Catalonia approves the long-awaited law regulating seasonal rentals

BarcelonaThe Catalan Parliament on Thursday approved the long-awaited law regulating seasonal and room rentals. The aim of the legislation is to prevent these rental arrangements from being used fraudulently to circumvent the rent cap, which has been in effect throughout Spain since March 2024. The initiative, a first in Spain, was approved thanks to votes in favor from the PSC, ERC, Comuns, and CUP parties. Junts per Catalunya voted in favor of some articles of the law but rejected its core provisions, and, like the PP, had submitted the text to the Catalan Statutory Guarantees Council. endorsed the rule except for one articleRegarding the extension of the officially protected status of apartments in high-demand areas, the final text has strengthened this provision by incorporating several amendments from the sponsoring groups. The PP, Vox, and Aliança Catalana voted against it.

What does the law say?

The final text clarifies that residential leases are subject to housing law, regardless of the contract duration (therefore, this also includes leases to students or workers relocating for work). Only vacation or recreational rentals are exempt, and these must be documented. Furthermore, the total price paid by all tenants in an apartment rented by the room cannot exceed the maximum price that would apply if the entire apartment were rented.

This all stems from the government decree-law approved in April, which included, among other things, streamlining urban planning procedures. This decree-law then led to the draft bill regulating seasonal rentals, which the Catalan Parliament has been processing in recent months. During this time, some amendments from various political groups have been incorporated, and the bill has been reviewed by the Statutory Guarantees Council. The new law, in addition to regulating short-term rentals, incorporates legal changes to include in Catalan law the recognition of the inspector role—which is independent of the creation of the already agreed-upon body—and to safeguard social housing—some 35,000 apartments that were slated to enter the open market will retain their status. Inspection will now be the most important issue because it will determine the government's ability to enforce this law. In fact, regarding compliance with the rent cap, regulated by the national housing law, no sanctions have yet been imposed a year and a half after its entry into force. However, the government has 30 open cases on its desk. "We need proactive oversight, sanctions, and a government that upholds the sovereignty of the Catalan Parliament to guarantee that the regulation is real and effective," the Landlords' Union stated in this regard.

The text also incorporates the creation of the register of large holders –which already existed in the previous legislature and which the Government reactivated in February—, to which all legal entities or individuals with five or more properties must register: those who fail to do so will be subject to fines of between €9,000 and €90,000, as stipulated by the housing law. The registry will be managed by the Catalan Housing Agency (AHC) and will be publicly accessible—anyone who enters an owner's ID or tax identification number will be able to check whether or not they are a large-scale property owner—but only for properties owned by legal entities, not individuals.

A year and a half of negotiations

With Thursday's approval, the Catalan Parliament has brought to a close a process that began a year and a half ago. In April 2024, Pere Aragonès's government presented a decree-law to regulate seasonal rentals, which received the support of the CUP and Comuns parties, but which The Catalan chamber rejected it with the votes of the PSC and Junts A month later. Regulation did not resume until a year later, with an unprecedented agreement between precisely these forces –ERC, Comuns, and CUP– and the new government of Salvador Illa, which had just established housing as a priority for the legislature.

The three left-wing parties They agreed to save the decree on urgent measures regarding housing. provided the Government committed to regulating seasonal rentals. It wasn't until October that the Parliament unblocked the regulationThe bill has now passed the drafting stage for its final approval as law, which took place this Thursday.

The Tenants' Union, which initially promoted the law, has stated that this is a first step, but has said that in February an amendment to the urban leases law will have to be approved in Congress to protect the Catalan law before the Constitutional Court and to close the loopholes in the state housing law. In fact, the People's Party (PP) announced this Thursday that it will take the law to the Constitutional Court, considering it an "attack on private property and the right to property."

Currently, there is another avenue open in Congress to regulate seasonal and room rentals, through a proposed law promoted by Sumar, ERC, Bildu, Podemos, and BNG. However, the text It's stalled due to Junts' veto and no movement is expected until next year.