Spain's Congress has approved a package of emergency housing measures, including a two-year extension for eligible rental contracts with rent increases capped at 2%, and protection from eviction for vulnerable tenants until the end of 2030. The vote came a day after the country's first general strike in 14 years, which brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets over housing costs, wages and public services.
For travellers, one measure in the package stands out: a new 10% tax on tourist apartment rentals. If you're booking a short-term flat in Barcelona, Madrid or Seville, that levy is now part of the legal framework — how it's passed on to guests will depend on hosts and platforms, but it signals Spain's tightening stance on the holiday rental sector, which many Spaniards blame for squeezing locals out of city housing markets.
The politics behind the vote are fraught. The measures passed in the Congress's 69-member Permanent Deputation — a standing body that exercises limited powers after the full 350-seat chamber was dissolved ahead of a snap general election on 29 November. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) held the deciding vote, backing the first decree 35-34 while helping defeat a second one that would have given tenants automatic, indefinite lease renewals. That defeated proposal would also have forced landlords to pay a year's rent in compensation to end contracts.
The right-wing People's Party, leading most polls, has pledged to repeal the approved measures if it wins, promising instead to build a million homes and cut red tape for developers. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez tied the outcome directly to the ballot: the right to housing, she said, won on the street and should win again at the ballot box.
The emotional backdrop was the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old Madrid pensioner removed from her lifelong home after a steep rent increase. She died shortly afterwards, and the televised eviction sparked protests and occupation camps — including a weeks-long camp at Puerta del Sol — that culminated in Wednesday's strike.
Other measures in the decree: property companies are barred from buying homes below 70% of appraised value (aimed at 'vulture funds'), small landlords are shielded from the costs of suspended evictions, and buyers get government-backed loans for deposits. The Social Rights ministry estimates up to five million tenants could benefit, with a median saving of €4,341.
Why care? Because Spain is one of Europe's most visited countries, and housing politics are reshaping how short-term rentals operate there. A change of government this month could reverse much of it — but either way, the tourist rental tax and a tougher regulatory mood are worth factoring into any 2027 Spain trip.
