Room rentals are one of the loopholes that landlords in Catalonia have found to bypass rent caps. Consequently, in December, Parliament approved a law to regulate seasonal and room rentals, a pioneering initiative in Spain.

The rent cap has taken up almost all the media attention, but the declaration of a stressed residential market area (ZMRT) provides for other instruments to facilitate access to housing. This Wednesday, the Spanish government announced direct subsidies to these territories, as established by the state housing law: it intends to distribute 90 million euros among the five autonomous communities that have applied the measure. Of this figure, Catalonia will receive 60 million, as it concentrates 75% of the population living in an area where the housing market is stressed, and 85.5% of the municipalities.

New data on the impact of rent caps. The average price of new rental contracts has fallen by 1.28% in municipalities declared as rent-controlled areas —where the administration can apply rent containment— compared to when the measure began to be applied in March 2024, while in the rest of Catalonia prices have risen by 9.53%. This is data published by the Generalitat this Monday based on the deposits of new rental contracts made to Incasòl during the first quarter of 2026.

Renting an apartment is still hell (as is buying it, no doubt). Everyone knows it, and it's a prophecy, as the poet would say. Attempts to rein in prices are starting to work, but only halfway. And with dysfunctions. It's more than likely that without price caps and tense zones, things would be worse. But the improvement is slight and presents contradictions. Today we're explaining one that has gone unnoticed until now, because it's not obvious, and that shows the complexity of the situation when it comes to prices actually falling, or at least not rising.

On Tuesday the Spanish government approved a new series of housing measures. The star project, the state housing law, was put on hold after the judiciary did not approve the first report on the law; however, the executive has approved two other measures to facilitate access to housing, especially for young people: the young tenant grant and the state plan for access to housing 2022-2025, endowed with €1.7bn.