Property for rent in Spain

For years, buying a holiday home has been a rigid, hard-to-reverse decision. Co-ownership is now changing this, bringing real liquidity to a traditionally inflexible market. In Spain, Vivla is driving this shift as it expands into new tourist destinations.

Barcelona has once again placed housing at the centre of political and social debate. The City Council’s plan to phase out 10,000 tourist accommodation licences by 2028 coincides with the Ministry of Housing ordering digital platforms to remove thousands of listings that fail to meet the new state registry rules. While both measures aim to curb tourist rentals, the sector questions how far they will ease the housing access crisis.

Andalusia’s new Ley 5/2025 abolishes the regional body that protected tenants’ rental deposits. Tenants now face greater risk of landlords withholding deposits, making refunds harder and potentially increasing legal disputes, especially for long-term and short-term rental agreements.

House prices in Spain could continue rising for the rest of the decade due to a persistent lack of supply. This is the main conclusion of a new real estate report by Bankinter analysts, which updates their forecasts and predicts price growth of 7% this year and 4% by 2027, in line with the quarterly investment report published at the end of last year.

The number of active tourist accommodations in Spain has fallen sharply. According to the latest data from the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), there were 329,764 holiday flats nationwide in November 2025 – 12.4% fewer than a year earlier (376,463) and 13.6% fewer than in May (381,837), just before the short-term rental register came into force.

Marbella-based Larraín Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) has over 23 years of experience at your service. We offer a wide range of 60 legal and corporate services. Our team of native English-speaking lawyers and economists have a long track record of successfully assisting expats all over Spain.

Catalonia’s rental housing market came under intense pressure in 2025 due to a widening gap between supply and demand. Experts agree that little will change in 2026. Limited supply, sustained demand and rising rent are set to persist in a market shaped by ongoing regulation, including the designation of high-demand areas that continue to constrain available stock.

Marbella-based Larraín Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) has over 23 years of experience at your service. We offer a wide range of 60 legal and corporate services. Our team of native English-speaking lawyers and economists have a long track record of successfully assisting expats all over Spain.

The Spanish College of Property Registrars has received more than 400,000 applications from owners seeking a registration number for short-term rental properties. Mandatory since 1 July, this requirement applies to tourist, short-term and room rentals. Properties without this code cannot be advertised on digital platforms.

The rental market in Andalusia is undergoing one of its most significant transformations in recent years. The new Andalusian Housing Law (Law 5/2025), which comes into force on 24 January, introduces major changes that will directly affect landlords, tenants and estate agents.

In some parts of Spain, more than 100 families now end up competing for the very same flat.

Whilst everyone, myself included, was distracted preparing for the 2025 end-of-year festivities (Hogmanay in Scotland), the Spanish government was busy, sneakily publishing a new law in Spain’s Official Law Gazette (BOE) on the last day of the year that concerns all landlords of short-term prop

2025 marked an unprecedented regulatory shift in the short-term rental market. The introduction of the Single Registration Number reshaped how owners, rental managers and platforms operate, requiring thousands of properties to regularise their status to continue listing on portals where payments are processed.

Spain’s long-running boom in tourist apartments is starting to turn.

As there is a lot of confusion surrounding this topic, I decided to publish a short post to (hopefully) shed some light on it.

For many, renting can feel like paying for a home without ever owning it. Buying is the alternative, but it comes with a significant financial commitment—especially with mortgage interest rates still relatively high.

Nowadays, more and more tenants are looking to rent a room in Spain for various reasons: studying, temporary work, or simply as a first step towards independence.

The Spanish Government will approve a royal decree at its next Cabinet meeting that includes funding to support landlords in cases of unpaid rent, specifically for leases to young people or vulnerable families.

Every summer, hundreds of families in Spain exchange their homes with others in search of free holidays and unique experiences. This rapidly growing practice, known as home swapping, operates in a legal grey area: there are no tourism regulations, no clearly defined tax obligations, and no administrative oversight from the tax authorities. What many see as an affordable and sustainable alternative to holiday rentals remains, for the government, a sector shrouded in legal ambiguity.

Demand pressure on the existing supply of rental housing is becoming increasingly acute in the suburbs of major cities.

The rental property supply has decreased since the Housing Law came into effect. Interventionist measures and the legal uncertainty faced by landlords have weakened the market. Therefore, many landlords are seeking guarantees from prospective tenants, such as a deposit. Is this legal?

In a context where access to housing is becoming increasingly challenging, rental assistance is essential for vulnerable people.

The mayor of Palma, Jaime Martínez, has announced his intention to prohibit any new tourist rentals across the entire municipality of the Balearic capital.

Lagoom Living has begun demolition work on seven buildings in Málaga’s Lagunillas neighbourhood, in the heart of the city, where it plans to construct a residential complex comprising 109 affordable rental homes. Scheduled for completion in December 2027, the development will revitalise currently derelict or disused pieces of land and buildings located near the iconic Plaza de la Merced.

Soaring rents and fierce competition are pushing many people towards room rentals. On average, 22 prospective tenants compete for each listing on idealista, though demand remains lower than for full homes. Palma (65) and San Sebastián (62) record the most enquiries per room, while among the largest markets, Barcelona (22) edges ahead of Madrid (20).