Royal Decree-law 26/2026
Spanish seasonal-rental decree that Congress refused to validate on 2 October 2026.
Royal Decree-law 26/2026 died on 2 October when Spanish deputies voted 178 to 172 against keeping it, only three days after ministers issued it, and its seasonal-rental rules have no replacement yet.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026
What replaces Spain's seasonal-rental rules now the decree has lapsed?
Timeline for Royal Decree-law 26/2026
Lapsed after failing validation by 172 to 178
Nomads & Communities: Congress sinks Spain's two rent decreesBackground
Royal Decree-law 26/2026 was the Spanish government's seasonal-rental decree, which ministers adopted on 29 September 2026. It was the rule ministers had promised in June to close the gap between tourist lets and ordinary leases.
The decree set four main obligations. Temporada contracts and room lets needed a provable displacement reason and a minimum term of 31 days. Platforms that withheld listing data risked penalties reaching €1m or 2% of global turnover. Tourist lets that had been exempt would have paid value-added tax at 10%, and rent rises between successive temporary contracts were capped.
Congress refused to validate it on 2 October, and the decree lapsed with its companion, Royal Decree-law 27/2026 on lease renewals. Nothing has replaced its measures, so seasonal lets fall back on regional law and the pre-decree national framework.
The decree lapsed after three days
The decree reached the floor of the Congress of Deputies on 2 October and failed by six votes, 172 to 178. Junts, the Partido Popular and Vox voted against it. A Spanish decree-law takes effect when the cabinet issues it but lapses unless Congress validates it, so its 29 September rules never settled into force.
The vote also erased The National definition of a temporada let. Every furnished contract of up to 12 months, and every room let, would have had to state a provable reason the tenant was away from home and run at least 31 days. The text named no remote-work cause, so a nomad renting for four months would have had to prove displacement. Its 10% VAT on tourist lets also falls.