On 1 January 2026, Law 11/2025 of 29 December on measures relating to housing and urban planning (hereinafter, the “Law”), which modifies, among other regulations, Catalan Law 18/2007 on the right to housing about temporary rental contracts and room rental contracts (Articles 66 bis and 66 ter of the Law).

In summary, the following highlights the new features introduced by the Law about the aforementioned contracts and the requirements they must meet to be considered temporary or room rental contracts, since failure to meet these requirements will result in the contract being considered a permanent and habitual residence rental contract.

A/ Temporary rental contracts

1) Leases for recreational, tourist or holiday purposes, whether in summer or any other season, are considered temporary leases. In any case, these uses must be stated in the contract.
This type of contract is subject to the rules relating to leases for uses other than housing. The reason or purpose must be stated in the contract, with the provision of specific documentation and due accreditation, and this documentation must be deposited together with the deposit in the corresponding register. These contracts must state the permanent place of residence of the lessee.

2) Leases signed on a temporary basis for professional, work, study, medical care or assistance, temporary situations while awaiting the delivery of a dwelling or return to the usual residence, or for other similar uses, the rules on residential leases relating to the deposit, guarantees, determination and updating of rent, rent increases due to improvements, and the assumption of general expenses and individual services shall apply.

These rules shall also apply to rental contracts for habitual and permanent residences in which the duration is established, but not the temporary nature of the contract. In this type of contract, the temporary purpose of the contract must be identified, indicating the specific reason justifying the temporary nature, and the supporting documentation must be deposited together with the deposit in the corresponding register. Documentary proof in accordance with the provisions of Article 66 of the

Housing Law, which refers to Article 61 of the same Law, requires, in addition to the necessary and mandatory information in rental offers, the need to provide the certificate of occupancy.

The lease shall be presumed to be for the purpose of permanent housing if no use other than housing is recorded in the corresponding register.

3) The extension of a temporary contract will require proof of the persistence of the temporary cause and justification of the tenant’s habitual residence elsewhere, otherwise the contract will be subject to the rules of the habitual and permanent housing lease contract.

4) The concatenation of contracts with the same tenant will require sufficient justification of the continuity of the temporary circumstances that prove the temporary nature of the contract; otherwise, the contract will be subject to the rules governing the lease of a permanent primary residence.

B/ Room rental contracts
1) This is defined as the transfer of exclusive use of a room plus the right to use other rooms or spaces for common use in exchange for a price. It requires compliance with the standards of floor space per person and the maximum occupancy threshold, in accordance with sectoral regulations on housing and certificates of occupancy.

2) This type of room rental or any other type of physical or contractual fragmentation does not alter the nature of the housing rental or prevent the application of the rules that apply to it.

3) The sum of the agreed rents of several simultaneous contracts for a dwelling located in a tense residential market area may not exceed the unit rent of the dwelling.

Finally, the Law creates a Housing Lease Contract Supervisory Commission, whose purpose is to ensure the protection of consumer rights and balance in housing contractual relationships. Its functions include the following: a) Coordinating, supervising and controlling digital platforms, real estate portals and other spaces for advertising rental housing and tourist accommodation; b) Supervising, coordinating and ensuring compliance with the regulations relating to housing rental contracts. As mentioned above, the Law amends other regulations that refer, among other things, to new obligations for large property owners in relation to the rights of first refusal and repurchase of the Generalitat Administration, which are not covered by this document and will be addressed later.