Renting in Cadaqués by the month or for a year: how it works in 2026

To live in Cadaqués all year you sign a main-home lease, which renews up to five years. For a few months for work, study or health, a temporary-home contract of more than 31 days and, as a rule, no more than twelve months. Cadaqués has been a stressed market area since 10 October 2024.

Staying in Cadaqués for a month, a winter or a whole year is not done with the same contract. The law separates three things, a national rule reorganised them in October 2026 and the village is also declared a stressed residential market area. Here is what is worth knowing before you start looking.

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Three different contracts

The first is the holiday let. The Urban Leases Act leaves out the letting of a furnished home for profit under tourism rules, and sets that such a let can never exceed 31 days. That is what fits a holiday; how to choose an area and what to check is in where to stay in Cadaqués.

The second is the temporary home, the old seasonal let. Since 8 October 2026, the Urban Leases Act defines it as one that meets the housing need of someone away from their usual home for a justified, provable reason. It must last more than 31 days and, as a general rule, no longer than twelve months.

The third is the main home, for someone genuinely settling in. If a shorter term is agreed, the contract renews every year up to five years, or seven if the landlord is a company, unless the tenant gives at least thirty days' notice that they are leaving.

What changed on 8 October 2026

Royal Decree-law 29/2026 of 6 October was published in the BOE on 7 October and came into force the next day. It requires a temporary-home contract to state the reason for being away, real and provable, and puts the burden of proof on the landlord. Without that reason, the contract is treated as a main-home lease from day one.

It also sets two limits: if the stay goes past twelve months with no reason to justify it, or more than two temporary contracts are chained between the same parties for the same home, the first is treated as a main-home lease, with its terms and renewals. Seasonal contracts signed before keep their rules until the agreed end date and then expire with no renewal.

One important caveat: it is a decree-law, and the Constitution requires Congress to ratify or repeal it within the following thirty days. The previous one, Royal Decree-law 26/2026, was repealed by Congress on 2 October. It is worth checking the text in force in the BOE before signing.

What Catalonia adds

The national law itself leaves room for whatever the regions enact on temporary homes. In Catalonia the rule is Llei 11/2025 of 29 December, published in the DOGC no. 9574 on 31 December 2025, which added article 66 bis to the Catalan right-to-housing law. To temporary lets for professional, work, study or medical reasons, among others, it applies the housing rules on deposits, guarantees and rent.

The purpose must be stated in the contract with supporting documents, which are lodged together with the deposit; if the registry shows no use other than housing, the let is presumed to be a permanent home. How that works day to day is explained in the guide to seasonal renting in Barcelona, which applies across Catalonia.

Is Cadaqués a stressed market area?

Yes. Cadaqués is among the 131 municipalities in Resolució TER/2408/2024, and rent limits have applied to that group since 10 October 2024. According to the Generalitat's housing portal, the declaration lasts three years from coming into force and can then be extended year by year. The list is on habitatge.gencat.cat.

For tenants it means the rent on a new contract is capped: in general, the rent of the last contract from the past five years, updated, or the reference index if there was none. The owner must disclose that previous rent and state it in the contract. Tourist-use dwellings are outside this limit.

Registering and living through the winter

The Local Government Act requires you to register on the padrón of the municipality where you usually live; if you live in several, the one where you spend most of the year. The Town Hall is at Silvi Rahola, 2, and its document registry is open Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 14:00 (checked in October 2026).

Daily life for those who stay has its own rhythm: the Monday market, what opens and closes in Cadaqués in winter and the bus for getting out without a car, covered in how to get to Cadaqués.

The village's seasons

Anyone staying for months lives in two villages. According to Idescat's seasonal population estimate for 2024, an average of 5,758 people are added to the 2,894 residents between July and September, 959 between October and December and only 869 between January and March. The detail is in how many people live in Cadaqués.

Checked

Checked in October 2026. Contract types, terms and transitional rules: Urban Leases Act 29/1994, consolidated BOE text (articles 2, 5, 7, 9 and 9 bis and final provision), and Royal Decree-law 29/2026 in the BOE. Repeal of Royal Decree-law 26/2026: Congress resolution in the BOE. Ratification: article 86 of the Constitution. Llei 11/2025: text published in the BOE (DOGC no. 9574). Stressed market area: Generalitat housing portal, list of municipalities and FAQs. Padrón: article 15 of Act 7/1985. Town Hall: official Cadaqués website. Seasonal population: Idescat, 2024 provisional.