The Spanish government has capped the annual update of residential rents at 2%.

Omissions

• The 2% ceiling has not been in force continuously: Royal Decree-Law 6/2022 set it in 2022, it was maintained for 2023, the limit became 3% in 2024 and from 2025 the general rule was the IRAV index published by the INE, which exceeded 2% in several months of 2025-2026.
• Royal Decree-Law 8/2026 (March 2026), which contained an extraordinary 2% limit, was subsequently repealed; the 2% cap in force at the session date stems from Royal Decree-Law 29/2026 and applies to updates from 8 October 2026 to 31 December 2027, i.e. it is time-limited rather than permanent.
• The second part of the statement ('has protected the most vulnerable from speculators') is a political value judgement, not a verifiable statistic.
• The claim is supported mainly by secondary and specialised legal/press sources rather than a directly retrieved consolidated official text of RDL 29/2026.

Sources

• PrimaryBoletín Oficial del Estado — Real Decreto-ley 8/2026, de 20 de marzo, de medidas en materia de arrendamientos"El artículo 2 regula una limitación ..." — the summary confirms Article 2 of RDL 8/2026 establishes an extraordinary limitation on the annual update of the rent in housing lease contracts. (Measure later repealed.)
• PrimaryInstituto Nacional de Estadística — Índice de Referencia de Arrendamientos de Vivienda (IRAV)"The IRAV is the minimum value between the year-on-year rate of change of the Consumer Price Index, the year-on-year rate of change of the underlying Consumer ..." — confirms that since 2025 the general limit on annual rent updates is the IRAV index rather than a flat percentage.
• SecondaryAshurst — The repeal of the Spanish RDL 8/2026 on extraordinary measures for housing leases"El artículo 2 del RDL 8/2026 estableció una limitación extraordinaria a la actualización anual de la renta en contratos de alquiler de vivienda" — confirms the 2% extraordinary limitation and that the decree was later repealed.
• SecondaryObservatorio de Vivienda Asequible (Provivienda) — Nuevos decretos de vivienda: qué cambia en el alquiler"Qué cambia con los nuevos decretos de vivienda (RDL 28 y 29/2026): límite del 2% al alquiler, prórrogas de cinco años, TU CASA y vivienda ..."
• SecondaryIdealista — Entran en vigor la prórroga y el tope a los alquileres"Ese tope extraordinario del 2%, que también se aplicará hasta finales de 2027, será de obligatorio cumplimiento si el arrendador es un gran ..."
• TertiaryIRAV.es — Calculadora IRAV 2026 · ¿Cuánto puedo subir el alquiler?"Para actualizaciones desde el 8 de octubre de 2026 y hasta el 31/12/2027, el RDL 29/2026 fija un tope del 2 % si no pactas expresamente otra subida con tu ..."
• Tertiary1mast — How much can my landlord raise the rent?"2022 → 2% cap · 2023 → 2% cap maintained · 2024 → 3% limit · 2025 → IRAV (2.2% in January | 2.28% ..."