The rent is the easy number. Then come the extras, and the biggest arguments we see between tenants and landlords on the Maresme are not about the rent itself but about the community charge, the property tax and the waste tax. Who actually owes what, and when can it be moved onto you?
For a residential lease, the starting position under Spanish law is that the owner pays the community fees, the IBI and the rubbish charge. They can be passed to the tenant, but only if the contract says so clearly. Silence is not agreement. If a lease says nothing, the owner keeps paying, full stop.
This matters because agencies and landlords sometimes slip a single vague line into a contract, assuming it covers everything. It usually does not.
Article 20 of the LAU sets the bar for community fees higher than for the other two. To charge them to the tenant, the contract must include the agreement in writing and must state the annual amount on the day it is signed. Miss either part and the clause is not enforceable.
There is also a separation worth knowing. Even if the tenant agrees to pay the community, the owner remains the one liable to the community of owners itself. The tenant pays the owner under the contract, not the community directly. If the building sues over unpaid fees, it sues the owner.
IBI is the local property tax, and the rubbish or waste charge is a municipal fee. Both are individualisable to the home, which is why the law treats them differently from the community. They can be passed to the tenant if the contract states it expressly, but they do not need the annual amount spelled out the way community fees do.
In Catalonia the waste tax is having a moment. Under Ley 7/2022, municipalities must run a specific, non-deficit waste charge that covers the real cost of collection and treatment. From April 2025, councils over 5,000 residents had to have one that recovers 100% of the cost, and the obligation rolls out to smaller towns too. Many added the line to bills in 2025. Expect to see it as a separate charge, not hidden inside the rent.
Utilities are a different story. Electricity, water and usually gas are put in the tenant's name and paid by the tenant. If the lease includes a fixed monthly amount for utilities, that is a private arrangement, not a legal default, so read how it is calculated. Internet and phone are yours.
Ask for the annual community figure in writing, and check that it appears in the contract if you are being asked to pay it. Ask whether IBI and the waste charge are on you, and if so, how they are billed and how often. Do not accept a clause that says all property costs and taxes without numbers, because that wording is exactly the kind that later gets argued about. A clean contract names each charge, gives a figure where the law requires one, and leaves no space for interpretation.