Madrid rents rose 17.9% in the year to April 2026 on Idealista data, the sharpest annual increase among Spanish provincial capitals, with the index putting the city at 21.30 euro per square metre per month.1 It is the freshest read on the trajectory since the rental price-freeze prórroga (extension) fell in Congress, defeated by a Partido Popular (PP), Vox and Junts majority. Spain's 7-billion-euro housing plan, approved on 22 April, was supply-side only, so the defeat of the freeze left no legislative cap on the climb. The figure quantifies the consequence of that legislative arc: a building plan that adds homes slowly and no demand-side brake on rents in the interim.
22OCT
Madrid rents climb 17.9% in a year
2 min read
16:46UTC
Madrid rents rose 17.9% in the year to April on Idealista data, the freshest read on the trajectory since the rent-freeze extension was defeated in Congress on 28 April.
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Key takeaway
Madrid rents rose 17.9% in a year, the month Congress killed the rent freeze that could have capped them.
Deep Analysis
In plain English
Madrid is the Spanish capital and one of Europe's most popular cities for tourists, nomads and long-term residents. According to Idealista (Spain's largest property portal), rents in Madrid rose 17.9% in the year to April 2026, reaching 21.30 euro per square metre per month. A typical 60 square metre flat in a central area now costs around 1,278 euro per month. The Spanish Parliament voted on 28 April 2026 to reject a law that would have frozen rents at their current levels for two more years. The parties that defeated that law were Partido Popular (centre-right), Vox (hard-right) and Junts (Catalan independentists). Without that freeze, there is no national legal limit on how much landlords can raise rents. Spain's government has approved a large housing construction plan, but new buildings take years to complete and will not reduce rents in the short term.
Sources:Idealista
Causes and effects
This Event
Madrid rents climb 17.9% in a year
The sharpest annual rent rise among Spanish provincial capitals arrives in the same month Congress removed the only legislative mechanism that could have capped it.
Led to
Spain commits €7bn to housing plan
Madrid's 17.9% rent rise to April 2026 is the quantified trajectory following the defeat of the rent freeze prórroga covered in ID:2891 and ID:2892.
Occurred 22 Apr 2026
Read story →Spain's Congress sinks the rent-freeze extension
The defeat of the rental price-freeze prórroga on 28 April left no legislative mechanism to cap the 17.9% Madrid rent trajectory.
Occurred 28 Apr 2026
Read story →Spain housing fails owners and renters
Madrid rents rising 17.9% YoY to April 2026 set the rental-pressure context into which the Q1 foreclosure spike and Valencia STR cap landed.
Occurred 25 May 2026
Read story →Spain cuts short-lets, court voids tool
Madrid rents rising 17.9% year-on-year demonstrate the underlying housing pressure that the STR supply contraction is designed to relieve.
Occurred 1 Nov 2025
Read story →Spain rent decree stalls on party split
June's +7.6% Madrid rent figure updates the +17.9% year-to-April baseline.
Occurred 7 Jul 2026
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Written with AI from Lowdown's published reporting. Not individually reviewed by an editor. Editorial standards.