TENANTS across Spain have been driven out of major provincial capitals by soaring rents, creating unprecedented demand in surrounding commuter towns and secondary municipalities.
Data from property portal Idealista shows that less than half of Spain’s provincial capitals now face the highest rental pressure in their own territories.
In 27 of the country’s 50 provinces, at least one outlying town has overtaken the capital for relative demand, as tenants search for affordable living away from overheated urban centres.
The shift comes as national asking rents climbed 5.8% year-on-year in August to sit above €15 per square metre per month, with price hikes hitting 47 provincial capitals.
Nowhere is that pressure more evident than on the Costa del Sol, where house-hunters priced out of Malaga city are turning east in droves.
Velez-Malaga, the market town that serves as the capital of the Axarquia region roughly 35km east of Malaga city, has officially become the most sought-after rental market in the province.
Average asking rents in Velez-Malaga sit at €11.20 per square metre per month, according to the second-quarter market report.
That makes the eastern coastal hub roughly 32% cheaper than Malaga city, where rents have climbed to €16.50 per square metre following a 2.8% annual rise.
A 13% increase in Malaga city’s available rental listings over the past year has done nothing to tame prices, leaving neighbouring towns to absorb the shortfall.
READ MORE: Property prices in Spain have more than doubled since 2014
Similar outward displacement is playing out across the country, with Getafe drawing more relative demand than Madrid, and Cornella de Llobregat outpacing Barcelona.
In the Valencian Community, tenants pushed out of Alicante city, where rents rose 7.3% to €13.90 per square metre, have turned inland to Alcoy at €8.40.
The squeeze in secondary towns is being accelerated by a nationwide collapse in traditional long-term housing.
While permanent rental listings fell 0.2% year-on-year, dubious short-term seasonal contracts once again surged by 13%.
Seasonal lets now account for 29% of all rental properties on the market in Spain, representing nearly one in every three available homes.
Property owners increasingly favour seasonal contracts because they sit outside the Urban Tenancies Act (LAU), allowing landlords to bypass rent-increase caps and mandatory multi-year lease renewals.
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