LAU contracts: art. 2 vs. art. 3 vs. art. 5 explained

What is the LAU and why three regimes?

The original 1994 LAU has been reformed in 1995, 2013, 2019 and most recently in 2023 with the Right to Housing Law. The 2013 reform was the most relevant for vacation rental: art. 5 letter e) was introduced expressly excluding tourist rental from the LAU and referring it to autonomous-community regulation.

In practice, legal conflicts for hosts almost always arise from the boundary between art. 3 and art. 5: is a 4-month stay for work reasons a seasonal rental (art. 3) or a disguised tourist rental (art. 5)? The correct answer changes the minimum contract duration, tenant rights and owner obligations.

October 2026: RDL 29/2026 and seasonal lets

RDL 29/2026 (BOE-A-2026-20823, published on 7 October 2026) rewrites the LAU. Art. 3 no longer covers the "accommodation or lodging of persons": it now only covers premises and activities (industrial, commercial, professional, teaching, etc.). Renting out a dwelling for a limited time becomes a type of housing lease, the "temporary housing lease", which meets the housing need of someone temporarily away from their usual home for a justified and provable reason. The definition expressly includes renting a single room.

Seasonal contracts signed before 8 October 2026 keep their old regime (use other than dwelling) until the agreed end date and then expire without extension; if renewed, the new contract falls under the temporary-housing rules (LAU transitional provision 8).

• Cause in the contract: it must be stated expressly and be real and provable, and the burden of proof lies with the landlord. Without a cause, the contract is treated as a primary-residence lease, retroactively from signature (art. 7.2).
• Duration: more than 31 days and, as a rule, max. 12 months; extension only by express agreement and only while the cause persists (art. 9 bis.1).
• Back-to-back contracts: more than 12 months without justification, or more than two consecutive temporary contracts between the same parties for the same dwelling, turn the first one into a primary-residence lease, with the minimum term and extensions of arts. 9 and 10 (art. 9 bis.2).
• Rent: for successive temporary contracts on the same dwelling, the annual increase may not exceed the IRAV index (art. 17.8); for annual updates of housing leases falling due until 31-12-2027, absent a new agreement, the cap is 2% (final provision 6).
• Rooms: the combined rent of rooms let at the same time may not exceed the rent for the whole dwelling (art. 17.9).
• Guarantees: any guarantee on top of the deposit is capped at one month for temporary leases (two for primary residence), and the tenant can never be required to take out rent-default insurance (art. 36.5).
• Early exit: a temporary tenant may leave after one month with ten days' notice, without compensation (art. 11.2).
• Primary residence: at the tenant's request, an extraordinary extension of up to two years (in one-year steps) for leases whose mandatory or tacit extension ends before 31-12-2028, provided the rent is up to date (final provision 5).

The three regimes: practical comparison

The 11-month contract after RDL 29/2026

Until 7 October 2026, seasonal lets relied on LAU art. 3 ("use other than dwelling"), and 11 months was the usual term because it fits an academic year, a work assignment or a course of medical treatment. Since 8 October, new contracts of this kind are "temporary housing leases": the contract must name the cause (for example an employment contract with an end date in another city, a university enrolment or a medical treatment) and the general maximum is 12 months.

Supreme Court case law (including STS 20/03/2018) already looked at reality rather than paper: a tenant who signs 11 months but lives with their partner and child and works in the city is in a disguised primary-residence lease, and the contract is reclassified with all protections (extension up to 5 years, capped rent updates, etc.). RDL 29/2026 writes that test into the law and adds the limit of two consecutive temporary contracts with the same tenant.

When does the tourist regime (art. 5) apply?

Art. 5 LAU excludes from LAU scope "the temporary transfer of use of a fully-furnished and equipped dwelling in ready-to-use condition, marketed or promoted through tourism channels or by any other form of marketing or promotion, carried out for profit, when subject to a specific regime derived from tourism sectoral regulation".

Three criteria must coexist: furnished ready-to-use dwelling, tourist marketing (Airbnb, Booking, own website with "book" section), and subjection to autonomous-community vacation-rental regulation. Duration is not a criterion: a property listed on Airbnb with 30-night minimum is tourist by channel, even if the stay is long.

• Listing on Airbnb / Booking / VRBO / similar: determining criterion for tourist use.
• Own website with booking system and per-night price: determining criterion.
• Hotel services (mid-stay cleaning, towel change, reception): reinforce tourist qualification.
• Furnished dwelling ready for immediate use without tenant registration formality: strong indicator.
• Per-night and not per-month payment: typical indicator.

Tensioned zones: the Law 12/2023 novelty

For hosts who are not large landlords, the only practical novelty is the limit on annual rent increase on LAU art. 2 renewals. For large landlords, the tensioned zone additionally imposes a cap on new rents under the state index. Law 12/2023 art. 3.k defines a large landlord as a holder of more than 10 urban residential properties (or >1,500 m² built); that threshold can be lowered to 5+ properties only within a specific tensioned zone where the autonomous community expressly motivates it in its declaration.

Art. 5 (tourist) remains outside tensioned zones. Seasonal lets, however, are no longer separate: since RDL 29/2026, successive temporary contracts on the same dwelling cannot raise the rent above the IRAV index, and in a tensioned zone room rentals (or the whole-dwelling rent) must respect the limits of LAU art. 17.6-8. Convalidation pending; monitor the BOE.

What should a well-drafted LAU contract contain?

• Landlord and tenant identification with NIE/DNI/passport.
• Full property address + cadastral reference (mandatory in the fianza deposit registration with the regional authority since RDL 7/2019; strongly recommended in the contract itself).
• Express citation of applicable LAU regime: "under art. 2 / 3 / 5 LAU".
• For a temporary housing lease: the reason for the stay stated expressly in the contract and documented (employment contract with end date, university enrolment, etc.) — mandatory since RDL 29/2026.
• Duration with start and end date, and tacit-renewal clause (where applicable).
• Monthly rent + payment method + bank account.
• Deposit: amount, deposit at regional authority (INCASOL in CAT, IBAVI in Balears, etc.).
• Cost distribution: community fees, IBI, utilities, waste.
• Jurisdiction and applicable law clause (always Spanish law).
• Handwritten or advanced electronic signature.

Risks of mis-classification

Economic risk depends on the direction of error. Sign a seasonal lease (11 months) without a provable cause and the tenant claims the primary-residence regime: you're stuck with a contract of up to 5 years you didn't want, and since RDL 29/2026 with effect from signature. Sign art. 3 and the regional administration detects you operate tourism-style, you receive sanctions for lacking tourist license (in Catalonia, up to €600,000 per listing without HUT; in the Valencia Region, up to €600,000 since Decret-ley 9/2024).

Administrative verification is cross-referenced: SES.Hospedajes, platform registers (Airbnb / Booking submit data under RD 933), municipal inspectors in saturated zones. Opacity is no longer a viable strategy.