Long-term vs temporary rental contracts in Valencia

What a long-term primary-residence lease in Spain gives you

A long-term lease covers a home whose main purpose is your housing need (LAU art. 2.1). You and the landlord agree the term, but if it is shorter than five years, or seven with a company landlord, it renews every year at your choice until that minimum is reached (art. 9.1). You can leave after six months with 30 days' notice and owe no compensation (art. 11).

When the minimum ends, the lease rolls on for up to three more years unless the landlord gives four months' notice or you give two (art. 10.1). The deposit is a mandatory fianza (play_arrow) of one month's rent (art. 36.1), and any garantía adicional (play_arrow), the extra guarantee, is capped at two months on a lease of up to five or seven years (art. 36.5).

How the temporary housing lease works since 1 October 2026

A temporary housing lease covers your housing need while you are temporarily away from your usual home, for a justified reason you can prove (art. 2.3): a work posting, a course, medical treatment. The contract must state that reason expressly, and the landlord carries the burden of proving it. Without a stated cause, the contract is treated as a long-term lease from the day it was signed (art. 7.2).

The term must exceed 31 days and, as a rule, not exceed twelve months; it can be extended by express agreement while the cause lasts (art. 9 bis). If it runs past twelve months without a justifying cause, or more than two temporary contracts follow one another between the same parties for the same home, the first counts as a long-term lease, with its full minimum term (art. 9 bis.2). You can leave after one month with ten days' notice (art. 11.2), and an extra guarantee is capped at one month's rent (art. 36.5).

Photo: 19Tarrestnom65, CC BY-SA 4.0

Temporary contracts signed in Valencia before 1 October 2026

A seasonal contract signed before 1 October 2026 keeps the rules it was signed under until the end of its agreed term, and then ends without extension. If it is renewed, the renewal falls under the new temporary housing lease rules (transitional provision eight of Royal Decree-law 26/2026).

Under those older rules a seasonal let counted as a lease for a use other than housing, which is why it carried a two-month fianza (art. 36.1) and none of the long-term protections. Stays of up to 31 days marketed as tourist lets are a separate regime governed by tourism rules, outside this law (art. 5 e). Our monthly rentals guide covers that market.

Rent caps, pets and the rest of a Valencia rental contract

Rent caps for tensioned residential markets only apply where a region has declared a zone. On the Ministry of Housing's list as published in July 2026, no municipality in the Valencian Community was declared, so Valencia city rents are freely agreed for now. Check the Ministry's search tool for the address before you sign, because declarations change.

The leasing law has no rule on pets. A housing lease is governed by what the parties agree, within the law (art. 4.2), so a clause banning animals binds you. If you have a pet, get written permission in the contract that names the animal, and ask whether the building has its own rules.

At the end of the lease both parties must record in writing the condition of the home when you hand it back (art. 36.7). Photos and an inventory at move-in make that document easy to agree.