Housing
Signing a Rental Contract in Spain: Your Rights as a Tenant
Spanish tenancy law gives long-term renters strong protection, but only if your contract is the right type. Here’s what to check before you sign.
By
How to Live in Spain
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2 min read
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Rental scams and unfair clauses are common enough that it’s worth slowing down before you sign. The good news is that Spain’s tenancy law is on your side, as long as you know what to look for.
Check the flat and the owner
See the flat in person or on a live video call, and never pay to reserve one you haven’t seen. Ask for a nota simple from the Land Registry, or proof that the agent can act for the owner.
Contract type and length
A contract for your habitual home has strong legal protection; a seasonal contract doesn’t. Long-term homes can run up to five years, or seven if the landlord is a company, and you can usually leave after six months with 30 days’ notice. Annual rent rises are tied to an official index, and some areas, such as much of Catalonia, cap rents.
What you should and shouldn’t pay
The legal deposit is one month’s rent, and any extra guarantee can’t exceed two months. On long-term homes the landlord pays the agency fee, not you. Get in writing who pays community fees, IBI, water and repairs.
Paperwork to ask for
Ask for the energy certificate and, in Catalonia, the cédula de habitabilidad. Then do an inventory with photos and attach it to the contract, signed by both of you. It’s your best protection when you ask for your deposit back.
Go through our before you sign a rental contract checklist with the contract in front of you.
Never pay for a flat you haven’t seen
A habitual home contract protects you most
The legal deposit is one month’s rent
Landlords pay agency fees on long-term homes
Attach a signed, photographed inventory
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