Published 15 November 2026
Spain's rental decrees after the 12 November vote: what applies now
On 12 November 2026 the standing committee of Congress validated RDL 29/2026 and repealed RDL 28/2026. The BOE, Spain's official gazette, published both decisions on 13 November 2026 (BOE-A-2026-23755 and BOE-A-2026-23754). The rules below are taken from the decrees as published in the BOE on 7 October 2026. Checked against the BOE on 15 November 2026.
Two housing decrees went to a vote on 12 November 2026: RDL 29 was validated and RDL 28 was repealed. If you let a home on the Costa del Sol, rent one, or manage lets for owners abroad, this is what applies now. For the background and the earlier decrees, see Spain's rental decrees: what applies since 8 October 2026.
The short answer
- Validated: RDL 29/2026. It has been in force since 8 October 2026 and its rules stay. They include a cap on rent updates, temporary lets only with a stated reason, a 31-day ceiling on tourist lets that fall outside the Urban Leases Act, no agency fees for tenants, and a tenant's right to have a needed repair done and deduct it if the landlord does not respond. The full list is below.
- Repealed: RDL 28/2026. It was due to start on 15 November 2026 with six months' notice for landlords, renewals of five or seven years and compensation for not renewing, and none of it applies.
- Notice periods stay as they are. For a main-home lease, a landlord who does not want it to continue past the five-year minimum (seven if the landlord is a legal entity, such as a company) must give notice at least four months before that date, and the tenant at least two. Without notice, the lease continues by yearly periods for up to three more years, and the tenant may leave at the end of any of those years with one month's notice.
How the vote works
A royal decree-law (RDL) is a decree with the force of law that the Government can issue in an emergency. Article 86.2 of the Constitution requires Congress to vote on it promptly and to decide expressly whether to validate or repeal it. With the Cortes dissolved for the general election, that vote falls to the Diputación Permanente, the standing committee that acts for Congress (article 78 of the Constitution). The committee validated RDL 29 and repealed RDL 28 on 12 November 2026, and the BOE published the two decisions the next day.
What applies now under RDL 29/2026
RDL 29 amends the Urban Leases Act (the LAU, Law 29/1994). These are the main rules that stay.
| Topic | Rule | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Renewal and notice | A lease for a main home that reaches the minimum term (five years, or seven if the landlord is a legal entity) renews by yearly periods for up to three more years, unless the landlord has given notice at least four months before that date or the tenant at least two. During those years only the tenant can end the lease, at the end of any year, with one month's notice. | LAU 10.1 |
| Extra year for vulnerable tenants, and tensioned zones | When the mandatory term or the 10.1 extension ends, a tenant in a situation of social and economic vulnerability, shown by a social-services report issued in the last year, can ask for one extraordinary extension of up to one year, which a large landlord (gran tenedor) must accept unless the parties have signed a new lease. In an area declared a tensioned housing market, the tenant can ask for yearly extensions of up to three years, which the landlord must accept save for the exceptions in the law. | LAU 10.2 and 10.3 |
| Extra years on request | For main-home leases in force on 8 October 2026 whose mandatory term (LAU 9.1) ends before 31 December 2028, or whose tacit extension or tacit renewal period ends, the tenant can ask for an extraordinary extension by yearly periods of up to two more years. The tenant must be up to date with the rent and must have paid every month for the previous eight months. The landlord must accept, unless the parties agree other terms, sign a new lease, or the landlord has given notice under LAU 9.3 that they or a close family member need the home to live in (a real, documented need). It does not apply where the parties renew or sign a new lease at a rent at least 5% lower. In a tensioned zone the 10.3 extension applies instead. | RDL 29, final provision 5 |
| Tenant leaving early | After six months, with at least 30 days' notice, and without compensation to the landlord. On a temporary let: after one month, with 10 days' notice. | LAU 11 |
| Rent updates | Only if the lease expressly provides for one, and never above the IRAV, the official index for rent updates. For updates falling due between 8 October 2026 and 31 December 2027 there is a further rule: no increase at all where the rent is above the limit of the state reference-price index; in other cases, the increase the parties newly agree, or at most 2% if they agree none. The decree does not say how this limit works outside a declared tensioned zone (none exists in Andalusia today), or how it fits with the express-clause rule in 18.1. | LAU 18.1; RDL 29, final provision 6 |
| Agency and contract costs | Cannot be passed on to the tenant, directly or indirectly. | LAU 20.2 |
| Repairs | The tenant asks in writing for a needed repair and attaches a reasonable quote. The landlord has 15 calendar days from receiving the request to accept the quote, propose another repair or do the work. If the landlord does not reply, or refuses without justification, the tenant may do the work and deduct its cost from future rent. The cost must be reasonable and documented. | LAU 21.5 |
| Guarantees | In a home lease of up to five years (seven if the landlord is a legal entity), an extra guarantee on top of the cash deposit is capped at two months' rent (one month on a temporary let). The tenant cannot be required to take out rent-default insurance or similar cover. | LAU 36.5 |
| End of the lease | Both parties sign a document on the condition of the home. Without one, or if it records no damage, the home is presumed returned in good condition unless proved otherwise. | LAU 36.7 |
| Temporary lets | The tenant must be away from their usual home for a justified, provable reason, which the contract states and the landlord must prove. The let is over 31 days and as a rule no longer than 12 months. A contract that does not state the reason is treated as a main-home lease from the day it was signed. The first contract is also treated as a main-home lease, with the minimum term and renewal rules, if the let runs past 12 months without justification or more than two temporary contracts follow in a row between the same parties on the same home. Seasonal or temporary contracts signed before 8 October 2026 keep their old rules until the agreed end date and then end without extension. | LAU 2.3, 7.2, 9 bis; transitional provision 8 |
| Tourist lets | A let is outside the LAU only if it is the paid, temporary use of a furnished home equipped for immediate use, marketed as a tourist let and subject to a specific tourist regime under sector rules. The competent authorities set its maximum length, which can never exceed 31 days. | LAU 5.e |
RDL 29 also sets new maximum plusvalía coefficients (the municipal tax on the rise in land value) for transfers (sales, gifts and inheritances) from 1 December 2026. Our plusvalía guide has the table.
What does not happen: RDL 28/2026
RDL 28 would have rewritten article 10 from 15 November 2026: six months' notice from the landlord, tacit renewals of five years at a time (seven for a legal-entity landlord), and compensation for a tenant whose lease was not renewed, of the greater of twelve months' rent at the top of the official reference range or one month at that same value for each year lived in the home. With the decree repealed before that date, none of it took effect, and article 10 stays as RDL 29 left it.
What to do now
- Landlords giving notice: it must reach the tenant at least four months before the five-year (or seven-year) date. A notice already given on six months' terms is longer than required. The tenant may still be able to ask for the extra years under final provision 5.
- Landlords whose lease reaches the end of its mandatory term before 31 December 2028, or the end of a tacit extension: expect requests for the extra years. Check the tenant's eight-month payment record, whether you have a need under LAU 9.3, and whether a renewal or new lease at a rent at least 5% lower is agreed, which takes the lease outside the extension.
- Temporary lets: make sure the contract states the tenant's reason for being away from home, and keep the evidence: the burden of proof is yours.
- Agents: agency and contract costs on a lease cannot be charged to the tenant.
This is general information, not legal advice, and it covers Spain-wide law only; regional tourist rules also apply in Andalusia. Check the BOE, or ask a lawyer, for your own lease.
Sources
- Resolution validating Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, BOE-A-2026-23755 (BOE of 13 November 2026)
- Resolution repealing Real Decreto-ley 28/2026, BOE-A-2026-23754 (BOE of 13 November 2026)
- Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, BOE-A-2026-20823
- Real Decreto-ley 28/2026, BOE-A-2026-20822
- Spanish Constitution, articles 78 and 86
- Urban Leases Act (LAU), Law 29/1994
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