If you have a seasonal rental in the Canary Islands, especially in Gran Canaria, or you're considering offering your property this way, there are more regulatory changes than it might seem at first glance, and they're not all moving at the same pace. One is already law and has affected you for a few weeks now. Others have been under negotiation in Madrid for months and it's still unclear whether they'll be approved.

To avoid mixing everything up, I'll walk you through it in three blocks: what already governs your contract today, what's still being processed (which is actually two different things, not one), and what only applies in Catalonia for now.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not replace advice from a lawyer for your specific case — if you have specific questions about your contract, please consult a real estate law professional.

In Force Today: What Already Governs Your Contract

Seasonal rental isn't a new concept. It has been regulated under the Spanish Urban Leases Act (LAU) since 1994: you can rent out your property for a defined period, without the minimum durations or mandatory renewals that apply to habitual residence leases, as long as there's a genuine reason for the temporary nature of the stay. That hasn't changed, and it still holds true today.

What is new, and already applies, is a Canary Islands law in force since 15 August 2026 (the Law 7/2026, although its official name is actually about urban planning permits — it's a broader law that, among other things, also touches on this issue). Here's what it says: if you rent out your property for 31 days or less, the law establishes a presumption of tourist purpose. To avoid that classification, you need to ask the tenant why they need that temporary accommodation (work, studies, renovation work on their own home, or another similar cause) and record it in the contract, making clear that the length of the stay matches the stated reason.

In practice: if you rent your flat for two weeks to someone who's coming for work, it's now in your interest to ask for the reason and put it in writing in the contract — if you don't, the law starts from the assumption that it's a tourist rental, even if that was never your intention.

How to Document It, Step by Step

If you're about to sign a seasonal contract of 31 days or less, here's exactly what you need to do, in this order:

1. Ask the tenant for the reason, before signing — not after. The law requires that this information be gathered beforehand, so adding it later doesn't remedy a failure to meet that prior requirement.
2. Write it into the contract with a specific clause, not a generic phrase. For example: "This contract is entered into on the grounds of the tenant's need for provisional accommodation, motivated by [specific reason, e.g.: temporary work relocation to Las Palmas de Gran Canaria from 1 to 30 September 2026], with this reason bearing a direct relationship to the agreed duration." You can adapt the reason in brackets to each case, but the structure — reason plus its relationship to the duration — is what the law requires.
3. Keep any documentation that supports the reason, when it exists. A letter from an employer, proof of university enrolment, or documentation related to renovation work can help you demonstrate the purpose of the contract later on. Law 7/2026 doesn't generally require attaching one of these documents, but keeping them is a reasonable precaution.
4. Check that the duration makes sense given the reason. If someone is staying a month for a two-week course, something doesn't add up — and that's exactly the kind of mismatch the law is designed to catch.

The essential requirement under Law 7/2026 is to gather that information beforehand and expressly record in the contract the motivation behind the need for provisional accommodation and its relationship to the duration. Keeping supporting documentation is, in addition, a reasonable precaution in case there's ever an inspection or a dispute.

And this isn't just a stylistic recommendation: the law itself classifies non-compliance as an offence, with specific fines. Signing a contract of 31 days or less without recording the reason in the contract itself is a serious offence, punishable by fines of €1,501 to €30,000. Not having asked the tenant for that reason before signing is a minor offence, punishable by fines of up to €1,500. In other words: even if a genuine temporary need actually exists, failing to record the motivation and its relationship to the duration in the contract itself constitutes an offence in its own right.

This is a very recent law (in force since 15 August) and still not widely known in the sector — so if no one has mentioned it to you yet, that's not unusual. But the fines are already written into the law, not sitting in a draft proposal.

(A note for anyone who wants the fine print: there used to also be a national registry for this type of contract. The Spanish Supreme Court annulled the part of that registry requiring registration in May 2026, on the grounds that it encroached on regional government powers — so that specific procedure no longer applies. What does remain the real, applicable rule for you is the Canary Islands law.)

In Progress: Two Different Reforms, Neither Approved Yet

This is where information gets mixed up the most, so let's go carefully. There are two separate things moving in Madrid, not just one:

A Bill in Congress

Several parliamentary groups have, since 2024, been pushing a bill in Congress to strengthen the regulation of seasonal and room rentals and extend certain protections currently associated with habitual residence leases (price caps, more stability). It began moving through Congress in late 2024 and has advanced slowly since then. It's now at a fairly advanced stage, but still hasn't had a final vote or approval.

A Separate Government Decree

Separately, the Government is negotiating its own, broader housing package, which it planned to bring for approval in September. The Housing Minister acknowledged on 2 September that, for now, she doesn't have the votes needed in Congress to push it through. And there's precedent: an earlier government housing decree (focused on something else — extending existing habitual residence contracts) was rejected by Congress in April.

Neither path has reached its destination yet, and both could still change, merge with one another, or fall through in a vote — as has already happened before.

Only in Catalonia, For Now

Catalonia does already have its own, considerably stricter law in force since January 2026. There, in addition to justifying the reason for a seasonal rental, that documentation has to be deposited alongside the deposit in a registry. If the temporary nature isn't properly proven, the contract is presumed to be a habitual residence lease.

It's a model that may hint at where the rest of Spain is headed — but, for now, it's exclusively Catalan. There's no equivalent obligation to deposit documentation alongside the deposit in the Canary Islands.

What This Means for You in Gran Canaria, Today

• If you're renting for short stays (31 days or less), you now need to ask for the reason and record it in the contract. This isn't something that's going to happen — it's the rule in the Canary Islands right now.
• If your seasonal rentals run longer, there's currently no obligation as strict as the Catalan one. Even so, documenting the reason properly is good practice, whether or not you're formally required to.
• Don't use "seasonal" as a workaround to avoid the commitments of a habitual residence lease if, in reality, the tenant is going to live there on a permanent basis — that's exactly what both the Canary Islands law and the reforms being negotiated in Madrid are designed to prevent.
• It's worth keeping an eye on what happens in Congress over the coming months, since either path could still change the rules.

A Common Misunderstanding: "Now I Have to Justify Any Seasonal Rental"

This is a question that's coming up a lot, so it's worth clearing it up: not every seasonal contract in the Canary Islands has suddenly become subject to the new obligations set out for stays of 31 days or less.

Law 7/2026 establishes, for contracts of 31 days or less, an obligation to ask the tenant beforehand about the cause justifying their need for provisional accommodation, check its relationship to the intended duration, and expressly record it in the contract. Failure to comply with these obligations is also expressly classified as an offence.

If you're renting your property for more than 31 days, those specific offences aren't framed the same way. That doesn't mean it's enough to simply write "seasonal rental" at the top of the contract: for a genuine seasonal tenancy to exist, there must be a real temporary cause, rather than a permanent housing need. This principle doesn't originate with Law 7/2026 — it derives from the seasonal rental regime already built into the 1994 LAU.

There's also a separate issue at play: Law 7/2026 establishes a presumption of tourist accommodation activity when a property is marketed through a tourist sales channel (travel agencies, booking platforms, online intermediary platforms...), regardless of the contract's duration. That's why the duration of the contract and the way it's marketed are two separate questions worth analysing independently.

Much of the confusion comes from mixing up the Canary Islands regulation with the Catalan one, and with the reforms still being processed in Madrid. These are different regimes, and as of today there's no general obligation in the Canary Islands equivalent to the Catalan one requiring supporting documentation for all seasonal contracts regardless of duration — but it would also be incorrect to say that a long-term contract is automatically exempt from any scrutiny, since a genuine temporary cause remains the element that determines whether a contract is truly "seasonal."

Not Being Fined Isn't the Same as Being Safe

There are two different kinds of risk worth distinguishing here.

Contracts of 31 days or less: the specific administrative offences we've covered apply, for failing to gather the reason beforehand or failing to properly record it in the contract.

Longer contracts, such as an 11-month lease: those two specific documentary offences set out for contracts of 31 days or less don't apply to you. That doesn't mean, however, that any long-term contract can simply be labelled "seasonal" — nor that it's automatically shielded from any other issue, for example if the way it's marketed falls within the scope of tourist activity.

For a seasonal tenancy to genuinely exist, there must be a real temporary cause. If, regardless of what the contract says, the actual purpose of the property is to permanently meet the tenant's housing need, the contract could end up being treated as a habitual residence lease.

In that case, the issue is no longer that specific administrative fine, but the consequences that come with the habitual residence regime — including its mandatory rules on duration and renewals.

That's why, for long seasonal rentals, the question that really matters isn't just "how many days does it last?" but "is there really a cause that justifies the accommodation need being temporary, and does that cause match the agreed duration?"

Summary: What to Do, Depending on Your Case

If you're renting out, or planning to rent out, your property seasonally in the Canary Islands, here's what applies to you, depending on the type of contract:

If it's 31 days or less:

• Ask the tenant for the reason behind their need for provisional accommodation, before signing.
• Record that reason in the contract specifically, along with its relationship to the agreed duration.
• Keep any documentation that supports the reason, if it exists.
• Bear in mind that advertising or marketing the property through a tourist sales channel creates a presumption of tourist accommodation activity, regardless of the contract's duration.

If it's longer than 31 days (for example, a 3–4 month winter stay, or 11 months):

• Make sure there's a genuine temporary cause — it's not enough for the contract to simply state one.
• Record that reason in the contract anyway, even though it's not a specific requirement under Law 7/2026 for these contracts — it can help you demonstrate the temporary nature if there's ever a dispute.
• Don't use it as a way to avoid the commitments of a habitual residence lease if the tenant is, in practice, going to live there permanently.
• Bear in mind that those two specific documentary fines for contracts of 31 days or less don't apply here; the main civil-law risk is that the contract could be deemed a habitual residence lease if the temporary nature isn't genuine.

In any case:

• Keep this information on hand — the regulation is evolving, and there may be developments in the coming weeks or months.
• If in doubt about your specific case, consult a real estate law professional before signing.

If you have a property with this type of contract, or questions about how it affects you, get in touch and we'll go through it together.

This article reflects the state of the regulation as of 3 September 2026. The Canary Islands law is already in force and confirmed; the two national initiatives are still in progress and their final content may change, be delayed, or not be approved at all.

Sources: Law 7/2026, of 31 July, on the streamlining of urban planning permit procedures and the promotion of housing construction (Official Gazette of the Canary Islands, no. 163, 14 August 2026); Articles 3.2 and 4.3 of Law 29/1994 on Urban Leases; Article 79 of Law 7/1995, of 6 April, on Tourism Regulation in the Canary Islands, on the amounts of the fines; The Objective on the lack of support for the national decree; file 122/000136 of the Spanish Congress of Deputies on the seasonal rental bill; the Supreme Court ruling of 19 May 2026, published in the Official State Gazette (BOE-A-2026-12300), on the partial annulment of the National Rental Registry procedure established by Royal Decree 1312/2024; and Maluquer Abogados on the regulation currently in force in Catalonia. Information verified on 3 September 2026 — please check for any updates before making decisions based on this article.