Your Spanish rental contract, sorted today.

No, neither. You get no ChatGPT template and no outdated model contract off the internet, but a personally tailored document: the generator assembles it for your situation, your regime and your region, from clauses that have each been checked against the Spanish legislation in force — with the article of law and the date the legislation was consulted, per clause.

That difference is not theoretical. AI assistants and free templates draw on whatever appears most often on the internet, not on what applies now: many still mention the deposit lodging with the AVRA that was abolished in Andalucía on 24 January 2026, and miss the Catalan rules that were tightened on 1 January 2026. When the law changes, our template is updated — and you are notified.

Less than you think — provided the contract is right from day one. The stories about owners losing access to their house almost always involve contracts where the protective clauses were missing. With the art. 9.3 LAU reservation — expressly included in the contract at signing — you can, as a private landlord (not through a company), reclaim the property after the first year for yourself, first-degree family or your ex-spouse after divorce, on two months' notice. The statutory deposit and the regional lodging rules cover damage and arrears, and in return you get fixed rental income all year round — no changeover stress, no tourist licence and no reclassification risk. For many owners it is, on balance, the calmest and most profitable choice.

Two months. Article 36.1 LAU makes demanding and providing a deposit mandatory: one month's rent for a residential tenancy and two months' rent for lets for a use other than housing, which includes seasonal lets. Additional guarantees such as a guarantor or bank guarantee may be asked on top.

That differs per region, and it is often forgotten. In the Comunitat Valenciana the landlord must lodge the deposit with the Generalitat Valenciana within one month of signing; that applies to residential tenancies and to lets for other uses alike. Fail to do so and it is a serious infringement with a fine of up to €3,000, plus surcharges and interest.

In Catalonia it runs through INCASÒL, with a two-month deadline. For seasonal contracts you do not lodge the full two months' rent there, but the share pro rata to the term. In the Balearics it goes through IBAVI.

In Andalucía that duty has lapsed. For rental contracts dated from 24 January 2026 the deposit no longer has to be lodged with the AVRA; that was scrapped by Ley 5/2025, the Andalusian housing act. An important detail: only the lódging has lapsed — the deposit itself remains mandatory under art. 36.1 LAU; you now hold it yourself.

Only if your municipality has been designated a zona de mercado residencial tensionado under Ley 12/2023. As at 30 July 2026 that is some 317 municipalities, and they lie exclusively in five regions: Catalonia, Navarre, the Basque Country, Asturias and Galicia. The Constitutional Court has upheld rent regulation in four rulings by now (including STC 79/2024 and STC 17/2026); only a few competence provisions were struck down — the cap itself stands.

Letting on the Costa Blanca, in Murcia, the Balearics, Andalucía, the Canary Islands or Madrid? Then no rent cap applies. The Comunitat Valenciana has expressly refused to declare zones, even after thirteen municipalities formally asked it to.

One important exception: Catalonia. There, since 1 January 2026, Llei 11/2025 brings seasonal lets and room rentals under the cap in declared zones too, and you must substantiate the temporary purpose of a seasonal contract with documents lodged at INCASÒL. Without that evidence, the contract counts as a permanent residential tenancy by operation of law.

You receive two documents. First, the contract in Spanish, completed with your details — that is the document that gets signed and that binds the parties. Second, a bilingual instruction document in which every clause is explained in English: what you fill in where, and why the provision is there. You do not sign that second document; it exists so that you know exactly what you are signing and so your gestoría can read along. The inventory list, the handover report, the meter readings and the checklists come as separate annexes in every package. And every contract carries a reference number with a reference date in its footer: with it, we can trace years later exactly which clause versions your contract was built from — your proof that the document was correct on the day you signed.

Yes, and it is a common combination: the winter to a seasonal tenant under art. 3 LAU, the summer to tourists under the regional tourism regime. The condition is that each contract follows its own regime and that the property holds a valid regional licence for the tourist months. Take care in Catalonia: in stressed zones, extra requirements have applied to the seasonal part too since 1 January 2026 — see the question on the maximum rent above.

If the tenant stays fifteen days past the end date without you formally objecting, the tacit renewal of articles 1566 and 1581 of the Civil Code kicks in: the contract continues per period by which the rent is set — monthly rent, monthly renewal. A timely, demonstrable formal demand (by burofax, for instance) before or immediately after the end date prevents this. That is why acting formally and on time matters more than the end date in the contract.

Legally required it is not — a contract in another language is perfectly valid (art. 1278 CC). But in practice you cannot do without the Spanish text: in court, a foreign-language document must be accompanied by a translation (art. 144 LEC, sworn if contested), and for the deposit registration and any registry or tax filings you work in Spanish. That is why the contract you sign with us is Spanish — and you read what it says in the bilingual instruction document that comes with it, every clause explained in English.

No. You get a model contract based on the LAU and the regional rules, completed with the details you enter yourself. We do not assess your personal situation and do not act as your lawyer or gestoría. For an ongoing dispute, an unusual structure or a large financial interest, have the contract reviewed by a Spanish lawyer.