A seasonal rental agreement signed from Thursday in Alicante, Castellón or València will need to state and substantiate a genuine temporary reason. Without that evidence, it will be treated as a main-home tenancy and carry the protections of Spain’s Urban Leases Act. This is one of the immediate changes in Royal Decree-Law 26/2026, published in the Official State Gazette on Wednesday and effective from 1 October.
The measure arrives amid a dispute over the cost and security of housing. In Alicante, groups from Carolines and Zona Nord gathered in Plaza de la Montañeta on Tuesday and warned that some eviction cases already under way in the city may fall outside the protection. The protest shows the local pressure behind the issue, but it does not alter the decree’s legal scope: the law does not suspend every eviction or automatically make every tenancy open-ended.
Renting by the room can no longer inflate the whole price
The text adds definitions for seasonal and room-by-room rentals. The length of a seasonal agreement must match its stated reason — such as study, work, medical treatment or another demonstrably temporary need — and the agreement must be in writing. The general maximum term will be twelve months. If that limit is exceeded without justification, or more than two consecutive seasonal agreements are made between the same parties for the same home, the first will be treated as a main-home tenancy.
For room rentals, the combined amount charged for all rooms cannot exceed the rent that would apply to the home as a single unit. The combined rent must also comply with the applicable caps if the property is in an officially designated high-pressure housing area. Seasonal contracts signed before the decree takes effect continue under their existing rules until they expire, as the Gazette’s transitional provision makes clear.
The law also bars landlords from passing estate-agent management and contract-formalisation costs to tenants. Where serious defects affect habitability, tenants may request repairs in writing; if the landlord does not reply within fifteen days or refuses without justification, the tenant may carry out the necessary work and deduct the documented cost from future rent. Using those rights will depend on evidence such as the contract, payment records, correspondence and proof of the property’s condition.
Up to two extra years for contracts ending before 2029
Existing main-home tenancies whose mandatory or subsequent extension ends before 31 December 2028 may be prolonged in yearly periods for up to two additional years. The tenant must request the extension and be up to date with rent, including throughout the previous eight months. The Gazette provides exceptions, including statutory cases in which the owner needs to recover the property.
Annual rent reviews are also restricted until 31 December 2027. If the rent is already above the maximum under the applicable state reference index, there can be no increase. In other cases, the parties may agree a change; without agreement, the rise cannot exceed 2%. This is separate from the open-ended automatic renewal announced by the government in a second decree. Early on Wednesday, that second text had not yet appeared in the Gazette and is not part of the law taking effect on Thursday.
Eviction safeguards are extended to the end of 2030 for vulnerable people with no alternative home, but vulnerability must be documented and the statutory conditions must be met. Where the claimant is an entity that buys property or distressed debt for speculative purposes, the court must suspend proceedings if the eviction has not yet been carried out. Cases involving other landlords follow a route requiring the competent authority to report on and offer available support; the state plans to compensate regional governments for certain resulting duties.
The decree also creates a national income-tax deduction worth 10% of main-home rent for taxpayers with a taxable base below €33,007.20. The maximum eligible amount is €11,630 for those whose taxable base does not exceed €23,007.20. Its practical value will depend on each taxpayer’s circumstances and it will sit alongside Valencian regional deductions within the limits of tax law.
Taking effect does not end the political process. Like every royal decree-law, the text must be ratified by Congress, and the government has asked for an extraordinary vote on Friday. That decision, together with publication of the separate decree on open-ended renewal, will determine which parts of the new framework remain in force and which could fall away.