Catalonia Opens 30 Rent-Cap Sanction Cases as Barcelona Prices Tick Up After Year of Containment

Overview

• Consellera Sílvia Paneque told Parliament that 30 sanction files for alleged breaches of the rent cap are now being processed, most in the Barcelona metro area.
• The tally represents under 0.12% of new leases signed in tensioned zones between January and March 2025, underscoring the limited scale of visible enforcement.
• Official second-quarter data show Barcelona’s average new rent at €1,135.55, up 4.4% quarter on quarter, yet still 4.9% below levels recorded when the cap began in March 2024.
• Incasòl registered 7,411 new rental contracts in Barcelona in Q2, indicating that new long-term lease volumes continue to decline.
• Across regulated municipalities rents are down 1.9% versus a 6.6% rise outside the regime, while property groups cite legal uncertainty over definitions such as ‘gran tenedor’ and leftist parties urge more fines and temporary limits on speculative purchases.