Commercial lease in Spain

If you want to set up your company in Spain, you may need to find commercial premises for your company in order to develop your activity.

In Spain, the leases related to commercial premises have some specific characteristics:

In the commercial lease, a landlord (the Lessor) rent premises to a tenant (the Lessee) for a professional occupation. Since january 1995, the commercial lease is governed by the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos.

The law provides a free right for individuals to consent to binding contracts. a commercial lease would then be determined in a first time by the agreements made by the two parties and by the legislation in a second time.

FORM

The commercial lease must be done under a written form. He must express the identities of the landlord and of the tenant and contain a description of the premises, the term of the contract and the rent agreed by both parties. there is no official form.

TERM

The legislation does not require any term limitations. the contract term has to be freely determined by the parties. in the absence of term agreement, the term would be 1 year.

At the end of the initial term, the contract renews tacitly on a yearly basis.

If one of the parties wants to terminate the contract, she has to notify the other party of his intention at least one month before the end of the contract.

RENT

Generally, the rent has to be paid on a monthly basis, on the first week of the month.

The landlord cannot require an anticipated payment of more than one-month rent. the price, the place and the conditions of the payment must be defined by the parties in the contract.

The rent revision, that is to say the increase or decrease of the price, is done each year during the first 5 years and vary according to the CPI.

DEPOSIT

In the absence of another agreement, the deposit will be equal to 2-month rent. the caution is revised, as well as the rent, after 5 years.

TERMINATION OF THE CONTRACT AND SUBLEASE

When the purpose of a lease is the development of a professional or commercial activity within the premises, the tenant can give or sublet the contract. it is not necessary to get the agreement of the landlord. However, he must preiously inform the landlord.
In the case of a partial sublease, the landlord can increase the rent up to 10% or 20% for a total sublease or cession.

SELL OF THE PREMISES

If the term of the contract is longer than 5 years, the tenant may have a pre-emption right: if the landlord decides to sell the premises, he will have priority and be able to buy it before other possible prospect buyers. He will have 30 days to notify to the landlord of his decision.

Our consultancy office, based in barcelona, can assist and help you in your research for premises. We can shortlist the most adapted offers, contact the landlords and finally draw up the commercial lease in due form. Feel free to contact us !