Spanish government revives rent controls by decree after parliamentary defeat

On 6 October, Spain's Council of Ministers approved two new Royal Decree-Laws on housing, four days after Congress had rejected an earlier version [1].

The decree on contracts provides that a lease that reaches the end of its five-year term, or seven years if the landlord is a company, is extended for successive periods of the same length unless one party gives notice. A landlord who does not wish to renew must give six months' notice and pay the tenant compensation equivalent to at least 12 months' rent, subject to certain exceptions [1].

The decree on evictions and rents extends until 31 December 2030 protections against eviction for vulnerable tenants with no alternative housing. It limits annual rent increases until the end of 2027, with a 2% maximum if the parties reach no agreement. It also restricts certain purchases of homes below 70% of their market value until 2030, and applies 10% VAT to short-term tourist lets from 1 December [1].

On 2 October, Congress had voted down the original decrees by 178 votes to 172 and by 184 to 166. The People's Party (centre-right), Vox (nationalist right), Junts (Catalan pro-independence, centre-right) and UPN (Navarrese regionalist, conservative) voted against both [2].

Following the parliamentary defeat, Pedro Sánchez called a snap general election for 29 November [3]. With the Cortes, Spain’s parliament, dissolved, the new decrees must be validated within 30 days by the Diputación Permanente, the permanent committee of Congress, or they will lapse [4].

The decrees followed the eviction on 23 September of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old tenant in Madrid, which sparked a protest camp in Puerta del Sol. Maricarmen later accepted an agreement that allows her to return to her home [5].

Junts, whose votes helped defeat the first decrees, warned that the measures would 'reduce the supply of rental housing and increase prices'. The party also described some of them as 'the expropriation by decree of the savings of three generations of families' [6].

Zurdo, a legal expert at the Agencia Negociadora del Alquiler, called automatic renewal 'the most damaging measure for the market' and predicted that the supply of rental housing would fall to a third of its current level after 2028 [7].

Rents are already rising. The average asking rent in Spain reached €15.10 per square metre in September, 5.6% higher than a year earlier [6].

1. Iberley, ‘Publicados dos nuevos RD-ley con 21 medidas urgentes en materia de vivienda’, 7 October 2026. Summary of Royal Decree-Laws 28/2026 and 29/2026 of 6 October 2026. https://www.iberley.es/noticias/publicados-dos-nuevos-rd-ley-21-medidas-urgentes-materia-vivienda-37073. Official texts: BOE, Royal Decree-Law 28/2026, https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2026-20822, and Royal Decree-Law 29/2026, https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rdl/2026/10/06/29 ↩
2. Iberley, ‘Publicados dos nuevos RD-ley con 21 medidas urgentes en materia de vivienda’, 7 October 2026. Summary of Royal Decree-Laws 28/2026 and 29/2026 of 6 October 2026. https://www.iberley.es/noticias/publicados-dos-nuevos-rd-ley-21-medidas-urgentes-materia-vivienda-37073. Official texts: BOE, Royal Decree-Law 28/2026, https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2026-20822, and Royal Decree-Law 29/2026, https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rdl/2026/10/06/29 ↩
3. Iberley, ‘Publicados dos nuevos RD-ley con 21 medidas urgentes en materia de vivienda’, 7 October 2026. Summary of Royal Decree-Laws 28/2026 and 29/2026 of 6 October 2026. https://www.iberley.es/noticias/publicados-dos-nuevos-rd-ley-21-medidas-urgentes-materia-vivienda-37073. Official texts: BOE, Royal Decree-Law 28/2026, https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-2026-20822, and Royal Decree-Law 29/2026, https://www.boe.es/eli/es/rdl/2026/10/06/29 ↩
4. Diario de León, ‘El BOE publica la derogación de los reales decretos-ley de vivienda’, 2 October 2026. Results of the Congress vote on Royal Decree-Laws 26/2026 and 27/2026. https://www.diariodeleon.es/nacional/261002/2099098/boe-publica-derogacion-reales-decretos-ley-vivienda-congreso.html ↩
5. Euronews, ‘Spain’s Sánchez calls snap election for 29 November after housing defeat’, 5 October 2026. https://www.euronews.com/2026/10/05/pedro-sanchez-calls-early-elections-in-spain-after-defeat-of-housing-decrees ↩
6. Bankinter, ‘Nuevos decretos de vivienda: medidas y aprobación por la Diputación Permanente’, October 2026. The source states that the Diputación Permanente has 30 days to validate the decrees. https://www.bankinter.com/blog/finanzas-personales/decreto-vivienda-2026-medidas ↩
7. Euronews, ‘Maricarmen acepta el acuerdo y volverá a su casa’, 29 September 2026. https://es.euronews.com/2026/09/29/maricarmen-acepta-acuerdo-volvera-casa-desahucio-madrid ↩
8. idealista/news, ‘Junts tumbará los dos decretos de vivienda del Gobierno en el Congreso’, 2 October 2026. Statement by Junts and idealista rent data for September 2026. https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2026/10/02/916913-los-decretos-de-vivienda-llegan-al-congreso-estas-son-las-medidas-que-van-a-votarse ↩
9. idealista/news, ‘Los decretos sobre vivienda aprobados por el Gobierno excluyen a los propietarios’, 29 September 2026. Statement by Zurdo, Agencia Negociadora del Alquiler. https://www.idealista.com/news/finanzas/economia/2026/09/29/916383-el-gobierno-acuerda-proteger-los-desahucios-hasta-2030-y-prohibir-la-compra-por-fondos ↩
10. idealista/news, ‘Junts tumbará los dos decretos de vivienda del Gobierno en el Congreso’, 2 October 2026. Statement by Junts and idealista rent data for September 2026. https://www.idealista.com/news/inmobiliario/vivienda/2026/10/02/916913-los-decretos-de-vivienda-llegan-al-congreso-estas-son-las-medidas-que-van-a-votarse ↩