The accommodation ecosystem in Barcelona has entered an unprecedented phase of regulatory maturity. For companies managing coliving, temporary rentals, and mid-term rental assets, 2026 is not just a year of legal changes, but a year of operational restructuring.

At Polaroo, we understand that your priority is maintaining the profitability of your portfolio while navigating a complex landscape of local and national regulations. In this article, we break down the key updates affecting your business model and how efficiency in utility management can become your strongest competitive advantage.

1. The new framework for temporary rentals and the end of the legal loophole

For years, temporary rental contracts were the preferred option for many operators seeking to avoid the mandatory extensions under Spain’s Urban Leasing Law. However, following the consolidation of the Catalan Housing and Urban Planning Law 11/2025, the rules have changed.

Mandatory justified purpose

Mandatory justified purpose

It is no longer enough for a contract to state “11 months.” As a property manager, you must now ensure that each contract includes explicit documentary justification. If your tenant is a digital nomad, a master’s student, or a relocated employee, the agreement must include a study certificate or an employment relocation letter.

Operational risk: If a temporary contract is challenged and lacks this legal basis, a judge will automatically convert it into a primary residence contract. This implies a duration of up to 7 years (for corporate landlords) and strict application of rent control indexes.

Source: Agència de l'Habitatge de Catalunya

2. Coliving and room rentals: the impact of rent caps

Barcelona has been a pioneer in regulating room rentals to prevent them from becoming an alternative to rent control.

The sum of the parts cannot exceed the whole

For coliving operators, profitability calculations have changed. Current regulations establish that the sum of rents from all rooms in a property cannot exceed the limit set by the Reference Index for that specific unit.

• ‍ What does this mean for you? If you manage a 4-bedroom asset with a legal cap of €1,600, you cannot rent each room for €500.
• ‍Additional services as differentiators: To maintain ARPU (Average Revenue Per Unit), operators are pivoting toward value-added services such as cleaning, events, utilities included, and coworking. These services must be clearly separated from rent to avoid legal risks.

3. The IRAV Index and profitability management

From this year onwards, rent updates definitively move away from CPI and adopt the IRAV (Housing Rental Reference Index).

For large portfolio managers, this introduces a new level of complexity in financial projections. The IRAV tends to be lower and more stable than CPI, which puts pressure on operating margins. In this scenario, efficiency in operational costs (OPEX) becomes critical. This is where centralized utility management shifts from being an “extra” to a financial survival necessity.

4. Sustainability and certifications: the new standard

Barcelona is not only regulating prices, but also environmental impact. In 2026, buildings dedicated to coliving and temporary rentals are under scrutiny due to the European Energy Performance of Buildings Directive.

Operators who fail to demonstrate reduced utility consumption may face:

• Difficulties renewing temporary or tourist activity licenses.
• Higher municipal waste taxes.
• Lower attractiveness for institutional investors requiring ESG criteria.

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5. Polaroo: centralization and control of utilities for temporary rentals and coliving

As a company specialized in services for Property Managers, coliving operators, and temporary rental portfolios, Polaroo understands that your team’s time and resources are too valuable. That’s why we centralize information, optimize costs, ensure compliance, and support data-driven decision-making—helping you improve operational efficiency, increase profitability, and move toward a more sustainable management model.

Centralized utility management: control, efficiency, and sustainability

• ‍Unification and visibility: We centralize all utilities across your portfolio in a single dashboard. Forget managing 50 invoices from 10 different suppliers and access full information for every asset without missing any detail.
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• ‍Legal compliance and cost allocation: We help you correctly separate utility costs in contracts, ensuring transparent and compliant cost allocation to tenants, avoiding legal disputes and simplifying audits and regulatory reporting.
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• ‍Tariff optimization and cost reduction: In a volatile energy market, our service detects overpayments and helps you secure the best utility rates, reducing operational costs and improving portfolio profitability.
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• ‍Asset-level control and data-driven decisions: Monitor consumption, costs, and contracts for each property in real time. Detect deviations and cost overruns before they impact margins and make strategic decisions supported by data.
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• ‍Sustainability and energy efficiency: Optimize consumption, reduce waste, and improve the energy performance of your assets. Meet ESG standards, increase your attractiveness to investors and regulators, and contribute to a more responsible management model.

6. Conclusion: from reactive management to strategic control in 2026

In 2026, the temporary rental and coliving market in Catalonia no longer allows improvisation. New regulations, rent caps, and the IRAV index require operators to combine legal compliance, operational efficiency, and sustainability to protect profitability.

The operators who will succeed are those who:

• Maintain full control of their assets without increasing administrative workloads.
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• Optimize utility costs and contracts to improve margins.
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• Ensure transparency in cost allocation to tenants.
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• Integrate sustainability as a competitive advantage, meeting ESG criteria and reducing unnecessary consumption.

In this context, solutions like Polaroo transform utility management from an operational burden into a strategic ally, offering full asset visibility, cost control, and support for smarter decisions. This enables operators to scale their portfolios responsibly and profitably while ensuring compliance and energy efficiency.