The Basque Government has launched the procedure to designate the Santurtzi area as a tension zone

The Basque Government has initiated the procedure to designate Santurtzi (Bizkaia) as a stressed rental market zone, at the request of the town council. The initial decision is the order with reference 2026/4844, published in issue number 218 of the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco on November 13, 2026. This is not yet a designation, but rather the start of a procedure: a public information period of twenty business days has been opened, and upon its conclusion, the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda of the Basque Government will decide whether or not to approve the designation.

Legal framework and competence

The order is based on Article 18 of Law 12/2023, of May 24, on the Right to Housing, which establishes that the designation of stressed zones must be carried out by the administration competent in housing, following a procedure to collect market information. The competence lies with the Basque Government, based on the exclusive powers granted by Article 10.31 of the Statute of Autonomy and Law 3/2015, of June 18, on Housing, and the functions assigned to the department by Decree 411/2024, of December 3.

The justifying report must verify that one of two legal conditions is met:

• The housing cost burden —including mortgage or rent, expenses, and utilities— is higher than 30% of the average household income.
• The cumulative growth of purchase or rental prices over the last five years is three points higher than the growth of the autonomous community’s CPI.

Municipal request and 31.3% burden rate

The Santurtzi City Council submitted the request on July 14, 2026, accompanied by three documents:

• The diagnosis for designating Santurtzi as a stressed zone.
• The justifying report for the designation.
• The plan of specific measures for the designation as a stressed zone.

In that report, it is argued that the first condition is met, based on the report on stressed zones in the Basque Country from April 2025 by the Basque Housing Observatory. According to that report, the effort required to pay rent in Santurtzi is 31.3%, and therefore exceeds the 30% limit required by legislation. The Department has considered the documentation and the plan to be appropriate and concluded that the condition to initiate the process is justified.

Public information and next steps

The procedure has entered the public information stage, published in the Boletín Oficial del País Vasco and the Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia, with a period of twenty business days; the period is counted from the day following the last of the two publications. During this period, interested parties may submit allegations.

Furthermore, the order has been notified to the Santurtzi City Council, granting a hearing period of twenty business days to present allegations and documentation. The studies and reports justifying the designation are available at the Directorate of Housing Planning and Operational Processes, located at number 1 Donostia-San Sebastián Street in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and on the electronic notice board of the Basque Government. The order itself specifies that no appeal may be filed, as it is a procedural act.

Validity and precedents

Once it enters into force, the designation will have a duration of three years and may be extended annually, provided that the circumstances justifying it continue to be proven. Additionally, the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda will approve a resolution every three months to update the list of current stressed zones.

This path has already been taken in other municipalities. Sopela, Bergara, Oñati, and Bermeo have been designated as stressed zones throughout 2026, and procedures have been opened by others such as Deba, Erandio, Oiartzun, and Hondarribia. The designation of the Bermeo municipality specifically defined the figure of large agents —five or more dwellings, or more than 1,500 square meters— and applied the rental limits provided for by law. In this context, the Department of Housing and Urban Agenda also approved the Alokaplus (Aloka+) aid program on October 28, as an incentive to bring dwellings into the rental market in stressed zones.

It is the third city on the left side of Bizkaia to reach this procedure, and the evolution of rental prices and efforts regarding housing costs suggest that they will remain among the priorities of the town’s policy. However, the order is only the start of the process: with the twenty-day public information period, the council hearing, and the reasoned resolution still pending, the designation of Santurtzi as a stressed zone is not automatic.

Fuente: Official Gazette of the Basque Country, No. 218, November 13, 2026, Part I (Other provisions), pp. 1-4 (official reference: 2026/4844).