Spain rental yields in 2026: the published figures, and what comes off them.

What is the average rental yield in Spain?

Global Property Guide puts Spain's average gross rental yield at 5.51% for Q3 2026, up from 5.45% in Q1 2026. The figure is median asking rent times 12 over median asking price, for apartments, before costs, taxes and vacancy. It is that source's figure, not a Brinkman Data calculation.

A gross yield is rent before any cost. The costs that come off it are listed further down this page.

What are rental yields in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia and Málaga?

Per Global Property Guide's September 2026 update, average gross yields are Madrid 5.06%, Barcelona 7.56%, Valencia 6.22% and Málaga 4.97%. All are gross, from asking rents and asking prices. Barcelona's figure sits in a declared rent-capped zone, and asking rents may include seasonal or furnished lets.

Why does a citywide yield average mislead in Spain?

Because the spread inside one city is wide. In the same Global Property Guide data, a two-bedroom in Madrid's Chamartín shows 3.56% gross against 5.76% for Madrid studios overall. In Málaga, a Centro two-bedroom shows 4.42% against 6.13% for one-bedrooms citywide.

The question that matters is never the city. It is the building, the unit size and the rent it can actually get.

What comes off a gross rental yield in Spain?

Municipal IBI on the cadastral value, community of owners fees, and non-resident income tax on the rent at 19% (EU/EEA) or 24% (others). Under AEAT guidance only EU/EEA residents may deduct expenses; other non-residents are taxed on the gross rent. Vacancy comes off too.

• IBI: 0.4% default to 1.10% maximum on the cadastral value for urban property, set by the council.
• Community fees: set by each building. No published national average was found.
• Tax on rent: filed on Modelo 210. Detail: Spain property tax for foreigners.

Are rents capped in Spain?

In declared tensioned zones, yes. Under Ley 12/2023, a new contract's rent in a declared zone may not exceed the last rent of the previous five years, with limited exceptions. As of July 2026 declared zones include Barcelona and much of Catalonia, the Basque Country and parts of Navarra, Galicia and Asturias.

The Ministry's list contains no municipality in Madrid, the Comunitat Valenciana, Andalucía, the Balearics or the Canaries as of its July 2026 resolution. Large landlords (more than 10 urban homes, or a lower number where the region sets it) are capped by the state rent reference index in a declared zone.

Can a foreign owner let a Spanish property to tourists?

Only under the regional rules, and the building can say no. Since 3 April 2025 a community of owners can approve, limit or prohibit tourist lets by a three-fifths vote. Regional tourist registration or licensing applies. The state registration number was annulled by the Supreme Court in May 2026.

A law firm reads the change as requiring new tourist lets to get the community's prior approval, with activity already running before 3 April 2025 unaffected. In Catalonia, Decreto-ley 3/2023 requires a planning licence for tourist dwellings in 260 listed municipalities, including Barcelona, and gives existing registrations until November 2028 to get one, with one possible five-year extension. Tourist-let rules are changing: check the region and the building before modelling a short-term let.

Header photo: Tamorlan, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons. All credits: image credits.