Royal Decree-law 29/2026 has been in force since 8 October. It caps rent rises until 2027, creates an extraordinary extension of up to two years, turns seasonal lets into "temporary housing leases" that require a stated reason, bans charging the tenant for IBI property tax, management fees and rent-default insurance, changes income tax for landlords and tenants and creates new protections against eviction. This guide sets out what affects those who let or rent in Barcelona, together with the Catalan rules that still apply.
Three rules overlap until 31 December 2027: without an update clause there is no rise (art. 18.1 LAU); the IRAV, the official INE index for updating rents, is the ceiling in every case; and, if the lease anniversary falls between 8 October 2026 and 31 December 2027, the rise cannot exceed 2% without a new agreement, nor be anything at all if the rent already exceeds the upper limit of the reference index.
Indicative result for main-residence leases whose anniversary falls between 8 October 2026 and 31 December 2027.
Indicative new rent
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Enter the current rent to see the calculation.
In a stressed area, the rent of a new lease is also still capped by that of the previous lease (plus 10% only in the listed cases) and, if the landlord is a large landlord, by the reference index. This calculator is for the annual update of a lease in force.
The fifth final provision lets the tenant ask, year by year and for up to two more years, for the lease to continue on the same terms when the mandatory extension, the tacit extension or the tacit renewal runs out. Answer these questions to find out whether it applies to you.
Result
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Answer the seven questions.
From 15 November, if RDL 28/2026 comes into force, this extension does not apply when the new five- or seven-year extension under Article 10.1 applies. If it applies to a lease where the landlord had already validly given notice of non-renewal, the lease ends when the two years are up and, without legal grounds, compensation becomes due. The law sets no deadline or form for the request: make it in writing and keep proof.
The "seasonal" let is no longer a lease for a use other than housing and enters the LAU as a temporary housing lease: one that covers the housing needs of someone temporarily away from their usual home for a justified reason that can be proven. In Catalonia, this adds to what Law 11/2025 already required since 1 January.
The lease must state the reason for being away (work, studies, medical treatment, works on the usual home…). The burden of proof is on the landlord. Without a reason, the lease is governed by the main-residence rules from the day it was signed.
It can be extended by express agreement while the reason persists. Below 31 days it is tourist accommodation, with its own rules.
If 12 months are exceeded without justification, or there are more than two consecutive temporary leases (or amendments) between the same parties for the same home, the first is treated as a main-residence lease.
For the same home, the rent of later temporary leases cannot rise each year by more than the IRAV. In a stressed area and with a corporate landlord, the reference index also applies.
No compensation for the landlord.
On top of the deposit. The landlord also covers minor wear-and-tear repairs and must respond to reports within five working days; otherwise the tenant carries out the repair and deducts it from the next rent.
Room lets now come expressly under the LAU, as main-residence or temporary depending on their purpose, and the total rent of rooms let at the same time cannot exceed the rent of the whole home.
They keep their previous regime until the agreed expiry and then end with no possibility of extension. If they are renewed or a new one is signed, the new rules apply.
In Catalonia. Since January, Law 11/2025 has already required a documented reason, registration of the lease with the Incasòl and, in stressed areas, controlled rent for seasonal and room lets too. The state decree applies "without prejudice" to Catalan law (new twelfth additional provision of the LAU): a temporary lease in Barcelona must comply with both.
Unless the tenant is the taxpayer. Nor community charges in buildings not held under horizontal property. General costs can still be agreed in writing with their annual amount.
They have been payable by the landlord since 2023; now the law bans passing them on "directly or indirectly, under any concept or name". Other non-essential services only if the tenant requests them in writing, knowing they are optional and what they cost.
Nor similar cover. The landlord can take it out at their own cost.
On top of the one-month legal deposit, the additional guarantee cannot exceed two months' rent (one for a temporary lease).
After six months and with thirty days' notice, the tenant can terminate without compensating the landlord. The clause of one month's rent per remaining year disappears from the law.
The tenant keeps their right of first refusal even if the home is sold together with other properties or the whole building: the notice must state the price attributed to the flat and how it was set, and the Land Registry requires proof of the notices.
When damage affects habitability, safety or health, the tenant can demand the repair in writing with a reasonable quote. The landlord has 15 calendar days to accept it, propose an alternative or carry it out; otherwise the tenant carries out the repair and deducts the proven cost from future rent.
When the lease ends, the parties must sign a document recording the condition of the home. If it is not signed, or records no damage, the home is presumed to have been returned in good condition. It is advisable to take a photo inventory on moving in and out.
Every advert must include the reference index and the rent cap in stressed areas, the home's identifier and, where applicable, the landlord's status as a large landlord. In Catalonia, Law 11/2026 already required minimum content in adverts.
What does not change: one month's deposit (in Catalonia, lodged with the Incasòl), minimum term of five or seven years, updates only if the lease provides for them, and a written lease if the tenant asks for one. For leases signed between Law 12/2023 and 8 October 2026 the decree does not make clear whether all these bans apply to them: check each clause before applying it or treating it as void.
| Measure | What it says | From when |
|---|---|---|
| Tenant's deduction | 10% of the rent paid for the main residence, for taxable bases under €33,007.20. Maximum base of €11,630 (tapering from €23,007.20). With no other home within 50 km for at least half the year. | 8 October 2026 |
| Landlord's reduction (income tax) | New scale on the net rental income from main-residence lets, from 15% to 100%: 100 to 70% if the rent falls by more than 5% compared with the previous lease; 50 % if it is the same or lower; 40 to 15% if it rises (40% up to 5%, 30% up to 10%, 25% up to 15%, 20% up to 20%, 15% above that); 100 % for a first let with rent below the index (95, 90 or 85% depending on stressed area or a tenant aged 18 to 35; 50% if it equals or exceeds it); 70 % social rent or letting to a public authority; 60 % home refurbished in the previous two years; 80 % for a tacit extension with rent within the index. In general, not for large landlords, undeclared income or leases that breach the rent limits. If several apply, the highest one is used. | Leases after 1 December 2026. Earlier ones keep their reduction. The 80% one for extensions also applies to earlier leases if they reach five years after that date. |
| Deemed income (empty flats) | Tiered scale on the total cadastral values: 1.1% up to €100,000; 1.5% up to €500,000; 2% up to €1,000,000; 3% above that. | 1 January 2027 |
| IBI (property tax) | Town councils can approve surcharges on homes empty for more than two years (up to 50%, 100% beyond three years, and up to 50 points more depending on the number of properties) and, in stressed areas, on tourist accommodation (50, 100 or 150% depending on the number of properties). | Tax periods starting after entry into force, if the council approves it |
| VAT | Renovation and repair work on homes let as main residences at 10% (paid by transfer, card or cheque). Furnished lets of up to 30 nights to the same tenant are no longer exempt and are taxed at 10%, unless it is the landlord's own main residence. | 1 December 2026 |
| Municipal capital gains tax | New maximum coefficients on the land value, from 0.11 to 0.30 depending on years of ownership. | 1 December 2026 |
| Sale of an empty home to a public body | Full exemption of the gain up to a price of €200,000 and partial up to €800,000, for homes empty for more than two years sold to public housing bodies. | Sales between 8 October 2026 and 31 December 2027 |
| Over-65s and dependent people | For the main-residence sale exemption, a home counts as the main residence if it was so until the person moved to a care home or a relative's home because of age or dependency. | 8 October 2026 |
The landlord's reductions and the tenant's deduction have nuances (bases, limits, declared income) worth confirming with Secod, the tax advisers on our team, before counting on them.
In an eviction for non-payment where the tenant is in proven financial vulnerability, the authorities have two non-extendable months to offer alternative housing or pay and deposit the full amount claimed. Meanwhile, the proceedings and the eviction are suspended. If they pay, the lease continues. If they do nothing, they take over as debtor: there is no eviction and the landlord claims from them.
If the claimant is a fund or entity that buys properties or debt portfolios far below their valuation, the court suspends the proceedings. With any other claimant, it asks the authorities for a report and, if there is no alternative, suspends for up to three years, with an annual review and compensation for the landlord (lost rent, utilities and costs) if they are an individual or an affordable-rental entity.
There is no suspension when the claimant is an individual who owns two homes or fewer, nor when the court finds that the claimant's own vulnerability should prevail (unless they are a legal entity or a large landlord).
Both mechanisms reach enforcement proceedings under way where the eviction has not yet taken place. The defendant can request the suspension even if earlier deadlines have passed.
The route is still the verbal trial and the ordinary stay (paying before the hearing) remains. What changes is that, with proven vulnerability, the cost of non-payment falls on the authorities instead of the landlord.
Only if the lease provides for an update. If the rent already exceeds the upper limit of the reference index, no. Otherwise, until 31 December 2027 the rise is whatever the parties newly agree and, without a new agreement, 2% at most, always below the IRAV. Use the calculator in section 02.
Only if you have already agreed other terms or signed a new lease, if you agree a new one with the rent at least 5% lower, or if you have stated in time and in writing that you need the home for yourself or your relatives with a real and proven reason. Outside those cases, and if the tenant is up to date and has been for the previous eight months, the extension is mandatory.
Yes, with a real reason that can be proven in writing in the lease, more than 31 days, no more than 12 months as a rule and without chaining more than two leases with the same tenant. In Catalonia, also with the lease registered with the Incasòl and, in stressed areas, with controlled rent.
It keeps its previous regime until the agreed expiry date and then ends, with no possibility of extension. If you renew it or sign a new one, the new rules apply.
No. Rent-default insurance cannot be required from the tenant (you can take it out yourself) and the IBI cannot be passed on, unless the tenant is the taxpayer. The property's general costs can, by written agreement stating the annual amount.
The decree includes no express transitional rule for leases signed between Law 12/2023 and 8 October 2026 on costs, guarantees, early termination or pre-emption. It is an open question best resolved case by case before applying a doubtful clause or treating it as void.
It ceases to be in force and the measures in this guide stop applying to new leases. Extensions requested, pre-emption rights exercised or proceedings suspended between 8 October and the repeal will have to be looked at one by one; the majority view is that they are not automatically cancelled. We will update the guide the same day.
We review your lease against Spanish and Catalan law, tell you which clauses need changing and what you can and cannot do, and if you manage your rentals with us, we apply it for you at every expiry and every update.
Notice · This guide covers Royal Decree-law 29/2026 of 6 October (BOE of 7 October 2026), the Urban Leases Act as currently worded and Catalan law (Law 11/2025 and Law 11/2026) as of October 2026, and is for information only. The tools give indicative results and do not replace a review of each lease or individual legal or tax advice. Profinca supports you on the property side and, when needed, with the specialists on its team.