Spain rent decree survives 35-34; no automatic renewal

What changes for tenants and landlords in the Canaries?

The Diputación Permanente of Spain's Congreso confirmed the government's decree package by 35 votes to 34 on Thursday 12 November. After the Cortes (Spain's parliament) were dissolved, this committee takes over some of the Congreso's duties, and it needed no casting vote.

The second decree would have renewed rental contracts automatically. The Basque PNV voted against, together with PP, Vox and Junts, and it failed 35 to 34.

Anyone hoping for automatic renewal has no legal right to it. Protection from eviction and the extraordinary extension stay in place because the main decree was confirmed.

This applies nationwide, including to tenants and landlords in the south of Gran Canaria, Tenerife, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura. Madrid sets the rental rules, not the Canary government, which only has a say on tense areas (zonas tensionadas).

What is in the housing decree that was saved?

The confirmed decree keeps eviction protection in force until 31 December 2030, La Gaceta de Canarias reports. It covers vulnerable people who have no alternative home.

It also brings rules on seasonal and room lets, limits on rent rises and an extraordinary extension of up to two years for certain contracts. The reports did not say exactly which contracts qualify.

The earlier Decree 26/2026, published in the BOE (the state gazette) on 30 September and in force from 1 October, was more specific. It covered main-residence contracts whose compulsory extension ends before 31 December 2028, and tenants had to request it and keep their rent up to date.

Whether these conditions apply unchanged in the text now confirmed is not established. Sources contradict each other, and the text in the BOE will settle it.

How close was the vote, and why?

On 2 October the plenary of the Congreso had rejected both decrees, the first with 178 votes against and the second with 184. Reports say the votes of Junts were decisive.

This time PSOE, Sumar, ERC, EH Bildu, PNV and Podemos voted for the main decree, and PP, Vox and Junts against. The make-up of the Diputación Permanente let the government win back most of the measures rejected in October.

The votes came one day after the general strike and shortly before the official start of the campaign. Voting is on 29 November, and housing is at the heart of the dispute.

No date for publication of the confirmed decree in the BOE was known by Friday. The reports also gave no euro amounts and no application procedure.

How many rental contracts in the Canaries are affected?

Sumar estimates that 108,252 contracts in the Canaries could be affected by the extension of up to two years. For the whole of Spain the party cites about 1.89 million contracts, an estimate and not a count of applications filed.

The market remains expensive: the Barómetro del Alquiler for the third quarter of 2026 (Observatorio del Alquiler and Fundación Alquiler Seguro) puts the average rent at 1,211 euros a month. That is 8.81% more than at the end of 2025.

Across Spain the average is 1,214 euros, so the Canaries sit just below it. Only Baleares, Cataluña, Madrid and País Vasco are dearer, according to the barometer.

For Las Palmas the barometer gives 1,183 euros, and for Santa Cruz de Tenerife 1,240 euros. Each listing draws 110 enquiries in its first ten days.

What should tenants and landlords do now?

Anyone whose contract ends in the coming months should check the end date. There is no automatic renewal, and under the earlier decree the two-year extension required the tenant to apply.

Tenants should be able to prove every rent payment, since the earlier decree required up-to-date rent and payment of the preceding eight months. Landlords should know that needing the home for themselves counted as an exception there.

Nobody had confirmed by Friday whether these rules are the same in the confirmed text. Anyone who needs certainty should wait for the wording in the BOE.

What is still open?

The PP announced it would repeal the confirmed rule if it forms the government after the election on 29 November. The future of the protection to 2030 therefore depends on the result.

Reports also describe a Decree 28/2026, published in the BOE on 7 October and in force from 15 November. It provides for extensions of five years each, six months' notice for landlords and compensation of up to twelve months' rent.

Our research could not confirm whether this decree is identical to the one that failed on 12 November. Whether it still applies is equally unclear.