Mallorca landlords could owe 12 months’ rent

Mallorca, Spain: landlords could have to pay at least 12 months’ rent if they refuse to renew a tenancy without a valid reason under a proposed nationwide decree. Spain’s social rights and consumer affairs minister, Pablo Bustinduy, set out the plan in Madrid on Wednesday, 30 September. Spain’s Congress votes on Friday on whether to keep or reject the decree.

How the rental plan would work

After at least five years, a tenancy would renew automatically for another five years. If the landlord is a company or other legal entity, both periods would be seven years. A landlord who does not want to renew would have to give at least six months’ notice; tenants would still need to give two.

A landlord ending the tenancy without an accepted reason would owe compensation worth at least 12 months’ rent for a comparable home. Exceptions include a private owner needing the property for themselves or a close relative, or a tenant who has not lived there for more than six of the 12 months before notice is given.

What happens to existing tenancies

The rules would also cover tenancies already in force when the decree takes effect, but only when the contract or a later extension ends. Tenancies already extended under the old rules would stay under them until that extension finishes.

For contracts with less than six months left when the decree takes effect, landlords could give four months’ notice instead of six. The decree had yet to appear in Spain’s official state gazette on Wednesday, according to Europa Press. Its future depends on Friday’s vote.

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Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com