Spain
Student accommodation regulation in Spain (2026)
There is no national law that regulates student residences in Spain. University law defines one figure, the colegio mayor, and everything else comes from general rules: the Urban Leases Act for the contract, each region's and town's planning for the building, the GDPR for data and the EU AI Act for the assistant that replies. Here is each piece with its article, and the way to the guide that explains it in full.
The short answer
There is no national law that regulates student residences as such. University law defines one figure, the colegio mayor (a Spanish hall of residence with a formative programme), and the rest comes from rules that reach any kind of accommodation. The links lead to the BOE, Spain's official gazette.
| What | Rule | Who applies it |
|---|---|---|
| Legal figure | LOSU, seventh additional provision and Decree 2780/1973 | The university and the ministry (ministerial order) |
| Contract | Urban Leases Act, Arts. 2, 3, 5 and 9 bis | The parties; if there is a dispute, the courts |
| Building | Spanish Building Code and municipal planning | The town council, through the licence |
| Data | GDPR and LOPDGDD | The Spanish Data Protection Agency |
| Conduct and whistleblowing | Law 3/2022 and Law 2/2023 | University; Independent Whistleblower Protection Authority |
| AI | Regulation (EU) 2024/1689, Art. 50 | AESIA, the Spanish AI supervisory agency |
Colegio mayor, university residence and private residence
The seventh additional provision of the LOSU, Spain's university act, defines the colegio mayor as a centre integrated into the university that provides residence and promotes cultural and scientific activities: it is a university institution, and only not-for-profit bodies may run it (paragraph 2). The sign on the door does not prove the figure; recognition by ministerial order under Decree 2780/1973 (Arts. 5 and 6), still in force, and integration into or affiliation with a university do.
A university residence provides an accommodation service and may have any owner; a private residence with no university link is what the market calls PBSA. Law 3/2022 binds universities and reaches a centre through its integration or affiliation, not a residence with no link. Law 2/2023 looks at the workforce: an internal reporting channel for any entity with fifty or more people employed (Art. 10(1)(a)), counting all its sites together. More in the guides on colegio mayor or residence, conduct rules and the reporting channel.
The contract with the resident
The Urban Leases Act does not name student residences and decides the contract by what the person lives there for. Since 8 October 2026 (Royal Decree-law 29/2026) there are two boxes: habitual residence (Art. 2(1)), including a single room, and temporary residence (Arts. 2(3) and 9 bis), for someone away from their usual home for a justified and provable reason, for more than thirty-one days and, as a general rule, no more than twelve months. The tenancy for a use other than housing now excludes "in all cases" the accommodation or lodging of people (Art. 3(2)).
Two points. The Act leaves out university housing that the university itself designates as such and assigns to its students (Art. 5(d)). And seasonal contracts signed before 8 October keep their regime until the agreed term ends, with no extension (eighth transitional provision). It is a royal decree-law that Congress has to ratify; the full table is in the guide to coliving regulation.
The building, the licence and the dining hall
There is no national student residence licence: the municipal licence and each town's planning decide. In the Planning Rules of Madrid, for example, a student residence is a "residencia comunitaria" (community residence), a residential use (Art. 7.3.1.2(b)(i)), but if it has a direct link with a university centre, as a colegio mayor does, it is an educational facility (Art. 7.10.3) (BOCM no. 282). The other regions are in coliving regulation. What is national is the Spanish Building Code: it applies to buildings that need a licence (Art. 2(1)) and sets the fire safety requirements (Art. 11).
If there is a dining hall, it is a "mass caterer" for Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 (Art. 2(2)(d)): the fourteen allergens in each dish must be disclosed. And since 2 April 2026 Law 1/2025 has required a food waste prevention plan, from which micro-enterprises are exempt (Art. 6(6)).
Personal data and the AI assistant
The GDPR and the LOPDGDD apply, and the Spanish Data Protection Agency supervises. For a residence that answers on WhatsApp: housing, billing and providing the service rest on performance of the contract (Art. 6(1)(b)), not on consent; residents must be told who processes their data and why (Art. 13); an allergy is health data and also needs a basis under Art. 9(2); and the assistant's provider is a processor (Art. 28). People can consent on their own from the age of fourteen (Art. 7 of the LOPDGDD).
With the database in the European Union there is no international transfer. If a provider processes data in a third country, such as the US, Art. 46 safeguards are needed, such as standard contractual clauses (Art. 46(2)(c)). More in the GDPR guide for residences.
And AI: since 2 August 2026, anyone who gets a reply from an assistant must know, unless it is obvious, that they are talking to an AI (Art. 50(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689). The duty falls first on the provider; the residence is responsible for its staff's AI literacy (Art. 4). Serving residents is not high-risk. More in the guide to the AI Act.
What the rules do not say
Worth knowing
That the sign proves the figure. A building that a company markets as "Colegio Mayor" is not, for that reason, a university colegio mayor: recognition decides. Which reasons justify temporary residence. Art. 2(3) of the Urban Leases Act asks for a "justified and provable" reason and does not list them.
Annex III of the AI Act does not name residences, and Spain has no national penalty regime in place: the draft lapsed when Parliament was dissolved on 6 October 2026.
Where Bedel fits
Bedel answers the residence's WhatsApp in the language the person writes in and puts on a person's phone whatever a machine should not decide, such as a conduct complaint or a health matter. The data lives in the European Union (Ireland) and the AI model runs in the US under standard contractual clauses. The processing agreement is in the DPA; what changes with the centre's legal figure is reviewed before signing.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a law that regulates student residences in Spain?
Not a national law of their own. The LOSU defines the colegio mayor in its seventh additional provision and Decree 2780/1973 governs its recognition. Beyond that, a residence is governed by general rules: the Urban Leases Act for the contract, each region's and town's planning for the building, the GDPR and the LOPDGDD for data and, if it uses an AI assistant, Regulation (EU) 2024/1689.
Which contract is signed with a resident since October 2026?
It depends on what the person lives there for. Since 8 October 2026, the Urban Leases Act allows a habitual residence tenancy, including by the room (Art. 2(1)), and a temporary residence tenancy for someone away from home for a justified and provable reason (Arts. 2(3) and 9 bis). The tenancy for other uses in Art. 3 now excludes the accommodation of people. University housing that the university itself assigns to its students falls outside the Act (Art. 5(d)).
Does Law 3/2022 on university conduct reach a private residence?
Only if it is integrated into or affiliated with a university. That law binds universities and reaches a centre through its link with one; a colegio mayor, which is integrated by definition, is always covered. A private residence with no link is not, although the GDPR, health and safety at work and, if the entity employs fifty or more people, Law 2/2023 still apply.
Can a residence keep its residents' data outside Spain?
Within the European Union, yes, and it does not count as an international transfer. Outside it, only under the conditions of Chapter V of the GDPR: an adequacy decision or Art. 46 safeguards, such as standard contractual clauses. In any case, the provider that processes data on the residence's behalf is a processor and needs an Art. 28 contract, and residents must be informed (Art. 13).
Does the WhatsApp assistant have to say that an AI is replying?
Yes, since 2 August 2026, unless it is obvious. Art. 50(1) of Regulation (EU) 2024/1689 requires the provider to design the assistant so that the person knows they are talking to an AI, at the latest at the first interaction. The residence must make sure its staff have a sufficient level of AI literacy (Art. 4). In Spain, the Spanish Agency for the Supervision of Artificial Intelligence supervises.
Other countries
- United KingdomFour systems in one country: in England, membership of an approved management code weighs on whether a student building is an HMO and on which contract is signed; data follows UK GDPR.
- IrelandA figure of its own: student specific accommodation, within tenancy law and under the RTB since 2019, whether signed as a lease or as a licence.
- PortugalRules of its own for the building since January 2022 (Decree-Law 14/2022 and Ordinance 35-A/2022); the contract is a Civil Code tenancy and data goes through the GDPR and Law 58/2019.
- FranceThe résidence universitaire has a legal definition (Art. L631-12 of the Code de la construction et de l'habitation); the rest of student accommodation is let under the 1989 Act, as a furnished let or a bail mobilité.
- ItalyThe "struttura residenziale universitaria" has a legal definition (Legislative Decree 68/2012, Art. 13), split into collegi and residenze; letting a flat to students comes under Art. 5 of Law 431/1998.
- GermanyNo residence act: section 549(3) of the BGB cuts back tenant protection in a Studenten- oder Jugendwohnheim, and building rules and the data authority depend on each Land.
- NetherlandsNo residence act: Book 7 of the Civil Code gives student lettings the campus contract and the fixed-term contract, and the Bbl sets its own measurements for student housing.
- BelgiumThree student tenancy regimes, one per region, with different terms, deposits and exits; data protection and whistleblowing, by contrast, are federal.