Published in the BOE on 30 September and entering into force on 1 October, Royal Decree-Law 26/2026 introduces sweeping measures to protect the “social function” of housing. Among them is a first-of-its-kind obligation for platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com to transmit monthly or quarterly booking data to Spain’s new Digital Single Window for Rentals, aligning national rules with EU Regulation 2024/1028. Failure to supply “complete and accurate” data can now be fined as a grave or very grave offence, with penalties ranging from €60,000 to €600,000. The decree also reclassifies many so-called seasonal leases as standard residential contracts, capping room-by-room rents and extending the extraordinary freeze on price updates until end-2027. Business impact: corporate-housing providers and relocation firms must review whether their inventory falls under the new definitions. Large companies that lease apartments in bulk for assignees will need to ensure that landlords register units and report occupancy data, or risk knock-on liability under joint-responsibility clauses common in Spanish tenancy law. The Digital Single Window is expected to go live in December; meanwhile, Spain’s data-protection authority is drafting guidance on how personal data of guests should be anonymised before transmission. Multinationals planning graduate programmes or high-volume rotations in Madrid, Barcelona and Málaga may wish to accelerate lease negotiations ahead of possible supply contractions.
Source: Boletín Oficial del Estado
