:
Spain: Temporary rental listings accounted for 15.5 per cent of entire homes advertised for rent across Spain’s provincial capitals, according to new government research.
Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs analysed 381,997 Idealista listings published across 53 cities between March and September 2026.
Of the total, 47.7 per cent advertised individual rooms, 44.2 per cent were entire homes for residential tenancy and 8.1 per cent were temporary rentals.
However, individual properties can generate several room advertisements. When measured by the number of homes rather than listings, residential rentals represented 68.4 per cent of the market, compared with 19.1 per cent for shared accommodation and 12.5 per cent for temporary rentals.
Among the 199,775 listings for entire homes, almost one in six was offered under a temporary contract.
Madrid and Barcelona collectively accounted for 45.5 per cent of temporary rental advertisements. The segment’s presence was particularly pronounced in San Sebastián and Cádiz, where temporary listings outnumbered residential ones.
The ministry said the findings were consistent with the possibility that some landlords had used temporary contracts to avoid restrictions applying to conventional residential tenancies. However, the report did not establish a causal relationship.
Spain introduced a decree in October requiring landlords to demonstrate a legitimate reason for offering a temporary tenancy. The measure also limits the duration and repeated use of such contracts, although its long-term legislative status remained subject to parliamentary approval when the report was prepared.
Highlights:
- Temporary contracts represented 15.5 per cent of listings for entire rental homes.
- Madrid and Barcelona accounted for 45.5 per cent of temporary rental advertisements.
- Temporary listings were more prevalent in officially designated pressured housing markets.
- New rules require landlords to substantiate the temporary purpose of a tenancy.
