Catalonia is moving toward tightening the rules on short-term rentals. The proposed Decree 2/2025 (currently under parliamentary review) aims to extend the regulations of the Urban Leases Act (LAU) — such as rent control and tenant protection — to non-holiday rental agreements (for work, study, or medical reasons). The goal is to ease housing market pressure, but the outcome may be the opposite.
What’s the problem?
Prohibitive measures, rather than incentivizing supply, often fail: the market finds loopholes. Some owners will exit due to legal uncertainty, but their properties won’t return to the traditional rental market. Those who remain will become more professional, and the market will concentrate in fewer hands, increasing their profits.
The future: management companies and complex contracts
New firms will emerge to manage short-term rentals, taking on legal risks through innovative contracts (not just “housing for payment”). These companies will capture most of the profit, relying on the Civil Code’s principle of freedom of contract.
Regulation will not bring properties back to traditional renting. Instead, the market will become more professional, with fewer players and a higher concentration of income. As in economics: putting up fences rarely changes the direction of the field.