Investment approach
Second home as an investment: what to calculate before buying in 2026
A second home is taxed even when empty, and letting has narrowed after the October 2026 decree-laws. What can be put in numbers, what stays a personal choice and where the line runs.
A second home is a flat bought for your own use in the hope that income will partly justify it. It is more honest to count it as a cost: a non-resident pays tax even on an empty flat, on imputed income (renta imputada) of 1.1% or 2% of the valor catastral (cadastral value), at 19% for residents of the EU and EEA and 24% for everyone else (AEAT). Rental income is now more restricted than before the October 2026 decree-laws.
How a second home differs from an investment flat
These are two decisions in one purchase: where to spend your time and where to put your money. The mistake begins when one is passed off as the other: buying a flat for holidays and justifying it with a yield it will not deliver, or picking a "correct investment" in a place where the buyer does not want to be.
A useful test: would you buy this flat if it brought in no income at all? If yes, it is a purchase for living with possible income, and the thing to calculate is the cost. If no, it is an investment, and it is tested by the same rules as any other, including liquidity and exit.
What it costs to own an empty flat
Almost the whole economics of ownership can be calculated. A non-resident declares imputed income on Modelo 210 (the non-resident tax return) with no deduction for costs, and the amount is reduced in proportion to the days the flat was let or not owned. The 1.1% rate applies if the cadastral values in the municipality have been revised since 2012, a rule that RDL 29/2026 extended for 2026 (BOE); otherwise it is 2%.
| Cost item | What it depends on | Source of the figure |
|---|---|---|
| Imputed income tax (non-resident) | 1.1% or 2% of cadastral value, rate of 19% or 24% | IBI bill, AEAT |
| IBI (municipal property tax) | Cadastral value and the municipality's rate | The seller's IBI bill |
| Comunidad fees (owners' association) and special levies | Building, lift, pool, works plans | Minutes of owners' meetings |
| Insurance and utilities | Floor area, tariff, minimum consumption | The seller's bills for the year |
| Looking after the flat | Owner's distance | The manager's quote |
Worked example, not a forecast. Cadastral value of 200,000 €, revised after 2012. Imputed income of 2,200 € a year, tax of 418 € for an EU resident and 528 € for everyone else. Assume IBI of 700 €, comunidad of 1,800 €, insurance of 300 €, utilities of 900 € and care of the flat of 1,200 € a year. In total about 5,300–5,400 € a year, roughly 450 € a month for the right to arrive at any moment. These figures are checked against the bills for the specific flat, and your own are worked out in the calculator.
An empty flat can cost more through IBI. Under RDL 29/2026, municipalities in stressed market zones may add a surcharge of up to 50% to IBI on a home that has stood empty for more than two years without justified reason. The decree-law expressly treats a second home as a justified reason, but for a maximum of four years of continuous vacancy (art. 72 TRLRHL as worded by the decree-law). TRLRHL is the consolidated law on local finance. Congress has not yet validated the decree-law.
What has changed in letting a second home
Letting the flat in the weeks when the owner is away has become harder on three fronts. All the rules below come from RDL 29/2026, which Congress has not yet validated.
- Short-term letting. From 1 December 2026, letting a furnished home to a single tenant for up to 30 nights is subject to IVA (VAT) at 10%. The exemption remains only if the landlord lives permanently in that flat, and a second home does not meet that condition. The regimes are compared in the article on IVA on tourist and long-term lets.
- IBI on tourist housing. In stressed market zones the municipality may add a surcharge of up to 50% to IBI, up to 100% for owners of two or more such flats and up to 150% for four or more. The IBI tax period is the calendar year, so this concerns tax from 2027.
- Temporary rental (alquiler temporal). Since 8 October 2026, a lease of more than 31 days and, as a rule, no more than 12 months is possible only with a real, provable reason for the tenant's temporary move; without it, the lease is treated from the start as a main-residence lease.
Long-term letting is incompatible with personal use: from 15 November 2026, RDL 28/2026 (BOE) extends a main-residence lease, after five (seven) years, by a further five (seven), and the owner's refusal requires compensation.
What changes if the owner becomes a resident
From 1 January 2027, RDL 29/2026 changes the calculation of imputed income in IRPF (personal income tax): instead of 1.1% or 2% for each flat, a scale applies to the sum of the cadastral values of all such properties: 1.1% up to 100,000 €, 1.5% up to 500,000 €, 2% up to 1 M€ and 3% above that (art. 85 LIRPF). For an owner of several properties whose cadastral values add up to more than 500,000 €, the rate on the upper band will rise to 2–3%, and with a small total in a municipality without a revaluation the tax may even fall. How the new scale will affect non-residents is a question for an asesor fiscal (tax adviser).
When a second home does not work as an investment
The calculation does not work if the purchase is justified by tourist-letting income without a verified licence for the specific flat. It also does not work when the flat appeals only to other second-home buyers: demand is seasonal and a sale can drag on, see how to measure liquidity. The value of your own weeks by the sea cannot be put in figures, and it is more honest to write it in words beside the cost table. The "second home or relocation" scenario, using the coast as an example, is covered in the article on Sitges.
Questions and answers
Does a non-resident pay tax if a second home in Spain stands empty?
Yes. An individual non-resident declares imputed income on Modelo 210: 1.1% or 2% of the cadastral value a year, taxed at 19% for residents of the EU and EEA and 24% for everyone else, with no deduction for costs.
Can a second home be let to tourists in Barcelona?
Only with a verified licence for the specific flat. From 1 December 2026 such letting for up to 30 nights is subject to 10% IVA, and in stressed market zones the municipality may add a surcharge to IBI.
Is there a risk of an IBI surcharge on an empty second home?
Under RDL 29/2026, a second home counts as a justified reason for vacancy, but for no more than four years in a row. Whether to introduce the surcharge is for the municipality to decide in its ordenanza fiscal (municipal tax ordinance).
How much does it cost to keep a second home in Spain?
It depends on the building and the cadastral value. In the worked example with a cadastral value of 200,000 € it came to about 450 € a month. The best guide is the seller's bills for the last year.
