The municipal administration is thus aligned with the Catalan government, with the aim that any breaches that may occur in Sitges reach the Generalitat quickly. The Local Housing Office will receive complaints from people who believe illegal rental prices are being asked for.

The Councillor for Housing, Carme Gasulla Blanco, explains that “it is important to note that we are referring to rental contracts signed from 30 January 2025 onwards. The City Council will detect and report cases where rents are requested above the established rental limit”. Councillor Gasulla said that “we know that we have a serious housing problem in Sitges in terms of rental prices and, therefore, the City Council must stand by citizens to achieve the price containment envisaged in the approved law”.

The Government of the Generalitat has already approved the sanctioning regime to guarantee compliance with the rental income containment through an emergency Decree-Law. These measures give the Generalitat the capacity to impose penalties on the rental of homes above the maximum rent defined by the reference system of rental prices. According to the new Decree, it is considered a serious infraction to establish in the rental of a home subject to the rental price containment regime a rent that exceeds the maximum amount permitted, if the difference in income is equal to or less than 30%. In the event that it is greater than 30%, it will be considered a very serious infraction.

A new type of infringment has also been established to deter abusive practices in terms of any temporary rentals that in reality have the purpose of being permanent or habitual, with the clear intention of circumventing the application of current regulations on urban leases.

Another very serious infringement in matters of leases is passing on to the tenant the costs of real estate management and/or formalization when this is not permitted for long term rentals according to the new law.

It is also considered a serious infraction not to state when advertising housing for rent, the rent established by the rental control reference system, or where applicable, the amount of income from the previous rental contract, or if the advertiser is an owner of multiple properties.

If you want to rent out your property and need to find out what rental controls it is subject to, you can find out here  by placing Sitges in the first search box and then the details of the house or apartment on the next page.