The following information is primarily for those looking to rent long term in Spain
Information on renting apartments in Spain. Includes comparative information on furnished, unfurnished apartments, finding a room to rent with flatmates, and factors that affect the price of apartments in Spain.
Use the following links to directly access this article’s information about apartments in Spain.
- Rental Prices for Apartments in Spain
- Apartment Rental Agencies in Spain
- Non-furnished Apartments in Spain
- Furnished Apartments in Spain
- Serviced Apartments in Spain
- Rooms for Rent
- How to Get an Apartment in Spain
If you’ve not seen “The Spanish Apartment”, you owe it to yourself to check it out. An all around great movie about a bunch of Erasmus-type students from Europe and the US who find themselves in the same apartment in Barcelona, Spain. Going back and forth between French and English, it gives you a good idea of the kind of expat culture foreigners find themselves in in Spain. Moving along…
Good information on rental apartments in Spain can be difficult to come by, until you are already living here. You’ll find both apartments and – perhaps temporarily – long-term rooms to rent with flatmates. My Spanish Rental helps resolve thsi problem…
Expect to find the following features dictate prices of rental apartments in Spain:
- Location, location, location… of course. Difficult to know where might be best before you arrive, try asking around in expat forums
- Elevators [ascensor]- not so common here; but with more than 2 floors to climb your cholesterol and heart will be thanking you between heaves…
- Light [luminoso] – can be important: good in the winter, very hot in the summer. Few of the older-style apartments have air conditioning although this is changing.
- Consider asking about the central heating [calefacción]; most older flats don’t have it and December to February can get insanely cold without it. Most flats will have a gas or electric heater instead, but they often go unused due to the inflated expenses they create.
- Furnished [amueblado] – although most rooms are somewhat furnished
- Internet – usually ADSL, and usually an extra cost. Sometimes dial-up. See our article on Internet in Spain.
To give a real cost estimate on long term rental apartments in Spain is difficult, but let’s try (large city might be any center greater than 750,000 people or resort area, range is provided based on apartment location within the city, furnishings, condition, etc):
- Studio apartment, Large city: ~350€ – 700€ /month
- Studio apartment, Small center: ~200€ – 500€ /month
- 2Br apartment, Large city: ~600€ – 1200€ /month
- 2Br apartment, Small center: ~400€ – 800€ /month
- 3Br family style apartment, Large city: ~1000€ – 2000€ + /month
- 3Br family style apartment, Small center: ~700€ – 1500€ + /month
Renting an apartment or room in Spain is a big part of the initial process of moving to Spain. Whether you are considering real-estate or just discovering Spain for a short period, there are several rental options to consider.
Non-furnished Apartments in Spain
The normal terms for renting non-furnished apartments include one months deposit (or 10% of the annual rent). This becomes 1-2 months deposit for furnished apartments. An unfurnished apartment usually (but not always) has a refrigerator and washing machine. Not all kitchens have ovens nor microwaves. Dryers for your clothes seem to be exceedingly rare, but oft missed by expats before we learn about being conscious of the rain.
Furnished Apartments in Spain
Furnished apartments vary in their “furnishings,” but generally include a living room (comedor) sofa, table and chairs, bookshelf, beds and sheets, dishes and cooking utensils, and sparse decorations. These basics will become more complete and lavish (eg. microwave, better quality things, etc.) as the price goes up.
It’s not uncommon for Spaniards to pick up used furniture off the street. In fact many people leave their used furniture on the street for this reason, otherwise it ends up in the dump, picked up by the garbagemen. Watch for specific days of the week or month for your neighbours’ used furniture, with any luck you find a slightly worn period piece instead of that hideous 1970’s brown thing they called a bookshelf with peeling faux-wood laminate corners. Everything is out there.
Serviced Apartments in Spain
Due to the continuous expansion of foreign businesses into Spain, serviced apartments have become much more commonplace over the last decade. Currently these serviced apartments are best suited for expatriates staying in Spain on their company’s dime or large families on extended vacation. The best thing about them is that renting one is much simpler than a furnished or unfurnished apartment: there’s no contract, no application process (if you have the money you get it), and they’re going to be in some of the nicest areas of the city (wherever that is).
All that being said, serviced apartments are definitely on the expensive side – approximately 2.5 times what you’d normally pay for the same apartment if you’d gone through the normal rental channels (see above). If you’re still game then check out the following serviced apartments from MoveandStay based on region:
- Barcelona Serviced Apartments
- Madrid Serviced Apartments
- Marbella Serviced Apartments
- San Sebastian Serviced Apartments
It’s probably obvious, but renting a serviced apartment for a couple months during your initial arrival in Spain would be a strategic way of establishing yourself in your new Spanish home.
Rooms for Rent [habitaciones]
The most economic accommodations are shared apartments in which you rent a bedroom and share the rest of the common space. Finding a good landlord (propietario) and flatmates (compañeros de piso) can be difficult, but this much is obvious anywhere. Depending on your desire to learn Spanish (or any of the other official languages), you may want to focus on finding a room in a Spanish household, perhaps with a family – otherwise, living with fellow expats may suit you better.
In the metropolitan centres (Barcelona, Madrid, Valencia, Sevilla, etc), room prices can vary between 200€ to 400€ per month or more, sometimes excluding expenses (gastos) of between 20€ and 50€ per month. The smaller centres and rural areas should offer rooms from 125€ per month but may be much more difficult to find.
For more on costs, see the article, Cost of Living in Spain in the Finance section of SpainExpat.com.
Other factors related to renting a room that affect prices:
Interior or Exterior room – this means whether or not your bedroom is exposed to the outside of the apartment building (fresher air, sun, traffic noise, usually a bigger space and more expensive) or to the inside shaft of the apartment building (smells like food, often where laundry is hung to dry, usually smaller space and cheaper).
A balcony or terrace – which may or may not be a part of your room, however apartments with these little luxuries can be more expensive. As well, most apartment buildings have a rooftop terrace where you’re able to hang wet laundry and grab some sun.
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