Lease and eviction lawyers in Marbella.

01

Main home or seasonal let: which lease to sign

The Urban Leases Act (Ley 29/1994) strongly protects tenants who rent their main home: a shorter contract is extended year by year up to five years, or seven if the landlord is a company. A seasonal lease is governed mainly by what the parties agree.

In October 2026 the Government approved two royal decree-laws: one changes the extensions that follow that minimum, with effect expected from 15 November 2026; the other, in force since 8 October, tightens the rules on seasonal lets to prevent them from being used to disguise a main-home lease. Both depend on ratification by the Spanish Congress, so before you sign, renew or decline to renew we check which rule applies on that day, and we review each seasonal lease on its own facts.

02

Contracts, deposits and the Housing Act

We draft or review the lease in English and Spanish, with the inventory, the condition of the property and the guarantees properly documented.

• A cash deposit is mandatory: one month's rent for a home and two months' rent for commercial premises and other uses.
• Andalusia: the Andalusian Housing Act (Ley 5/2025) abolished the requirement to lodge the deposit with the Junta for contracts signed on or after 24 January 2026. For earlier contracts it remains lodged with AVRA, the regional housing agency, and is reclaimed when the lease ends.
• Housing Act (Ley 12/2023): stricter rules for large-scale landlords (as a rule, those owning more than ten residential urban properties or more than 1,500 m² of built residential space).
• Stressed residential market areas: declared by the regional government, they cap rents. We check before the rent is set.

03

Rent arrears and evictions

When rent goes unpaid, we demand payment by a verifiable means: once thirty days pass without payment, the tenant can no longer halt the eviction by paying at the last minute. And since Organic Law 1/2025 on the efficiency of the justice system, a civil claim is only admitted if a prior attempt to settle through an appropriate dispute-resolution method is shown. We prepare both steps together.

Evictions for non-payment or expiry of the term are heard in summary oral proceedings, and unpaid rent can be claimed at the same time. If the tenant is vulnerable, social services become involved and the eviction may be suspended, a regime amended several times in 2026. If you are the tenant, we review the claim and your defence.

04

Commercial premises and squatters

For shops, restaurants and offices the law leaves far more room for agreement: term, rent, works, assignment, subletting and exit. The contract is almost everything; we negotiate it for owners and businesses, and handle commercial rent claims and evictions.

Against unlawful occupation there is a civil route and a criminal one: since Organic Law 1/2025, squatting and breaking into a dwelling can be tried under the fast-track procedure when its conditions are met. We choose the route case by case and act even if you live outside Spain.