The lawyer Sergio Gómez, from AAGD Abogados, warns about the conflicts related to the application date of the limits, the calculation of the rent, seasonal contracts, room rentals, and the return of amounts collected improperly.
The new map of tensioned areas in Catalonia may generate conflicts between owners and tenants, especially in the contracts of the coming months.
The Govern has announced the extension for one year of the declaration of 118 municipalities, the exclusion of 22, and the initiation of the procedure to incorporate 53. If approved, Catalonia will have 302 municipalities subjected to rent containment.
AAGD Abogados warns that the announcement does not automatically change the legal regime of the contracts. The Generalitat is still processing both changes, according to the official documentation on tensioned residential market areas.
"The announcement should not be confused with its entry into force: a few days can determine whether the rent was limited," explains Sergio Gómez, lawyer at AAGD Abogados.
Most common legal inquiries
1. Contracts signed when a municipality enters or exits a tensioned area
A home in one of the 53 new municipalities will not be retroactively subjected to the limits: the regime will apply when the procedure concludes.
The 22 municipalities excluded from the extension will remain tensioned areas until the current period ends. An owner could set a higher rent believing that their municipality has already exited the map even though the limitation remains in force.
It is also necessary to distinguish between extending a contract and signing another. The extension maintains the previous relationship; the new contract may activate the current limits upon being signed.
"It is necessary to check the resolution, its validity, the previous contract, and whether it is an extension or a new relationship," notes Gómez.
2. Applying the index when the true limit is the previous rent
If the home was rented as a habitual residence in the previous five years and the owner is not a large holder, the new rent cannot exceed the last updated contractual rent.
Thus, if the index allows 1,200 euros but the previous contract set 950, the rent must generally start from the updated 950 euros.
Only an additional increase of up to 10% is allowed in cases such as rehabilitation, accredited improvements in energy efficiency or accessibility, or contracts of ten years or more.
If the landlord is a large holder, they must compare the updated previous rent with the index and apply the more restrictive limit. It may also apply to unleased housing in the five previous years if indicated by the declaration.
These rules are included in the article 17 of the Urban Leasing Law.
3. Add expenses to compensate for the rent limitation
Some contracts respect the maximum rent but add amounts for community, IBI, furniture, cleaning, maintenance, or other services.
Expenses not included in the previous contract cannot be charged to the tenant. Changing the name of part of the price or billing it separately may be a hidden increase.
In that case, the non-application of the clause and the return of the amounts unduly charged may be requested.
4. Seasonal contracts that do not properly justify their purpose
The duration does not determine the nature of the contract. Signing for eleven months or calling it "seasonal" is not enough to exclude the housing rental rules.
The Catalan regulations require indicating and proving the temporary cause. The documentation must be deposited with the deposit.
An academic year or a work relocation can justify the temporality. Nevertheless, the housing rules on rent, guarantees, and expenses apply.
If the cause is not identified, documentation is lacking, or it is not properly deposited, it is presumed that the rent covers a permanent need.
"The seasonal contract is not a label to evade limits: the real purpose, documentation, and evidence matter," says Gómez.
5. Chain temporary contracts with the same tenant
If after a ten-month contract another is signed for the same housing without proving that the temporary cause continues, the relationship may be subject to permanent rental.
This may imply a minimum duration of five years, seven if the landlord is a legal entity, and extensions from the initial contract.
The same problem arises if the tenant remains in the housing after the cause that justified the contract ends.
6. Renting by rooms exceeding the limit of the entire housing
Dividing a housing into rooms does not allow exceeding the maximum price of the unit rent.
The physical or contractual fragmentation does not avoid the rental rules. The minimum area per person and the maximum occupancy of the habitability certificate must also be respected.
There may be individual claims and problems in distributing the amount charged above the joint limit.
AAGD Abogados expands on these issues in their article about the Law 11/2025, temporary rental and rental by rooms in Catalonia.
7. Recover the amounts charged above the legal maximum
The sanction does not automatically return to the tenant what was overpaid: they must claim it and, without agreement, consider a civil lawsuit.
They must prove the legal rent, the payments, the included expenses, and since when the excess existed.
The Administration can open a file. Exceeding the limit by up to 30% is a serious infraction, with fines from 9,001 to 90,000 euros; above that is very serious, with fines from 90,001 to 900,000 euros.
Omitting the purpose of the contract or using a false or fraudulent cause can also be a very serious infraction according to the Catalan housing law.
"An irregularity can generate a civil claim and a sanctioning file. The fine does not resolve the economic claim of the tenant," warns Gómez.
The documentation will be decisive in future litigations
To set the rent, the previous contract and its updates must be kept, check if the owner is a large holder, and obtain the index. In temporary contracts, the cause and its deposit with the bond must also be accredited.
The lack of documents can hinder the owner's defense and force the tenant to use records, communications, advertisements, or bank statements to prove the rent and payments.
"The regulation not only limits prices: it requires traceability. The contract, the advertisement, the documentation, and the actual use must be coherent. If not, the risk of claim and litigation increases," concludes Gómez.