The Generalitat has revised Catalonia's map of rent-pressure areas to cover 302 municipalities, renewing the first group of declarations for one year while adding 53 towns and removing 22.

For tenants and landlords, the designation matters because new rental contracts in these areas are subject to price limits. Lleida, Reus, Granollers, Mollet del Vallès and Figueres are among the municipalities removed, while Martorell and Sant Andreu de la Barca are among those added.

A rent-pressure area, known in Catalan as a zona de mercat residencial tensionat (ZMRT), is a municipality where housing costs place excessive pressure on household incomes or where prices have risen sharply. The revised declaration still requires publication in Spain's Official State Gazette, the BOE, before it takes effect.

53 municipalities added and 22 removed

The Department of Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition retained 118 municipalities from the first declaration, which was made in March 2024. It added 53 municipalities with a combined population of 255,751 and removed 22 with 634,171 residents, according to the Generalitat's review reported on 28 July.

  • Municipalities retained from the first declaration: 118, with 5,919,365 residents.
  • Newly added municipalities: 53, including Cardona, Tordera, El Port de la Selva, Vandellòs i l'Hospitalet de l'Infant, La Jonquera, Martorell and Sant Andreu de la Barca.
  • Municipalities removed: 22, including Lleida, Reus, Granollers, Mollet del Vallès, Figueres, Tortosa and Caldes d'Estrac.

With the 131 municipalities included in a second declaration in October 2024, the revised map totals 302 towns and cities. The areas covered have a population of 6.1 million people, as the municipalities removed from the first group have more residents than those newly included.

In the Barcelona area, the new additions are Sant Iscle de Vallalta, Tordera, Figaró-Montmany, Vilalba Sasserra, Sant Andreu de la Barca and Martorell. Municipalities leaving the list there include Parets del Vallès, Les Franqueses del Vallès, Cabrera de Mar, Granollers, Sant Climent de Llobregat, Caldes d'Estrac, Canovelles, Mollet del Vallès, Cervelló, Montmeló and El Papiol.

How the rent limits apply

Under the state housing law, a municipality may be designated a rent-pressure area if households spend more than 30% of their income on housing, or if housing prices have risen by at least three percentage points above inflation over five years.

In designated areas, the rent for a new contract cannot exceed that of the most recent contract in the previous five years. Large-scale landlords cannot set rents above the official rental reference index.

“This development shows that the rent-price cap mechanism works” to prevent exponential price growth, said Sílvia Paneque, the Minister for Territory, Housing and Ecological Transition.

The new declarations will be published in the Diari Oficial de la Generalitat de Catalunya, the Catalan government's official journal, followed by a period for objections. Once those objections have been decided, the final list will be sent to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda for approval and publication in the BOE.

Tenants and landlords can consult the Generalitat's official list of municipalities where rental prices are regulated.

Primary sources: habitatge.gencat.cat, govern.cat, mivau.gob.es, Administrador. Reported by Source Text Link, beteve.cat, elpais.com, Clàudia Mas, AE5GBNi67xK1QkS, Departament de Territori, Maite Gutiérrez, Marc Guasch Ferreiro, Aleix Ramírez, europapress.es, Por Newsroom Infobae Seguir, 3cat.cat.