GLOPRAGlobal Property Radar

Spain rent increase cap at 2.57% on the October 2026 reference index

Spain's statistics office put its reference rent index at 2.57% for October 2026, the legal ceiling on annual rent rises, 2.33 percentage points below inflation.

The facts

  • Spain's National Statistics Institute set the residential rent reference index for October 2026 at 2.57%, published on 13/11/2026. It is the maximum annual uplift allowed on the revision of residential tenancies signed after 26 May 2023, under Ley 12/2023 of 24 May.
  • Headline annual inflation in October was 4.9% and the core rate 3.1%, from the same-day release. The ceiling is therefore 2.33 percentage points below headline inflation.
  • The index is defined as the lowest of three measures: annual inflation, annual core inflation, and an adjusted average annual rate whose parameters are set by ministerial resolution. If the formula takes October's own inflation figures, 2.57% matches neither of the first two, which would leave the third as the binding one. The office publishes no value for that third component.
  • The consumer price index group “housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels” rose 7.6% over the year, driven by gas, while the rents line inside the same index rose 2.6%.
  • At 2.57% the index is at its highest reading since the series began in November 2024 at 2.20%. It stood at 2.14% in January 2026.

What it means for your money

  • For a new buyer letting out, the annual uplift on a post-26 May 2023 tenancy is capped at 2.57% while prices rise 4.9%.
  • The same gap runs the other way for the tenant in place, whose rent rises 2.57% against 4.9% consumer prices. The institute's stated aim is to avoid disproportionate rent increases.
  • For a landlord already letting, each year's permitted uplift applies to the rent as it then stands, so a year spent under inflation is not made up later by this index.
  • Glopra data put the Spanish average asking rent at 17.5 USD per square metre a month and the tax on rental income at 19%. Glopra's own Spanish price level, a different measure from the consumer price index, is 12.8% higher than a year ago.

What to watch

  • The statistics office publishes no reference-month convention. Which revision month the October figure applies to comes from the contract and the tenancy law, not from the index.
  • The ceiling applies only to contracts signed after 26 May 2023, and only to their annual revision. The initial rent of a new contract is not set by this index.
  • The index is built from inflation inputs. The page carries no provisional marker and no last-modified line, so no revision status is stated either way.

Sources: INE https://ine.es/dyngs/INEbase/es/operacion.htm?c=Estadistica_C&cid=1254736177110&menu=ultiDatos&idp=1254735976607; INE https://ine.es/dyngs/Prensa/IPC1026.pdf

Market data: Almeria · Murcia (Costa Calida) · Spain · Las Palmas