subsequent extension periods.
The tenant must request the extension and must be up to date with their rent, including having paid monthly during the previous eight months. Extensions are granted annually, up to the two-year maximum, and the existing terms and conditions of the contract remain in place.
Crucially, the landlord will generally be required to accept the request.
There are exceptions. These include an agreement between landlord and tenant, the signing of a new contract, or where the landlord has a genuine and demonstrable need to recover the property for themselves or qualifying family members.
New limits on rent increases
The decree also introduces an extraordinary restriction on rent updates until 31 December 2027.
Where the rent is already above the maximum established by the applicable reference-price index, there can be no increase. Where it is below that level, an increase of up to 2% may be permitted in the absence of another agreement between landlord and tenant.
The Government says the measures respond partly to the financial pressure facing tenants. The BOE cites Eurostat figures showing that 26.8% of Spanish households renting at market prices in 2025 spent more than 40% of their income on housing.
Temporary rentals face much tighter rules
The Government is also targeting the growing use of temporary contracts, which have increasingly been used in some areas instead of conventional long-term tenancies.
A temporary rental must now have an expressly stated, genuine and demonstrable reason why the tenant requires the property temporarily. Without that justification, the arrangement can automatically be treated as a habitual-residence tenancy.
This is potentially significant in cities and tourist areas where tenants have complained that temporary contracts are being used to circumvent protections applying to conventional residential rentals.
Room rentals are also covered. The combined amount charged for individual rooms in a property cannot exceed what could legally be charged for renting the entire home as one property. Additional restrictions apply in officially designated stressed housing areas.
New tax deduction for some tenants
The decree introduces a national income-tax deduction for qualifying tenants whose taxable income is below €33,007.20.
Eligible tenants can deduct 10% of the rent paid on their main home. For those with taxable income of no more than €23,007.20, the maximum qualifying rental expenditure is €11,630, giving a potential maximum deduction of €1,163.
The available deduction reduces progressively for incomes between €23,007.20 and €33,007.20. Other conditions apply, including being up to date with rent payments.
Eviction protection extended to 2030
Protections for vulnerable households facing eviction are also being strengthened and extended until 31 December 2030 in specified circumstances.
The decree contains further measures aimed at investment funds and speculative property transactions, affordable housing and large landlords. It also requires large-landlord status to be certified through the Property Registry where the relevant legal conditions are met.
When could a landlord have to pay a tenant one year’s rent?
One of the most striking proposals in the Government’s second housing decree is that landlords could have to compensate tenants if they decide not to renew a rental contract.
Under the proposed system, once the initial compulsory rental period has ended — generally five years where the landlord is an individual and seven years where the landlord is a company — contracts would automatically continue for further periods unless either party chooses to end the tenancy.
A landlord could still decide not to renew, but would normally have to give at least six months’ notice. If there is no qualifying reason for ending the tenancy, the landlord would have to compensate the tenant with at least 12 months’ rent, calculated using the state rental-price reference system for a comparable property.
There is an additional protection for long-standing tenants. The compensation cannot be less than the equivalent of one month’s rent for every year the tenant has already lived in the property. This means someone who had rented the same home for six years would still be entitled to the 12-month minimum. Meanwhile, for someone who had lived there for 15 years, the minimum compensation would be equivalent to 15 months’ rent.
There are exceptions. A landlord would not have to pay the compensation in certain circumstances, including where they genuinely need the property as a home for themselves or qualifying family members. Other exemptions are set out in the proposed legislation.
Importantly, these measures are not contained in the housing decree published in the BOE on Wednesday. They form part of the Government’s second housing decree, which is due to be published on Thursday and must subsequently survive a vote in Congress.
How Maricarmen’s eviction changed the political debate
The speed of the Government’s intervention follows extraordinary public reaction to the eviction of 87-year-old Maricarmen Abascal, who had lived in her Madrid home for more than seven decades.
Her removal from the property prompted demonstrations and protest camps in Madrid and other Spanish cities, turning an individual eviction into a focal point for anger over rising rents, housing affordability and the increasing involvement of investment companies in residential property.
Maricarmen has since accepted an agreement allowing her to return to the property after she leaves hospital. According to RTVE, the proposed new contract will run for eight years and her rent will be around €500 a month, capped so that it does not exceed 30% of her income.
Protests have nevertheless continued. Demonstrators are pressing MPs to approve the housing measures when they reach Congress, while arguing that Spain’s wider affordability crisis requires considerably more action.
What happens on Friday matters
The Government does not have an automatic parliamentary majority for the housing packages, making Friday’s vote crucial.
For tenants and landlords, it is therefore important to distinguish between the measures published in the BOE on Wednesday and the additional proposals contained in the second decree.
For now, the first package represents a substantial change to Spain’s rental market: qualifying tenants approaching the end of their contracts could gain another two years in their homes, temporary rentals face tighter scrutiny, and vulnerable households receive additional protection from eviction.
The political battle over Spain’s housing crisis, however, is far from over.