Housing news, 2 October 2026

Edition of Friday, 2 October 2026

What happened

Thursday, 1 October 2026

Vallès

Cerdanyola and Sant Cugat mobilise over housing and new evictions

Cerdanyola and Sant Cugat have again put housing at the centre of local mobilisation. In Cerdanyola, a rally was held with Maricarmen’s case as a backdrop. In Sant Cugat, the tenants’ union warned of three evictions scheduled over just two weeks in October and called for mobilisation to try to stop them.

The so-called Maricarmen decree has become a way of referring to measures protecting against evictions approved after that case. In Spain, evictions can be affected by suspension rules or procedures linked to vulnerability, but their application depends on legal requirements and on the court’s decision.

For landlords and tenants, these episodes show that eviction proceedings still have a strong social and political dimension. Each case should be followed with up-to-date legal information, because measures may change or be applied differently depending on the circumstances.

Vallès

Catalan Water Agency rules out ground-floor homes on a Montcada plot

The plot on Carrer Quarters in Montcada i Reixac will not be allowed to include homes on the ground floor under the conditions set by the ACA, the Catalan Water Agency. The decision limits the planned residential use of that part of the future building.

Vallès

Ca n’Antolí seeks more members for its senior housing project

The Ca n’Antolí project wants to expand its community to promote a new senior housing model. The initiative aims to bring more people into a residential model designed for older residents.

Vallès

All flats at El Cairó have been allocated

All homes in the El Cairó building have been allocated. A tenant is still needed for the ground-floor space.

Barcelona

Housing protests grow in Barcelona ahead of the decree vote

The housing camp in Plaça de Catalunya reached around 120 tents, while saucepan protests spread to Plaça Sant Jaume and other cities. In Barcelona, hundreds and in some counts thousands of people gathered to demand that Congress ratify the housing decrees.

Barcelona suspends the first evictions under the Maricarmen decree

A court suspended the eviction of Macarena, a Sant Andreu resident with no alternative housing and a mental health diagnosis, after a request based on the new anti-eviction decree. At least two other evictions in Barcelona have also been suspended using this mechanism.

Barcelona

Javier Rubio argues rent caps do not reduce prices

Commentator Javier Rubio said rent caps do not make housing cheaper because, in his view, owners cannot be forced to put homes on the rental market. He also said that in Barcelona the policy pushed up the price per square metre.

Barcelona

Two personal accounts show the difficulty of renting in Barcelona

Núria Vadillo, a mother of ten, said it is hard to find four- or five-bedroom rental flats and that one solution would be to leave Barcelona. Journalist Susanna Griso also said it took her four months to find a rental home in the city.

Catalonia

Catalan Parliament rejects Illa’s shared home-ownership proposal

The Catalan Parliament rejected Salvador Illa’s flagship proposal for the administration to share home ownership with buyers aged over 40, although the Catalan government still plans to pursue the programme. The Socialists and ERC agreed to set up an expert group to study housing tax reform, including a review of the property transfer tax.

Catalonia

Neighbour pressure halts an eviction in Cerdanyola, Mataró

Social pressure stopped the eviction of a mother with three children in Cerdanyola, a district of Mataró. The report focuses on the eviction being halted after people gathered in support.

Spain

Junts threatens to block Spain’s housing decrees unless the government withdraws them

Junts, the Catalan pro-independence party, said it would vote against the housing decrees unless the Spanish government withdraws them and presents amended texts. The vote covers measures including eviction protection, rental extensions, tax incentives and automatic lease renewals.

Lease extensions and compensation under the decrees would affect millions of contracts

The extraordinary two-year extension would cover about 1.9 million rental contracts and around five million tenants, according to estimates linked to the decree. If the automatic renewal in the second text is approved, that extension would no longer apply and a landlord recovering the home would have to compensate the tenant with 12 months’ rent. Some measures, such as limits on room rentals, tax breaks for landlords and IBI surcharges — IBI is the local property tax — on tourist or empty homes would apply only in regions with declared stressed housing areas.

Spain

Home prices rise almost three times faster than wages in a year

House prices in Spain grew over the past year at almost three times the pace of wages. The gap worsens households’ loss of purchasing power and ability to save.

Spain

Short-term seasonal rentals exceed 40% of listings in Spain

Rentals offered by the week or by the month now account for more than 40% of listings, as many landlords use this format to avoid rules on standard long-term rentals. The rise has been especially sharp in capitals in Catalonia, the Basque Country and Galicia, ahead of a decree intended to restrict these contracts.

Spain

Experts see the decrees as relief for tenants but not enough to curb prices

Several experts say temporary lease extensions and the anti-eviction shield would give immediate protection to renters. They also warn that the measures alone do not solve Spain’s housing model or the pressure of prices on households.

Spain

Business groups and property representatives step up pressure against the decrees

CEOE president Antonio Garamendi rejected the housing decrees and said he would vote against them, while urging the Spanish government to act in Ceuta to prevent the eviction of 80,000 Spaniards. In Barcelona, the estate agents’ association Coapi welcomed Junts’ opposition and called for dialogue, while Pimec backed a broad and lasting agreement.

Spain

Tenants’ unions call more than 50 housing protests across Spain

The wave of housing mobilisations will continue with more than 50 protests across Spain over the weekend of 2, 3 and 4 October. Some marches will take place earlier on Friday in cities including the three Basque capitals, Pamplona, Segovia and Seville.

Spain

Home sales fall 7% in the second quarter

Home purchases fell 7% year on year in the second quarter, confirming a slowdown in the market. The largest declines were in the Basque Country, the Balearic Islands, Galicia and the Valencia region.

International

France keeps housing support largely intact but freezes APL benefits

France’s 2027 budget bill keeps much of its housing policy in place but freezes APL, the country’s personal housing benefit. It also confirms a zero-interest loan for young parents and continued tax relief for social landlords.

SeLoger buys Ouest-France Immo to strengthen its position in western France

Property listings platform SeLoger is acquiring Ouest-France Immo to expand its regional presence. The deal is intended to help it reach an 80% market share in Brittany, Pays de la Loire and Normandy.

Figure of the day

THE MARKET · PROVINCE OF BARCELONA

€273,100 for the 80 m² flat, €997 for the rent

The two figures that frame everything else, over 16,066 appraisals and 16,594 contracts.

273,100€

In the province of Barcelona, resale housing is valued at €3,414/m² — €273,100 for an 80-square-metre flat — and the average contracted rent is €997 a month.

Both figures are official and from the same quarter: 16,066 appraisals collected by the Ministry of Housing and 16,594 contracts with a deposit lodged at INCASÒL.

Put together, they give a gross yield of 4.4% a year, or put another way, 22.8 years of rent to match the purchase price. Between Sant Cugat and Manresa there's a 224% gap, so the average places you but doesn't price you.

The two figures move for different reasons and are worth not conflating: purchase price responds mostly to available housing supply, while rent responds to how many people are looking for a flat in that area right now. One rising doesn't force the other to move the same way, and that's where quick comparisons between municipalities tend to fall apart.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · 38 municipalities in the province of Barcelona. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Today's figures

Cerdanyola · Rent

Rent in Cerdanyola is signed at €906 a month

The average rent from contracts with a deposit lodged this quarter — not what's asked for in listings.

906€/month

The average contracted rent in Cerdanyola is €906 a month.

The figure comes from INCASÒL and is calculated over 135 contracts with the deposit already lodged. In other words: rents actually signed, not prices asked for — the gap between the two usually runs to several dozen euros.

That's €231 a month less than Barcelona's average (€1,137).

It's the 3rd most expensive of the twelve municipalities this paper tracks.

A standard residential lease runs five years if the landlord is a private individual and seven if it's a company, with rent updated against the index set by Spain's statistics institute (INE).

Source: INCASÒL, 1T 2026 · 135 contracts. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Barberà · Affordability

Barberà needs 20.1 years of rent to buy a flat

How many years of rent equal the purchase price, before interest or fees.

20.1years

An 80 m² flat in Barberà is valued at €206,800. Rented at €857 a month, that generates €10,284 a year — so buying equals 20.1 years of rent.

It's the mirror image of yield: the more years, the more expensive buying is relative to renting. It doesn't include mortgage interest, purchase taxes, or renovation costs, all of which push the figure higher.

As a reference point, Spain's national average has historically moved between 15 and 25 years depending on the cycle.

Barberà is the 4th most expensive of the twelve municipalities in the area, and the 5th most expensive to rent. Where those two rankings don't match is where the opportunities tend to sit.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Ripollet · Yield

Buy-to-let in Ripollet yields 4.5% gross

A €198,400 purchase against €9,012 a year in rent.

4.5%

An 80 m² flat in Ripollet is valued at €198,400, and its average rent is €751 a month — €9,012 a year. That works out to a gross yield of 4.5%.

Gross means before anything else: council tax (IBI), community fees, insurance, one-off building charges, income tax on the rent, and any months the flat sits empty. Net yield lands well below that.

It's the 7th most of the twelve municipalities in the area. Worth distrusting the shortcut of always going for the highest yield: high yield tends to travel with low prices, and low prices with weaker rental demand and higher turnover.

The figure is for comparing municipalities against each other, not for deciding on a purchase. A specific flat can yield well above or well below its city's average.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

Montcada i Reixac · Comparison

Buying in Montcada i Reixac costs 51% less than in Barcelona

The two towns, same sources, same quarter.

51%cheaper

An 80 m² flat is valued at €184,800 in Montcada i Reixac and €374,000 in Barcelona: a €189,200 gap in Montcada i Reixac's favour.

Where they do split is on yield: Montcada i Reixac returns 0.7 points more a year (4.3% versus 3.6%).

On rent, Montcada i Reixac signs at €663 a month and Barcelona at €1,137: a €474 gap across 8,286 deposit-lodged contracts between the two.

Comparing towns is useful for orientation, not for pricing. Within a single town, the gap between neighbourhoods is usually bigger than the one between these two.

Source: Ministerio de Vivienda y Agenda Urbana and INCASÒL, Primer trimestre de 2026 · resale housing. Resale housing figures, unaltered.

The market, municipality by municipality

Municipality	80 m² flat	Rent	Yield
Sant Cugat	402,900 €	1,476 €	4.4 %
Barcelona	374,000 €	1,137 €	3.6 %
Cerdanyola	233,500 €	906 €	4.7 %
Barberà	206,800 €	857 €	5.0 %
Granollers	202,100 €	826 €	4.9 %
Ripollet	198,400 €	751 €	4.5 %
Santa Perpètua de Mogoda	198,000 €	745 €	4.5 %
Mollet	196,200 €	721 €	4.4 %
Rubí	196,100 €	816 €	5.0 %
Sabadell	193,700 €	869 €	5.4 %
Montcada i Reixac	184,800 €	663 €	4.3 %
Terrassa	183,200 €	765 €	5.0 %

Appraised value of resale housing (Ministry of Housing) and average rent from contracts with a deposit lodged (INCASÒL). Gross yield is annual rent over purchase price, before council tax, community fees, insurance, other taxes and vacant months.

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