Madrid and Barcelona enter April 2026 at two very different points in the rental market: while the capital is hitting record highs and becoming the most expensive city in Spain to rent, Barcelona is experiencing an unprecedented price correction after years of rising rents. Idealista’s latest report for April shows a shift in trend that is already evident in Barcelona, but has not yet reached Madrid.
According to Idealista, rents in Spain rose 5.2% year-over-year in April to 15 euros per square meter, the most moderate annual increase since the summer of 2022. In other words, the market continues to become more expensive, but no longer at double-digit rates as in recent years.
Barcelona is the major exception among the capital cities: rents there have fallen by 7.6% over the past year, while in Madrid they continue to rise sharply, up 8.6% year-over-year. Palma, Alicante, Seville, Bilbao, Málaga, Valencia, and San Sebastián are also seeing increases, though none have experienced such high peaks and such a sharp rebound as Madrid.
Madrid, the new most expensive city for rent
For the first time in a long time, Madrid has overtaken Barcelona as the capital with the highest rents in Spain. The report puts the average price in the city at 23.3 euros per square meter, compared to 22 euros per square meter in the Catalan capital.
Translated to a typical 80-square-meter apartment, this translates to monthly rents of around 1,860 euros in Madrid and about 1,760 euros in Barcelona, based on asking prices. At the provincial level, the pattern repeats: Madrid remains the most expensive province for rent, at 21.2 euros per square meter, followed by the Balearic Islands and, trailing behind, Barcelona at 18.6 euros per square meter.
Barcelona’s prices are falling while the rest are rising
The other side of the report is Barcelona, which has become a rare exception on Spain’s rental map. It is, along with Tarragona, the only capital city where Idealista has detected lower prices than a year ago, with a 7.6% decline compared to increases of up to 14% in cities like Pontevedra or more than 10% in Huelva, Zamora, and Oviedo.
At the regional level, Catalonia is the only region where rents fell in April compared to the previous year, with a decline of 8.6%, while in the Community of Madrid, rents rose by 9%. The result is a map almost entirely marked by increases, with Catalonia as a notable exception both at the regional level and in its capital.