Granollers, a city of 66,000 in Vallès Oriental, is set to leave Catalonia’s list of regulated rental zones, ending price caps on new leases. The change follows improved housing-access indicators, even as local estate agents report a near-total absence of rental properties. In the city center, agencies display only properties for sale; rental offers have all but disappeared from shop windows.
Catalonia became Spain’s first autonomous community to apply the stressed-market structure in March 2024, initially designating 140 municipalities after technical assessments of housing affordability. Spain’s Housing Right Law 12/2023, of 24 May, establishes the structure and allows autonomous communities to designate stressed residential-market areas when statutory conditions are met. These include housing costs exceeding 30% of household income, or purchase or rental prices rising at least three percentage points above inflation over five years. A designation lasts three years and may be extended annually while the conditions that justified it persist. Municipal status can so change as the indicators shift.
In the round described by local authorities, 22 municipalities, including Granollers, Lleida, Figueres and Mollet del Vallès, are due to lose the designation from March, while 53 areas are being added. The list continues to change: a Catalan government resolution dated 16 October 2026 designated 53 additional municipalities, and was published in the Official Gazette of the Government of Catalonia on 19 October. Tordera is among those named, along with municipalities including Martorell, Sant Andreu de la Barca, Vila-seca and Llagostera. The new designations followed findings that the municipalities met the legal requirements.
In Catalonia, designation activates rent-containment rules, including limits linked to the applicable reference-price system and special provisions for homes without an active lease during the previous five years. As of October 2026, Catalonia had 271 designated municipalities, the largest regional total in Spain. The national count stood at 317 municipalities across five autonomous communities, covering more than nine million people. The other reported totals were 21 in Navarra, 18 in the Basque Country, five in Asturias and two in Galicia.
Despite the official improvement in Granollers’s indicators, local agencies describe a worsening reality. Raimy Balderrama, who runs Mirai Homes, says she has signed just one rental contract in the past year. Another agent, who requested anonymity, says, “there are no rentals to cap.” The few available flats cost well above what most residents can afford. New builds start at €1,200 per month, far above the €700 range most clients seek. Information from Incasòl, the average rent in Granollers is now €825.81, up 4% in a year and 22% over five years.
The city council, led by the PSC, credits local policies and the effect of rent caps for Granollers’s exit from the regulated list, pointing to expanded housing programs and new protected developments. Agents, but, argue that regulation has backfired: owners have been pushed to sell instead of rent, and investors have been driven away. The result, they say, is a shrinking rental market and growing queues of would-be tenants unable to find homes.
In Tordera, a town of 19,000 in Maresme, the situation is similar but moving in the opposite direction. Its designation as a stressed area allows rent caps to be imposed. Local agencies report that properties are snapped up within minutes, if they appear at all. The mayor, Elisabet Megias of Junts per Tordera, supports limits but says the real problem is the lack of supply. She points to more than 100 vacant and occupied flats owned by banks and investment funds. Many are linked to criminal activity and remain unavailable for regular rental. The municipality has struggled to reclaim these properties for social housing, facing legal and practical obstacles.
Data from the Catalan Association of Real Estate Agents (API) show rent increases slowed to 3.2% between 2023 and 2025, while the number of new contracts fell by nearly 20%. Separate regional figures put the average monthly contract rent at €861.23 in the first quarter of 2026, compared with €868.91 before the law, a decrease of 0.88%. Rents in stressed areas were reported to have fallen 1.3% over two years. Contract-rent averages and changes in the number of listings measure different aspects of the market: lower recorded rents alone do not show how many homes are available or how many prospective tenants cannot secure one.
Tenant groups criticize the removal of price controls, arguing that it leaves renters exposed to sudden hikes and fails to reflect the ongoing housing shortage. The regional government disputes claims of a shrinking market, citing more than 3,000 new leases in the first quarter of the year. Its own economic department, but, acknowledges a shift toward room rentals and tourist lets.
Public spending is also going to stressed areas. In October 2026, the national government allocated €180 million to support these markets and university accommodation, including a reported €119.4 million for Catalonia’s 271 designated municipalities. Housing Minister Isabel Rodríguez said the additional funding was intended to increase the supply of affordable homes and reduce rents across the 317 municipalities. The package pairs rent containment with measures to increase supply, reflecting the challenge of limiting costs while making more homes available to rent.
Spain’s housing market has faced persistent pressure in recent years, especially in Catalonia’s urban and commuter areas. National and regional authorities have tried rent caps and subsidies, alongside new construction, but results remain mixed. As municipalities enter or leave the designation system, policymakers must improve affordability without further constraining access to rental housing.
