Since 8 October 2026, letting a home in Spain for a season requires a reason the landlord can prove. And the rule may still lapse.

Picture this: an estate agency in Marbella receives an enquiry from a family in London who want to rent a seafront flat from January to April, as they do every winter. The listing on the agency’s website says “seasonal let, 1 to 11 months, agency fees paid by the tenant”. Someone wrote it three years ago, and since then it has been copied to four portals. Since 8 October 2026, that listing may no longer be true. And nobody at the agency has read it again.

Estate agencies pay close attention to contracts. Much less to listings. Yet the listing is the first thing the client, the owner and, if something goes wrong, an inspector will read.

What has been clear since 2023.

Since Spain’s Housing Law 12/2023, agency and contract formalisation costs for residential lets have been paid by the landlord. For a tenant’s main home, agency fees have not been charged to the tenant since May 2023.

What changed in October 2026.

On 29 September, the Spanish government approved a housing decree-law. On 2 October, Congress voted to repeal it. On 5 October, the dissolution of the Cortes was signed, with a general election on 29 November. On 6 October, the government approved Royal Decree-law 29/2026, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE) on the 7th and in force since 8 October.

The essentials for anyone letting for a season, according to the text published in the BOE: a seasonal let of a home is now called temporary housing, and it is only allowed when the tenant is away from their usual home for a real reason that can be proven, which the contract must state expressly. The burden of proving that reason lies with the landlord. Without it, the contract is treated as a main-home let from the day it was signed. The term must exceed 31 days and, as a general rule, not exceed twelve months. If it runs beyond twelve months without justification, or more than two consecutive contracts are signed between the same parties for the same home, the first is treated as a main-home let.

The same text rewrites the rule on fees: agency and formalisation costs cannot be passed on to the tenant, directly or indirectly, under any name. Any other non-essential service can only be charged if the tenant asked for it in writing, after being told it is optional and what it costs. Seasonal contracts signed before 8 October keep their previous rules until the agreed term ends.

A decree-law must be validated within 30 days of its enactment. With the Cortes dissolved, that vote falls to the Standing Committee of Congress. If it is not validated, it lapses, as happened with the previous one.

What I do not know.

I do not know whether this decree will be validated. I do not know whether a winter stay for pleasure counts as a reason for being away from home, or whether the fee rule already covers temporary housing contracts: several law firms infer it from the text, but it is a reading, not an express sentence. The regions may also have their own rules, which the decree says it respects. I am not a lawyer, and this note is no substitute for consulting one.

The blind spot: the listing is still live.

A contract is signed once and filed. A listing, on the other hand, stays live on the website and on the portals for months, and often nobody remembers who wrote it. If it says “seasonal”, “1 to 11 months” or “fees paid by the tenant”, it is making a claim about a rule that has changed three times in little more than a week and may change again in the coming weeks.

The risk is not only in what it says. It is also in what it takes for granted: that the owner knows who pays, that the foreign client understands the difference between a holiday let of up to 31 days and a temporary one, and that the agency will manage to correct everything it published in time.

When the rules change every week, your website cannot be more categorical than the Official Gazette.

Where I stand.

It is not my place to give an opinion on the law. It is my place to say what I see from the website: an agency that lets homes for a season should today have a single dated page that explains, in its clients’ languages, what applies since 8 October, what is pending a vote, and what the agency will do in each case. The listings should link to it instead of repeating claims that may expire. And owners should be able to read on that page why the agency charges what it charges, because they are the ones paying the fee for a residential let. The agency that explains this change before anyone else is the one owners call when they do not understand the next one.

What I would check.

• Listings that say “seasonal”. How many there are on the website and on the portals, and what term and reason they promise.
• Who pays, listing by listing. Whether any still attributes agency fees or management costs to the tenant.
• The contract templates. Whether any can be downloaded from the website, and how old they are.
• The page for owners. Whether it explains the service they pay for and how the rule affects them, in their language.
• The dates. Whether the legal and terms pages say when they were last updated.

Where to start.

1. This week

   Search for the word

   Search for “seasonal” and “tenant” on the website and on every portal, and set aside the listings affected.

2. Before the vote

   Date it and qualify it

   A dated page that separates what is in force from what is pending, reviewed by your lawyer and linked from the listings.

3. After the vote

   Update

   Whether it is validated or lapses, change the page the same day and let owners know.

4. Every quarter

   Review with your lawyer

   Listings, contracts and texts for owners, against the rules in force at that moment.

Search your website and the portals for the word “temporada”, seasonal letting, in the listings you have published. Look at the date of each one. How many were written before 8 October and still say the same thing?

A listing does not expire just because the law changes. It stays there, in your name, promising something to someone. And if the rule lapses, who will take care of changing it again?

If you would like me to review what your website and your listings say about lettings today, and in which languages, start with the Strategic Diagnostic. Which contracts to sign, and with which clauses, is for your legal advisers to decide, not a designer.