Valencia
Spanish Mediterranean city and autonomous region; Spain's strictest short-let regulation zone from 2026.
Valencia enacted Spain's strictest short-let caps on 25 May 2026: a 2% per-neighbourhood limit, an 8% overall ceiling and a 15% ground-floor sub-limit, after more than 9,000 unlicensed tourist apartments were found operating in the region.
Last refreshed: 22 September 2026 · Appears in 1 active topic
Will Valencia's 2% tourist-flat cap actually cool its rental market for residents?
Timeline for Valencia
Mentioned in: Spain's unions go after the tax base
AI: Jobs, Power & MoneyMentioned in: Navarra writes the rule Madrid could not
Nomads & CommunitiesEnacted Spain's strictest STR cap at 2% per neighbourhood from 25 May 2026
Nomads & Communities: Spain housing fails owners and rentersMentioned in: Spain's top court voids STR registry
Nomads & CommunitiesMentioned in: Spain cuts short-lets, court voids tool
Nomads & CommunitiesBackground
Valencia refers both to the Valencian Community, an autonomous region on Spain's eastern Mediterranean coast, and to the city of Valencia, the region's capital and Spain's third most populous city. The Community covers the provinces of Valencia, Alicante and Castellon, with a combined population of roughly five million, and its economy mixes agriculture, manufacturing, tourism and a growing remote-work sector.
Non-resident foreign buyers have concentrated a disproportionate share of Spanish property purchases in the region, paying well above the price Spanish nationals pay for equivalent property: 3,242 euro per square metre against 1,839 euro for nationals in the first half of 2026.
The region is governed by the centre-right Partido Popular, which took control from the Left-wing Compromis-PSOE Coalition in 2023. Its strict short-let caps are an unusual alignment for a centre-right government, driven by constituents facing acute affordability pressure. Valencia lacks the separate foral civil-law competence held by Navarra and the Basque Country, so it cannot legislate directly on lease contracts the way Navarra did in July 2026.
Valencia enacts Spain's strictest STR caps
Valencia City Council approved a permanent regulation on 31 March 2026 capping tourist apartments at 2% of housing stock per neighbourhood, requiring new units to sit on ground or first floors with independent street access. The Generalitat Valenciana followed on 25 May with a region-wide order adding an 8% overall tourist-accommodation ceiling and a 15% ground-floor sub-limit, the strictest STR regime in Spain; more than 9,000 unlicensed tourist apartments were found operating at the time.
The same day, Spain's Tribunal Supremo voided the national STR registration number on constitutional grounds, ruling that registration competence sits with the regions rather than Madrid. That ruling, STS 620/2026, is the basis on which Valencia's own caps now stand; it devolved registration only, not the civil lease law that lets Navarra go further.