On Wednesday 14 October Spain’s statistics office, the INE, published a number many tenants would rather not have seen: 2.54%. It is the reference index for updating rents for September, and since it was created in November 2024 it has never been this high.
On its own the move looks small. In August it stood at 2.47%, so the difference is nine hundredths of a point. The context says more. It is the first time it has crossed 2.5%, and it has stayed above 2.4% for seven months. The lowest reading in the series, 1.90%, dates from May 2025, and the line has climbed almost without a break since.
To understand what it measures, remember why it exists. The housing law, in force since 25 May 2023, told the INE to define an index for updating rents on leases signed after that date, replacing the old link to consumer prices. The aim was to avoid disproportionate increases. After prices jumped following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government capped rent rises at 2% in April 2022 and set the cap at 3% for 2024.
And inflation now? Across Spain, consumer prices rose 4.9% in September, the highest since February 2023. Core inflation, which strips out energy and fresh food, was 3.1%. The source blames mostly fuel prices, tied to the energy shock from the war in Iran, and links the rise in the rent index to tensions in the Middle East.
In the Canaries the picture is tighter still: consumer prices were up 4.4% year on year in September, extending a run of seven months of increases, with transport among the items that weigh most.
What to do in practice? Anyone with a lease signed after May 2023 and an anniversary coming up should check the update clause and which month’s index applies, because each month has its own value. Landlords should calculate the increase with the right figure and notify it in writing. We found no Canary-specific data in this run on how the index is affecting rents across the islands, so we are not offering figures we cannot check.
One thing is clear for anyone moving now: rent is not the only line going up. Fuel and transport matter as much as the monthly rent for someone who lives on an island and drives. It is worth doing the full sum before signing, not just comparing two listings.
