# Student housing in Spain

> How student housing works in Spain, including providers, queues, deposits, contracts and practical risks to check before signing.

Source of record: https://versityspot.com/study-abroad/spain/housing
Confirmation: 26 of 26 sections confirmed against their official source (last 2026-08-08).

## Housing

Most students share a flat, a piso compartido, and rooms are advertised and filled quickly in September. Madrid and Barcelona are tight and expensive; Valencia, Seville, Granada and Salamanca are neither.

University residences and colegios mayores exist, are more expensive than a shared room, and include meals. Apply early if you want one.

Expect a deposit, the fianza, of one or two months rent. Insist on a written contract, and insist that your landlord will register you on the padron. A landlord who refuses the empadronamiento is a landlord who will cost you your TIE appointment, and this is common enough that you should ask before you view.

Never transfer money for a flat you have not seen. Fake listings appear every August in Madrid and Barcelona, aimed precisely at arriving international students.

*Source: https://www.inclusion.gob.es/*

## Common questions

### What should international students know about housing in Spain?

Shared flats are the norm. Insist the landlord will register you on the padron before you sign.