Tenancy Agreements in Spain: the 11-month property rental contract
This title of this post infers the existence of a type of residential rental contract that 
lasts for 11 months, no more but no less. And to a certain extent, if you had just landed in certain parts of Spain and you’d met up with property professionals (real estate agents mostly) there would be no reason to not believe that an 11-month contract –short term or holiday rental- is distinct from a 1-year plus contract –long term-.
At the same time, there appears to be an informal network of non-legal practitioners who are routinely consulted by people with legal problems and have, by reiteration, created parallel pseudo laws (and even case law) that, quite simply, do not exist in real life. And the 11-month contract is one ‘legislative’ creation of these “Costa” lawmakers as it does not exist as a standalone contract type.
The following bullet points will help understand the current situation with urban rental contracts:
- There are only 2 types of urban rental contracts: residential rental contracts and non-residential rental contracts (which includes short term/holiday lets, commercial, etc.).
- Duration of residential rental contracts can be freely agreed between the parties. If the agreed term is below 3 years, the contract will be automatically extended on expiration of contract term unless the tenant submits notice of termination of contract with at least 30 days.
- The above rule is mandatory and cannot be waived by the parties by private agreement.
- Many residential rental contracts are disguised as short term, and consequently many short term contracts will be treated as residential by the Courts.
- The Spanish Supreme Court has stated that irrespective of the name given to the contract or the term agreed by the parties, if the tenant had a requirement for a habitual and family domicile to take care of his/her permanent and essential needs (and that of the family), the contract will be deemed residential and therefore the 3-year rule will apply.
Likewise, the short-term nature of the contract refers to not the duration but to the reason and purpose of occupation of the property, it being determined by its brevity.
Means to prove that a short term contract is in reality a residential one are, for example, the tenant(s) having a job wherever he/she lives or running a company, children’s school enrollment, registration with the Town Hall (‘empadronamiento’) etc.
Dear Sir
We have been renting our apartment in Spain since May 2011 to a Spanish family. We have decided that we either need to increase the rent (how much can we increase this by?) or give them notice to leave. As they have been in the property for over 5 years, do they still have the right to stay or if not is 30 days notice correct?
Dear Sir, I am a tenant in an apartment in Sotogrande and signed a lease on 1 December 2016 with a duration of 11 months. We have continued to occupy the property and have paid the rent since the original term expired. We are considering a move to another property and don’t know if we have to stay for the renaming term if the second 11 month period (to 30 September 2018) or can give some term of notice to leave. Any advice would be appreciated. Regards
@Derek Ferguson
Did you ever get a reply?,