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Spanish Rental Rules Thrown Into Confusion

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Looking for where to live. Credit: neme jimenez – Shuttershock

Renters and landlords need to know what happens next after MPs vote down the Government’s latest housing measures.

Spain’s latest attempt to change the rules for rented homes has been rejected by Congress, leaving renters and landlords facing a return to the previous system.

Two separate housing decrees were put to MPs, covering everything from rent increases and contract extensions to what happens when a landlord wants to end a long-running tenancy. Both have been defeated. For people who do not follow Spanish politics closely, here is what the vote means for your home.

If you rent your home

You do not get the new automatic two-year extension. One of the most important measures in the first decree would have allowed qualifying tenants to request up to two additional years when their existing rental contract reached the relevant expiry date. That applied to certain contracts already in force when the decree came into effect, provided the tenant was up to date with the rent and met the other conditions.

With the decree rejected, that new protection does not become part of the permanent rental rules. You also lose the new 2 per cent rent-rise protection. RDL 26/2026 would have limited annual rent increases on qualifying existing contracts to 2 per cent where no new agreement was reached, with no increase in certain cases where the existing rent was above the applicable reference-price ceiling. That measure also falls with the decree, so existing rental rules return to the picture.

For many ordinary residential contracts, that means the familiar system under Spain’s Rental Housing Law, including annual tacit extensions for up to three years once the initial minimum period has ended.

What about landlords?

The second decree would have represented the biggest change for owners of long-term rental properties. Under that measure, once a tenancy had passed its minimum five-year period — or seven years where the landlord was a company — the contract would have continued in successive five-year periods for an individual landlord, or seven-year periods for a company, unless notice was given. Landlords would also have had to give six months’ notice if they wanted to end the tenancy and, in many circumstances, pay the tenant compensation equivalent to at least 12 months’ rent.

That system will not now take effect as a permanent change. Instead, the existing rules still apply.

What if you own a property?

For homeowners who do not rent their property, much of the immediate impact is limited. RDL 26/2026 contained a much wider package covering property purchases, taxation, public housing and measures intended to increase the supply of affordable homes. Those measures also fell when the decree is not convalidated. Landlords should therefore not assume that the tax changes or incentives contained in the package have become permanent either.

Could the housing measures return?

The Government has indicated that it intends to pursue further housing measures through other legislation. Any new package would need parliamentary approval, so tenants and landlords should follow the rules currently applicable to their contract rather than assume the rejected measures will return.

The vote has also increased political pressure on Pedro Sánchez. Read our separate report on whether Spain could face an early general election.

That removes the detailed party arguments, Madrid protests, Zapatero comparison and election speculation, keeping this article focused on rental rules.

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€1 Million Euromillones Prize Lands In Malaga

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Lottery shop in Carrefour Alameda. Credit: cc-carrefour-alameda.com

A lucky Euromillones ticket holder in Malaga is €1 million richer after Friday’s draw, with the winning El Millón ticket sold at a lottery administration inside Carrefour Alameda.

Administration No. 67 in Malaga capital validated the winning ticket for Spain’s separate El Millón prize, giving one player a seven-figure windfall from the draw held on Friday, October 2.

Loterías y Apuestas del Estado, the state organization responsible for licensing lotteries in Spain, confirmed the winning El Millón code as GKH34441. Unlike the main Euromillones jackpot, El Millón is a separate €1 million prize available exclusively to tickets played in Spain.

Malaga win comes as well as €28.8 million jackpot

Friday’s draw also produced a major jackpot winner in Spain, although that prize went to Cantabria rather than Malaga. A single ticket matched all five main numbers and both Lucky Stars to claim €28,871,634. The winning ticket was validated at Receptor No. 69,930 on El Sol, 11, in Cabezón de la Sal, Cantabria. Malaga’s winner did not need to match the main Euromillones combination to claim the El Millón prize.

Check the winning Euromillones numbers

Friday’s main combination was: 07 – 08 – 10 – 22 – 35 with lucky Stars: 02 and 10 The official Euromillones results from Loterías y Apuestas del Estado confirm one first-category winner and one El Millón winner in the draw.

Spain’s official lottery results also show European ticket sales of €47,486,533.60 for Friday’s draw.

Next Euromillones jackpot

Following the Cantabria jackpot win, the next Euromillones draw starts again with a guaranteed first-category fund of €17 million.

For Spanish players, every qualifying Euromillones entry also provides a chance to win El Millón, meaning another €1 million prize will be up for grabs when the game returns.

Malaga has seen several recent Euromillones wins in Malaga province, including another €1 million El Millón ticket sold in the city in December 2025 again.

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Torremolinos, 10 MMA Bouts For Just €24.90

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Adrenaline will fill your Saturday night out in Torremolinos on October 10, leaving you on your feet and cheering along with a roaring crowd.

What is coming to town?

Temerario Fight Warriors is making its debut with TFW 1, an evening of ten mixed martial arts (MMA) bouts. Two are professional contests and eight are amateur. “Temerario”, Spanish for daring or reckless, gives you a fair idea of the spirit of the event. MMA is the full-contact sport that combines striking, wrestling and grappling inside a cage in front of a live audience.

TFW 1 is the first major professional MMA event in Torremolinos. Combat sports are no strangers to the venue, though. Mix Combat Series 2 took place there in March, with boxing, Muay Thai, kickboxing, and MMA all part of the line up.

A completely different night out

Live MMA feels very different from watching on a screen. You hear every bit of contact, see the sweat, feel the crowd react to each exchange and can cheer on fighters who are building their careers, ideal if you fancy a change from the usual restaurant routine, and it makes a great outing for a group of friends or neighbours.

Palacio San Miguel is the venue for the evening of thrilling sport with doors opening at 5:30pm. Tickets start from €24.90 for general admission, which covers all ten bouts, with many other options available. There are also food and drink packages, VIP tables and group options worth checking out if you really want to make a full evening of it.

The Temerario Fight Warriors website has the full line up of fighters, all the ticket choices and an abundance of other information on the evening.

So if you fancy switching up your routine, head to the website and book your tickets for a night of MMA brilliance.

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90% Of Spaniards Say This Dish Can Help You Reconcile After A Row

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If you’re still refusing to speak to each other, someone just needs to make the first move. Photo credit: PeopleImages/Shutterstock

One of the last things you want to do after a heated argument is sit down and have a meal with the person you’ve just fallen out with. But Spain may have found a surprisingly tasty way around that awkwardness, and it seems the answer could be sitting right in the middle of the table.

A new study has found that 90 per cent of people in Spain believe one particular meal can help bring people back together after a disagreement. And the findings suggest it may do rather more than simply give two people something to eat while they avoid looking at each other.

Spain has found its peace offering

The study, commissioned by Arroz La Fallera, asked 1,000 people aged between 18 and 65 about the role food plays in bringing people together. Across Spain, 85 per cent said sharing a paella can help people reconcile after a conflict, while in the Valencian Community, where the dish has particularly strong cultural roots, that figure climbs to 90 per cent.

The results also suggest this isn’t just something people like the idea of. More than half of those surveyed, 54 per cent, said they had already used a paella meal to smooth over differences with someone, while another 44 per cent said they had actually made peace with someone over a paella. So while nobody is suggesting that a plate of rice can magically settle every family feud, plenty of people apparently believe there is something about sitting down together that helps.

A meal that gets people talking

The survey also looked at what happens during the meal itself, and this is where the findings become particularly interesting. A huge 93 per cent of respondents said sharing a paella makes them more willing to listen without interrupting, followed by 92 per cent who said they would be prepared to discuss their differences respectfully. Another 92 per cent said they would be more willing to look for common ground. Perhaps that makes sense when you consider how paella is normally eaten. It isn’t usually a quick meal grabbed between two appointments.

The pan goes in the middle of the table, everyone gathers around it and the meal becomes something shared, creating time to talk, listen and, perhaps, remember why you liked the person before you started arguing with them. In the Valencian Community, 90 per cent also said sharing paella was a good way to reconnect with family or friends, giving the dish an even stronger connection with social occasions there.

Paella beats tortilla

The research also asked Spaniards to name their favourite dish, and paella came out on top. Forty-five per cent chose paella as their favourite, putting it comfortably ahead of tortilla de patatas, which was selected by 24 per cent. That gives paella a fairly impressive double role: it is not only the dish most strongly associated with bringing people back together in the survey, but also the one most people chose as their favourite.

Its connection with social occasions may help explain why. Paella is often associated with family meals, weekends, celebrations and gatherings where the food is prepared for several people rather than served as an individual plate. The cooking, the waiting and the meal itself all create reasons for people to stay together.

Could food really end an argument?

There is an obvious catch. The survey shows what people believe about sharing paella; it cannot prove that eating one will actually end an argument. The research was also commissioned by Arroz La Fallera, so the findings need to be viewed in that context. But the responses do show how strongly food is tied to socialising in Spain. The fact that 54 per cent of those surveyed said they had already used a paella meal to smooth over differences suggests this is not simply a theoretical idea.

And with 44 per cent saying they had actually reconciled with someone over one, there are plenty of people who can apparently point to a paella as part of a successful peace treaty. The study was released around World Paella Day on September 20, when the dish was already taking centre stage across Spain and beyond. Perhaps there is something to be said for a solution that requires neither a mediator nor a carefully worded apology. If you’re still refusing to speak to each other, someone just needs to make the first move and bring out the paella.

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