The Spain rental contract extension 2026 is back on the table: the Government approved Royal Decree-law 28/2026 on 6 October and the BOE published it on the 7th. It comes into force on 15 November 2026, but the Congress Standing Committee (Diputación Permanente) still has to validate it (confirm it), because parliament is dissolved. The plenary of Congress repealed the two earlier housing decrees.
What changes for you today
This decree changes nothing yet: it does not apply until 15 November and it is not validated. But since 8 October another one applies, Royal Decree-law 29/2026, which already brings an extraordinary extension of up to 2 years and a 2% cap on rent rises without agreement; it is also awaiting validation. Our guide to tenant rights for foreigners covers that decree only in an update note at the top. Non-renewal notices a landlord sent before 7 October keep their effect under the decree itself.
What happened
Congress repealed Royal Decree-law 26/2026 and 27/2026 (BOE of 2 October, see our news on the repeal). Days later, on 6 October, the Council of Ministers approved 28/2026. It is a new version of 27/2026, with adjustments that, according to its preamble, aim at more objective and predictable rules. A royal decree-law is a rule with the force of law that the Government passes by urgency and Congress must confirm or repeal. The same meeting approved Royal Decree-law 29/2026 on housing, which we do not analyse here.
The text argues that the Government can approve a repealed measure again if the urgency remains, and cites precedents, including the 2018 rent decree that was followed by the 2019 one. It also mentions protests over the repeal and an extraordinary Council of Ministers on 5 October to dissolve parliament and call elections. That dissolution is recorded in Royal Decree 806/2026: elections on 29 November 2026.
How it works now
After the minimum of 5 years (7 if the landlord is a legal entity), a main-home contract renews year by year for up to 3 more. The landlord gives 4 months' notice and you 2. There is no general compensation for not renewing. Since 8 October, Royal Decree-law 29/2026 keeps the yearly renewal and adds, at the tenant's request, an extraordinary extension of up to 2 years. The details are in the guide to tenant rights for foreigners.
What would change
The decree rewrites only Article 10 of the LAU (the Urban Leases Act). Compared with the above, this would change:
- Length: the contract would renew for successive periods of 5 years (7), not year by year.
- Notice: the landlord's would rise from 4 to 6 months. Yours would stay at 2.
- Compensation: if the landlord does not renew, they would have to pay you the larger of two amounts: 12 months' rent, or 1 month for each year you have lived in the home. It is calculated with the state reference rent price system, or with your current rent if there is no value for your home. It is paid when you hand over the home.
- Exceptions: there would be no compensation, among other cases, if a landlord who is an individual needs the home for themselves or close family, if you were not living there, if you own another suitable home in the same municipality, if you sign a new contract, or if you refuse a valid offer of a new contract.
- Extraordinary extensions: the existing ones (up to 1 year for vulnerability, up to 3 years in a tensioned zone) would stay. If you qualify and do not ask, you lose the compensation; if you ask, it is postponed to the end. The up-to-2-year one from Royal Decree-law 29/2026 would not apply where the new 5-year (7) renewal applies.
- Contracts in force: it would apply to expiries after 15 November. If less than 6 months remain when it comes into force, the landlord could give 4 months' notice. Contracts already running a yearly extension under the current rules would keep it until it ends, and then move to the new regime.
- Notices between 7 October and 15 November: the articles do not treat them separately, but the preamble says they are already subject to the new regime. If this is your case, ask a professional.
What happens next
- Because parliament is dissolved and elections are on 29 November 2026 (Royal Decree 806/2026), the Congress Standing Committee (Diputación Permanente) must validate or repeal the decree within 30 days of its promulgation (Article 86 of the Constitution). There is no voting date.
- If it validates it, it will apply from 15 November. If it repeals it, as the plenary did the two earlier ones, it will never apply.
- We will update this article when there is a vote.
What you can do
- There is nothing to file now. Check when your contract expires and from when the 5-year (7) minimum counts.
- Keep any landlord notice in writing, with its date. It matters whether it arrived before 7 October.
- If you receive a notice or an offer of a new contract, talk to a professional before signing or replying.
Official source: BOE-A-2026-20822, Royal Decree-law 28/2026.
Informational only; check the official source and a professional for your specific case.
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