Renting an 80-square-metre flat in Spain now costs an average of €1,131 per month, according to July data from the property portal Fotocasa. That works out to €14.14 per square metre, but the national figure masks deep regional divides that shape everything from household budgets to migration patterns within the country.
Although the index shows a year-on-year decline of 1.6% in July, Fotocasa cautions that rents remain at historically high levels. The recent cooling, it says, is not enough to offset the steep increases accumulated over the past several years. "Average rent remains well above the financial capacity of a significant share of households," says María Matos, head of research and spokesperson for the portal, who identifies access to housing as the main challenge facing the market.
Madrid and the islands lead the cost curve
The disparities are most visible when comparing Spain's autonomous communities. Madrid is the most expensive region: an 80 m² home there rents for an average of €1,542 a month, or €19.27 per square metre. The Balearic Islands follow closely at €1,526, with Catalonia at €1,366 and the Basque Country at €1,358. The Canary Islands round out the top five at €1,287. In total, eight regions now exceed the €1,000-per-month threshold for an 80 m² property.
At the opposite end, Extremadura offers the same space for an average of €630 a month—less than half the Madrid price. Castilla-La Mancha follows at €731. These gaps are not static. Madrid has seen rents rise 8.6% year-on-year, while Aragón jumped 13.3% and Castilla-La Mancha 11.7%. Catalonia, by contrast, recorded a 16.3% drop, and La Rioja fell 10.6%.
City-level extremes: from San Sebastián to Jaén
Looking at provincial capitals sharpens the picture. San Sebastián tops the national ranking at €1,610 a month for an 80 m² home, just ahead of Madrid city at €1,596 and Palma de Mallorca at €1,529. These are the only three capitals where rents exceed €19 per square metre. Barcelona follows at €1,456, Valencia at €1,370, Bilbao at €1,322, and Málaga at €1,298.
The cheapest capitals tell a very different story. Jaén has the lowest rents at around €600 a month, with Cáceres at €663 and Ávila at €682. Ourense (€689) and Badajoz (€699) also stay under €700. That means renting in San Sebastián costs more than two and a half times as much as in Jaén.
The July data paints a market that is beginning to correct in certain areas, but where the average cost of accessing a rental home remains above €1,100 a month—and where geography, more than anything else, determines how much of a household's income goes to housing. As Spain grapples with these pressures, the broader European context adds another layer: migration disputes within the EU and record heatwaves are testing the bloc's cohesion, even as housing affordability becomes a defining issue in southern Europe.
For those watching the market, the takeaway is clear: while some regions are seeing relief, the national average remains stubbornly high, and the gap between the most and least expensive areas shows no sign of narrowing quickly.
