You own a let apartment or villa on the Costa del Sol, you'd like to sell, and a tenant is living there on a long-term contract. Selling property in Spain with tenants in place raises the same questions for most landlords, especially if you live in the UK or elsewhere abroad. Do you need the tenant's permission? Can they buy it themselves? Will the tenancy knock money off the price?
Getting this right matters, because one mistake in how you tell the tenant about the sale can let them take the property off your buyer after the deed is signed. The rules also changed in October 2026, and part of that change still depends on a vote in the Spanish parliament.
The short answer is that you can sell without the tenant's consent. The lease carries on with the new owner, and the tenant has a legal right to buy before anyone else, at the same price, if they act within 30 days of being told.
In this guide, you'll learn what Spanish law requires when you sell a let property, how to give the tenant notice properly, what the buyer takes on with the lease and what affects the price.
Can you sell while the tenant is still living there?
Yes. Spain's Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU, the Urban Leases Act) lets you sell a let home without the tenant's permission, and the sale doesn't end the tenancy. The buyer takes your place as landlord, with the same rights and obligations, so in British terms they buy with a sitting tenant. What the law does require is that you first offer the tenant the chance to buy on the same terms.
This guide covers long-term lets where the property is the tenant's main home. Seasonal contracts follow different rules and holiday lets aren't covered here.
The property is the tenant's home, protected by article 18.2 of the Spanish Constitution, so you can't show it without their consent. If the lease says nothing about viewings, agree days and times with the tenant in writing before you advertise. A sale isn't a legal ground for ending the lease either, so to hand the property over empty you wait until the lease ends and give the notice the law requires, or agree a voluntary departure with the tenant in writing.
The tenant's right of first refusal
The tenant's preferential right to buy is usually called the derecho de tanteo y retracto (the right of first refusal and redemption), and it's set out in article 25 of the LAU. The tanteo comes before the sale and lets the tenant buy on your terms within 30 calendar days of being notified. The retracto comes after it and lets the tenant step into the buyer's shoes if your notice was missing or defective.
| Stage | When it applies | Deadline | Counted from |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tanteo (first refusal) | Before the sale | 30 calendar days | Your formal notice with the price and essential terms |
| Retracto (redemption) | After the sale | 30 calendar days | The buyer's formal notice, with a copy of the deed |
| Validity of your notice | If the sale doesn't go ahead | 180 calendar days | After that it lapses and has to be sent again |
These deadlines come from article 25.2 and 25.3 of the LAU, as consolidated in the BOE (Spain's official gazette) on 7 October 2026.
Giving notice properly
The notice has to be fehaciente, meaning formal and provable, so there's evidence of what it said and that the tenant received it. In practice it goes by burofax (a certified postal notice) with certified text, or by notarial act. It must state your decision to sell, the price and the other essential terms, and if a parking space or storeroom is included, what part of the price relates to the home and how you worked that out. If you're selling property in Spain as a non-resident, your Spanish lawyer can usually prepare and send it for you.
The tenant can use the retracto if they weren't notified, if something required was missing, or if the buyer got a lower price or better terms than the notice said. Their 30 days start when the buyer sends them a copy of the escritura (the deed of sale), and they take the buyer's place by repaying the price, the contract costs and any necessary and useful expenses (article 1518 of the Código Civil, the Civil Code). Without proof of the notices, the sale also can't be registered at the Registro de la Propiedad (Land Registry).
What changed in October 2026
Two Royal Decree-laws (Reales Decretos-leyes, laws made by the government that apply at once) dated 6 October 2026 affect anyone selling a rented property in Spain. Both are in force, but each needs approval from the Congreso de los Diputados (Spain's lower house) within 30 days, and that vote is expected around 12 November 2026.
Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 has applied since 8 October 2026 and amends article 25.8 of the LAU so the parties can no longer agree that the tenant waives the right to buy first. Under the 2019 wording, a waiver was only allowed in leases agreed for more than five years (seven with a company landlord), with at least 30 days' notice of the sale. So the waiver templates online don't work for leases signed from 8 October 2026. Ask your lawyer whether older waiver clauses still hold, and note that if Congress rejects the decree, the 2019 rule returns.
Real Decreto-ley 28/2026 changes how leases renew from 15 November 2026, which matters to your buyer and is covered below.
The Junta de Andalucía (the regional government) has no right to buy a free-market home, because Andalucía's Housing Act, Ley 5/2025 of 16 December, limits it to vivienda protegida (subsidised housing).
What the buyer takes on with the lease
Under article 14 of the LAU, as worded since 2019, the buyer steps into your rights and obligations for at least the first five years of the lease, or seven if you're selling as a company, even after registering the purchase. The tenant keeps paying the same rent, now to the new owner.
| Lease situation | What the buyer has to respect |
|---|---|
| Within its first five years (seven if the seller is a company) | The lease up to that limit, in every case |
| Agreed term longer than five (or seven) years | The whole term, unless the buyer is protected by article 34 of the Ley Hipotecaria (Mortgage Act) |
| Buyer protected by article 34 of the Ley Hipotecaria | Only up to five (or seven) years, and the seller compensates the tenant with one month's rent per extra year |
| Lease says a sale ends the tenancy | Only up to five (or seven) years |
Registration of the lease only matters for the time beyond those five or seven years. Article 34 protects a buyer who registers in good faith, but a registered lease shows up in the Registry, so the buyer can't claim not to know about it. A nota simple, a Land Registry extract, will tell you. Leases signed before 6 March 2019 follow the rules in force when they were signed.
How long the lease can run
A lease agreed for less than five years (seven with a company landlord) renews yearly up to that minimum unless the tenant gives 30 days' notice. Article 10 then adds yearly renewals for up to three more years if nobody gives notice, plus the extraordinary extensions in Spain's 2023 housing law. From 15 November 2026, Real Decreto-ley 28/2026 would replace this with five-year renewals (seven with a company landlord), six months' notice from the owner and compensation if the owner doesn't renew, with exceptions. Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 also lets a qualifying tenant ask for an extraordinary extension of up to two years. Both depend on the vote in Congress.
The fianza (tenancy deposit) is one month's rent. The buyer will return it when the lease ends, so the deed should say how it's transferred, and in Andalucía it's lodged with the Junta. Tax works as it would on an empty property, as the guide to capital gains tax on Spanish property explains.
Does a tenanted property sell for less?
It depends on the lease and on who's buying, and there's no official figure for the difference. Someone wanting a home or a holiday base can't move in until the lease ends, which means fewer buyers, while an investor puts a value on the rent and the tenant's record. These usually weigh most on the price:
How much time is left on the lease, counting mandatory and extraordinary extensions.
The current rent compared with market rents in the area.
The tenant's payment history and the condition of the property.
Whether the tenant is interested in buying.
Before choosing between selling with the tenant in place and waiting for the lease to end, find out what your property is worth in both scenarios.
Selling property in Spain with tenants, step by step
The order matters, because the notice to the tenant needs a price and terms that are already settled.
Read the lease for its start date, term, extensions, any clause about a sale, and whether it's registered.
Talk to the tenant about viewings and ask whether they'd like to buy.
Have the property valued with the tenant in place and empty.
Agree terms with a buyer. If you sign a deposit contract (contrato de arras) before the tenant's 30 days are up, make it conditional on the tenant not buying.
Send the tenant formal notice and wait 30 calendar days.
Sign the deed, after which the buyer notifies the tenant with a copy of it.
Before you put a let property on the market
The legal side of selling property in Spain with tenants comes down to timing and paperwork. Settle the price before you notify the tenant and keep proof of every notice, because the Land Registry will want to see it. With the October 2026 decrees still waiting for Congress, ask a Spanish abogado (lawyer) to confirm the current rules before you sign, and an asesor fiscal (tax adviser) about tax.
If you own a let property in Marbella, Nueva Andalucía, Estepona, Benahavís or Sotogrande, I can value it with you with the tenant in place and empty, prepare the sale, find a buyer, negotiate, and coordinate the notice to the tenant with your lawyer, which gives you one person on the ground if you live abroad. You can see how I work with sellers on the Sell page, or get in touch through my contact page.