Rent prices in Spain in 2026: record highs in Madrid, a slowdown in Barcelona and rent taking almost 35% of income

Renting a home in Spain costs more today than ever in much of the country, but 2026 is producing a less uniform market than in previous years. While Madrid, Zaragoza and many medium-sized provincial capitals keep setting records, Barcelona and several cities in the Basque Country have had flat or slightly falling prices for months. And depending on which property portal you look at, the national picture changes noticeably.

In this article we bring together the most recent data available at the start of October 2026: idealista's monthly price report for September, Fotocasa's indices for the second quarter and for July, the official statistics of the INE (National Statistics Institute) on rental prices, and indicators of affordability and demand pressure. Each figure comes with the period it refers to, because in a market that moves this fast the date matters as much as the number.

The national picture: €15.1 per square metre

According to idealista's price report, average rent in Spain stood at €15.1 per square metre per month in September 2026. That is 5.6% more than in September 2025, although the monthly figure shows a slight fall of 0.3% and the quarterly figure another of 0.4%. For an 80-square-metre flat, that average price means a rent of about €1,200 a month.

The trend over recent months points to a slowdown. In July, the same portal had recorded a year-on-year rise of 6.8% and a price of €15.3, and in August the increase eased to 5.8%. Bear in mind that idealista revised its methodology from July 2026, something the portal itself flags in its reports and which may affect comparisons with earlier months.

By autonomous community (region), Madrid tops the table at €21.6 per square metre and an annual rise of 5.7%. It is followed by the Balearic Islands (€20.2, +3.6%), Catalonia (€15.9, +2.2%) and the Canary Islands (€15.2, +4.3%). At the other end is Extremadura, at €7.7. The biggest annual increases are in regions with lower prices, such as Aragon (+9.6%), Asturias (+9.3%) and Castilla-La Mancha (+8.3%), a sign that the pressure is shifting towards markets that until recently were considered affordable.

City by city: Madrid stays on top, Barcelona slows

The urban map is where the differences show most clearly. The city of Madrid reached €23.4 per square metre in September 2026, with a monthly rise of 0.5% and an annual rise of 4.8%. Within the capital, the Salamanca district exceeds €28, while Barajas, San Blas, Vicálvaro and Villa de Vallecas are around €17. Villaverde, one of the most affordable districts, has seen the biggest increase over the last year, at 14.5%.

Barcelona, by contrast, ended September at €20.1 per square metre, 0.8% less than a year ago and still 2.9% below its all-time high of January 2025. Together with several Basque cities, the Catalan capital is one of the few large markets where prices are not rising. In August, only four of the 51 provincial capitals analysed by idealista showed year-on-year falls: San Sebastián, Vitoria, Girona and Bilbao.

City	€/m² (Sept. 2026)	Monthly change	Annual change
Madrid	23.4	+0.5%	+4.8%
Barcelona	20.1	-0.8%	-0.8%
Málaga	16.5	+0.3%	+3.9%
Valencia	16.3	-0.3%	+3.1%
Bilbao	15.7	0.0%	-0.3%
Seville	13.4	-0.4%	+3.5%
Zaragoza	12.3	+0.1%	+10.3%
Spain (average)	15.1	-0.3%	+5.6%

Source: idealista rental price reports, September 2026. Average asking price per square metre per month.

Málaga (€16.5) and Valencia (€16.3) remain the most expensive large mainland capitals after Madrid and Barcelona, although both are now rising at a moderate pace, around 3% to 4% a year. Seville stands at €13.4, up 3.5%. The most striking case is Zaragoza: at €12.3 it is still relatively cheap, but its annual rise exceeds 10% and it hit a new high in September. In August, Palma was the third most expensive provincial capital in the country, at €19.3 per square metre.

Fotocasa sees something different: the first fall in four years

Not every gauge gives the same reading. Fotocasa's index recorded an average price of €14.14 per square metre in July 2026, 1.6% less than a year earlier. It was the first year-on-year fall after 52 consecutive months of increases. The fall was concentrated in Catalonia, down 16.3%, and in the Comunidad de Madrid (Madrid region), down 10.6%; the Basque Country also fell slightly. Fotocasa's head of research, María Matos, attributed it to tenants having reached the limit of what they can pay.

A month earlier, the same portal's quarterly figures had already pointed to a slowdown: in the second quarter of 2026 the price rose by just 0.1% on the previous quarter, the smallest increase in 19 years, and the year-on-year rate stood at 2.9%, with an average price of €14.79. Madrid led the regions at €21.95, followed by the Balearic Islands, Catalonia and the Basque Country.

Why do idealista and Fotocasa differ so much? Both indices are based on the asking prices of listings published on each portal, and their make-up changes from month to month depending on which homes come onto the market. That is why sharp jumps in one month often smooth out later. The sensible approach is to look at the trend over several months and at what both sources have in common: prices are no longer rising at the pace of 2023 and 2024, and Catalonia is the large market where the slowdown is most noticeable.

The official statistics: what the INE says

Unlike listing prices, the INE compiles the Índice de Precios de Vivienda en Alquiler (IPVA, Rental Housing Price Index) from the rents owners declare for IRPF (personal income tax). It is a slower source, but it reflects real contracts. The latest edition, published on 11 May 2026, covers 2024: rents rose by an average of 3.5%, compared with 2.6% in 2023.

The most revealing figure is the gap between contracts. New contracts signed in 2024 became 8.8% more expensive, while those already in force rose by only 2.8%. In other words, those who stay put pay relatively little more each year, but those looking for a home face much higher prices. By large city, the IPVA put the rise at 5.9% in Valencia, 5.2% in Málaga, 3.6% in Madrid and 3.3% in Barcelona. The statistics do not include the Basque Country or Navarre, which have their own tax systems.

For contracts in force, the annual rent update depends on the date of signing. Those signed since 26 May 2023 are reviewed, if so agreed, using the INE's Índice de Referencia de Arrendamientos de Vivienda (IRAV, Residential Rental Reference Index), which stood at 2.47% in August 2026. Earlier contracts usually remain linked to the CPI (IPC) or to the index agreed in the contract.

How much of your income goes on rent

The affordability ratio (tasa de esfuerzo) measures what share of a household's net income goes on rent. According to idealista's study for the first quarter of 2026, renting takes up an average of 35% of household income, ten points more than the 25% that paying the mortgage on an equivalent home would represent. Experts usually put the reasonable threshold at 30%.

City	Share of income spent on rent
Barcelona	41%
Palma	40%
Málaga	39%
Valencia	38%
National average	35%
Jaén, Ciudad Real, Melilla, Huesca	19%

Source: idealista, affordability report, first quarter of 2026. Percentage of net household income.

Barcelona is the city where rent weighs most heavily, at 41% of income, followed by Palma, Málaga and Valencia. Eight provincial capitals exceed the 30% threshold. At the other end, in cities such as Jaén or Huesca rent absorbs around a fifth of income. The fact that the cities with the highest burden are not necessarily those with the highest prices is explained by wages: Madrid is the most expensive per square metre, but it also has higher average incomes.

Little supply and many applicants per flat

Behind the prices lies a persistent imbalance between supply and demand. The annual report by idealista/data, covered by the business press in June 2026, put the average number of enquiries per rental listing at 33.5 at the end of 2025, compared with 6.75 in January 2019. In Barcelona the figure was 68 and in Madrid, 49. The same analysis put available supply at 0.69% of the housing stock, below the 1% average between 2019 and 2021.

Supply is also changing shape. In the second quarter of 2026, according to idealista, long-term rental listings barely changed nationally (-0.2%), while seasonal rental listings grew by 13% and now account for 29% of all supply. The picture varies widely by city: the stock of long-term rentals fell sharply in San Sebastián (-42%), Pamplona (-39%) and A Coruña (-36%), and grew in Málaga (+13%), Palma (+8%) and Madrid (+4%).

This divergence fuels an intense political debate. For some, the fall in long-term supply in cities with price limits shows that regulation drives homes off the market; for others, the underlying problem is the lack of construction and public housing, and regulation protects those who already rent. We analyse this in detail in our article on stressed areas (zonas tensionadas).

What to expect in the coming months

September's data suggests a market approaching a ceiling in several large cities. Monthly prices have been flat or slightly down for several months, and year-on-year increases are increasingly concentrated in medium-sized capitals and in regions where renting used to be cheaper. At the same time, nothing points to a general fall: demand remains well above supply and the household burden remains above 30%.

On top of this there is regulatory uncertainty. On 2 October 2026 Congress rejected the two housing decrees approved by the Government at the end of September, which included an extraordinary extension of contracts and the regulation of seasonal lets. The Minister for Housing has proposed processing some of those measures as a bill, which will keep the debate open over the coming months.

For tenants: comparing a listing's price with the neighbourhood average helps you spot overpricing, and it is worth checking which index your rent will be updated by each year.
For owners: in a market that is levelling off, a realistic price reduces the time the home stands empty, which also has a cost.
For everyone: portal figures are asking prices; real contracts, according to the INE, rise more moderately, except for new contracts.

At Llavely we work with verified tenant and owner profiles and with a fair-price indicator that compares each home with its surroundings, precisely so that both sides negotiate with data rather than blindly in such a tight market.

Frequently asked questions

How much does it cost on average to rent a flat in Spain in 2026?

According to idealista, the average price in September 2026 was €15.1 per square metre per month, which means about €1,200 for an 80-square-metre flat. Fotocasa, using a different sample of listings, put the price at €14.14 in July 2026. The differences between cities are huge, from more than €23 in Madrid to just over €8 in Jaén or Cáceres.

Which is the most expensive city to rent in?

The city of Madrid, at €23.4 per square metre in September 2026 according to idealista. It is followed by Barcelona, at €20.1, and Palma, which was around €19.3 in August. By autonomous community, Madrid also tops the list at €21.6.

Are rents falling?

It depends on the source and the place. idealista showed an annual rise of 5.6% nationally in September 2026, but with falls in Barcelona and Bilbao. Fotocasa recorded its first year-on-year fall in more than four years in July 2026, of 1.6%, heavily concentrated in Catalonia and Madrid. What both portals do agree on is a clear slowdown.

Why do idealista and Fotocasa give different figures?

Each portal calculates its index from the listings published on its own website, and the mix of homes changes every month. In addition, idealista changed its methodology in July 2026. That is why it is more useful to compare trends over several months than to focus on a single figure, and to complement them with the INE's official statistics, which are based on real contracts.

What is the INE's IPVA and what does it show?

It is the Índice de Precios de Vivienda en Alquiler (Rental Housing Price Index), which the INE compiles from the rents declared for IRPF. Its latest edition, published in May 2026, shows that rents rose by 3.5% in 2024, with 8.8% for new contracts and 2.8% for existing ones. It lags further behind than portal data, but it reflects rents actually paid.

What percentage of income is it reasonable to spend on rent?

The most common benchmark is not to exceed 30% of net household income, a threshold the Housing Law (Ley de Vivienda) also uses to define stressed areas. According to idealista, the Spanish average in the first quarter of 2026 was 35%, and in Barcelona it reached 41%. Above that level, the room to save or cope with the unexpected shrinks considerably.

How much can my rent go up this year if I already have a contract?

If the contract was signed on or after 26 May 2023 and provides for an annual update, the reference limit is the INE's IRAV, which was 2.47% in August 2026. For earlier contracts, what was agreed applies, usually the CPI. It is worth checking the update clause and the index for the relevant month.

Why are there so many applicants for each flat?

Because the supply of long-term rentals is very scarce relative to demand. According to idealista/data, each listing received an average of 33.5 enquiries at the end of 2025, five times more than in 2019, and available supply amounted to just 0.69% of the housing stock. In addition, a growing share of supply has shifted to seasonal lets.

Is it a good time to rent or is it better to wait?

There is no single answer: in cities such as Barcelona or Bilbao prices have been stable or falling for months, while in Zaragoza and many medium-sized capitals they are still rising strongly. If you need a home, waiting rarely pays off in a market with so much demand. The most useful thing is to know the average price in the area so you can negotiate with solid arguments.