Spain's government approved two emergency decree-laws on 29 September that rewrite parts of the country's housing rules. The package extends to 31 December 2030 the ban on evicting vulnerable tenants who have no housing alternative, creates automatic renewal of residential leases and bars investment funds from buying homes.
The announcement came a week after the eviction of María del Carmen Abascal, 87, carried out of the Madrid flat her family had rented since 1956. The case brought tens of thousands of people onto the streets and returned protest camps to the Puerta del Sol in central Madrid.
An eviction shield four years longer
The ban on evicting vulnerable families began as a pandemic emergency measure in March 2020 and was due to lapse on 31 December 2026. The approved text pushes it to the end of 2030 — two years beyond the government's own initial draft, which stopped at 2028, according to eldiario.es.
Housing and Urban Agenda Minister Isabel Rodríguez presented the provision as the centrepiece of the package, an explicit response to cases like the one in Madrid.
The lease that renews itself
The second decree — kept separate from the first precisely so each could rest on a different majority in Congress — introduces automatic renewal of residential leases, modelled on rules already in force elsewhere in Europe.
A landlord may refuse renewal only if the property is needed for their own use or a family member's. Breaching the rule triggers compensation to the tenant equal to one year's rent.
A March 2026 measure had already allowed two-year extensions for contracts expiring by the end of 2027, with a 2% annual rent increase cap in certain cases.
Funds, rooms and tourist flats
The package also targets speculative buying. Investment funds are barred from acquiring property for less than 70% of its value, a restriction that runs to 2028 according to eldiario.es, and the tax treatment of listed real estate companies was reordered to push capital towards affordable housing.
Seasonal and single-room rentals get rules of their own, with 10% VAT on tourist flats and closure by the regional governments of those operating without a licence. On the other side of the ledger, the government created an income tax deduction for tenants earning up to €33,000 a year — worth as much as a month's rent — interest-free loans for first-time buyers and 4% VAT on public and protected housing.
The case that forced the package
María del Carmen Abascal's flat changed hands in 2018. Her rent, stable at about €500 a month, was raised to €2,650, later cut to €1,650. She was evicted on 23 September and ended up in hospital.
The deal reached this week returns her to the flat with rent capped at 30% of her income — in practice, back to €500. Rodríguez described the owner, Urbagestión, as "a small vulture fund, very predatory".
"To the citizens' movement. To Maricarmen. To the thousands of people in the streets," said Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, crediting the outcome to public pressure.
What still has to happen
An emergency decree in Spain takes effect on publication but lapses unless Congress ratifies it within 30 days. The governing coalition holds 152 of 350 seats and needs Junts and Podemos to pass both texts; the government has requested an extraordinary plenary session for Friday.
That arithmetic explains why the package was split in two: separating automatic lease renewal from the rest lets each decree hunt for its own majority instead of risking the whole thing in a single vote. The Sindicato de Inquilinos de Madrid (Madrid Tenants' Union), camped in the Puerta del Sol, rejected exactly that fragmentation and is demanding a single text.
With information from La Moncloa, eldiario.es and the Associated Press.
