The BOE declares Sopela, Urduliz, and Bergara as stressed zones and limits their rents

The Official State Gazette publishes this Tuesday, November 3, 2026 (no. 273), the list of stressed residential market areas declared in the third quarter, which include the Basque municipalities of Sopela, Urduliz, and Bergara. The Resolution of October 29, 2026, of the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Agenda (reference BOE-A-2026-23088) contains these three declarations and specifies their effects: rent limitation in certain new contracts and a particularized definition of a large holder. The resolution takes effect from the day following its publication, that is, November 4, 2026.

The framework is article 18.2.d) of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the right to housing, which requires the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda to publish a resolution every quarter with the areas declared by the autonomous communities. In this case, the declarations were approved by the Counselor of Housing and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government and published in the “Official Gazette of the Basque Country,” so the BOE is limited to reporting them and reflecting their contents. The text recalls that all three were approved within the third quarter of 2026.

• Sopela: Order of July 27, 2026, of the Counselor of Housing and Urban Agenda, published in the “Official Gazette of the Basque Country” no. 154, of August 14, 2026.
• Urduliz: Order of July 27, 2026, of the same body, published in the “Official Gazette of the Basque Country” no. 154, of August 14, 2026.
• Bergara: Order of September 11, 2026, of the Counselor of Housing and Urban Agenda, published in the “Official Gazette of the Basque Country” no. 182, of September 23, 2026.

Three years of validity

The resolution sets the validity period of the three stressed areas at three years, counted from the day following the publication of the resolution itself in the BOE, in accordance with article 18.2.d) of Law 12/2023. This term applies equally to Sopela, Urduliz, and Bergara, regardless of the dates on which each regional order appeared in the Basque gazette.

Who is a large holder in these municipalities

In the three areas, the particularized definition of a large holder contained in the respective orders is applied, which is added to the general definition of article 3.k) of Law 12/2023. According to that criterion, a large holder is considered to be:

• The natural or legal person who owns five or more urban residential properties in the municipality.
• Garages and storage rooms are excluded in all cases.
• Housing owned by public administrations, their instrumental entities, or companies in which they hold a majority stake are excepted.

The rent limit for new contracts

The resolution confirms the application, in the three zones, of the limitation provided for in the second paragraph of Article 17.7 of Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases. This rule affects housing lease agreements located in a stressed zone where no rental agreement has been in effect for the last five years: in such a case, the rent agreed upon at the start of the new contract may not exceed the maximum limit of the price applicable according to the system of reference price indices, taking into account the conditions and characteristics of the dwelling and the building in which it is located.

Publicity, report and means of appeal

The text includes links to the declarations and reports published by the competent Administration in housing matters, pursuant to Article 18.3 of Law 12/2023. Against the resolution, which ends the administrative route, an optional appeal for reversal may be filed before the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Agenda within one month, or a contentious-administrative appeal before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the National Court within two months, counted in both cases from the day following its publication. The document was signed in Madrid on October 29, 2026, by the Secretary of State for Housing and Urban Agenda, Leire Iglesias Santiago.

The three municipalities thus join the state list of stressed zones, in which the Basque Country already had previous declarations, such as that of Basauri (Order of May 28, 2026, published in the “Official Gazette of the Basque Country” on June 8, 2026) or that of Errenteria (Order of October 1, 2024). For the tenants and owners of Sopela, Urduliz, and Bergara, the practical consequence is twofold: new contracts for dwellings without recent rentals are subject to the reference price index, and holders of five or more urban dwellings assume the status of large holder in those municipalities for the next three years.

Source: Official State Gazette, no. 273, of November 3, 2026, Sec. III. Other Provisions, pp. 147390-147392 (official reference: BOE-A-2026-23088).