Royal Decree-law 27/2026
Spanish five-year lease-renewal decree that Congress refused to validate on 2 October 2026.
Spain's Congress refused on 2 October to validate Royal Decree-law 27/2026 by 166 votes to 184, three days after the cabinet approved the five-year lease-renewal rule, so the measure lapses.
Last refreshed: 3 October 2026
Will Spain's government re-file the lease-renewal rule in another form?
Timeline for Royal Decree-law 27/2026
Lapsed after failing validation by 166 to 184
Nomads & Communities: Congress sinks Spain's two rent decreesBackground
Royal Decree-law 27/2026 was a Spanish emergency decree on residential leases, approved by the Council of Ministers on 29 September 2026. It let tenants renew their leases for five years.
Under Article 86 of the Spanish Constitution, a royal decree-law takes effect at once but lapses unless the Congress of Deputies validates it within 30 days. Congress voted on 2 October 2026 and refused validation by 166 votes to 184. Junts, the Partido Popular and Vox voted against. A second housing decree, on seasonal rentals, fell in the same session.
The defeat leaves the minority government without a lease-renewal rule and shows that its housing measures cannot pass while Junts votes with the right-wing opposition.
Decree-law 27/2026 lapses in Congress
The cabinet approved Royal Decree-law 27/2026 on 29 September, giving tenants a route to renew residential leases for five years. On 2 October the Congress of Deputies refused to validate it by 166 votes to 184, with Junts, the Partido Popular and Vox voting against.
Without validation the decree lapses, and the five-year renewal right it created falls with it after only three days in force. Nothing has replaced the rule, so tenants whose contracts end fall back on the lease terms that applied before 29 September. The government would need a new decree or an ordinary bill, and a different majority, to bring the renewal rule back.