A rented villa with a pool and a garden does not look after itself. Some landlords include a cleaner or a gardener in the deal; most do not. The moment you hire someone directly you become an employer under Spanish law, which surprises almost everyone. What the two routes cost, what paperwork is involved, and what to settle before anyone gets a set of keys.
You can employ someone directly as an empleada de hogar, under the special household-employee scheme, or you can contract a company that sends its own staff. Direct employment is cheaper by the hour and gives you control over who is in the house. It also puts social security, payroll, holidays and dismissal rules on your side of the table. A company costs 20% to 40% more, carries the paperwork, and sends a replacement when someone is ill or on holiday.
In a rental, the lease decides who pays. Some villa contracts list 'jardinero y piscina incluidos'; others hand you a contact and a price. Put it in the annex to the contract, not in a WhatsApp message that disappears when you change phones.
Cleaning runs at €12 to €18 an hour gross around Barcelona and the Maresme. A 20-hour week lands at roughly €950 to €1,250 gross a month. A live-in housekeeper is €1,400 to €2,000 plus room and board, and harder to arrange legally than people expect. Gardening is €25 to €40 an hour, or a monthly contract of €150 to €350 for a normal plot, more once you get past 2,000 m². Pool service is separate, usually €80 to €150 a month. A nanny with English starts around €1,200 and can pass €2,000 depending on hours.
The legal floor for a 40-hour domestic contract in 2026 is about €1,221 a month across 14 payments, or €8.90 an hour, according to the Social Security calculator. Most families pay above it because the market does, especially in July when every villa on the coast is looking for someone.
Register the worker with Social Security before the first day, under the household-employee system. A written contract is required for anything longer than four weeks; without proof, a long arrangement can be treated as indefinite and full-time. Since January 2023 the employer pays the monthly contribution, which is why the gross salary is not the real cost. You will need an NIE, a Spanish bank account and a gestoría that knows the scheme. Budget €30 to €60 a month for payroll and filings.
Dismissal has its own rules in this scheme and notice depends on the contract. Do not improvise it in the kitchen. Insurance matters too: the household policy should cover domestic staff, and if it does not, that is a conversation to have before the first day, not after an accident.
If you are non-resident and the house is in Spain, Spanish employment rules still apply to work performed here. Paying cash without a contract is common on the coast and it is also the fastest way to lose a dispute, a deposit or a good employee. If the worker invoices you as autónomo, that is legal only when they genuinely run their own business. A full-time cleaner with one client looks like misclassification to a labour inspector.
Agencies that 'rent' staff to you exist in Barcelona, but the labour authority looks at who actually directs the work. If you set the hours and hand out the tasks, the staff are yours in practice, whatever the invoice says.
Pay a trial day. Write the scope down: hours, tasks, who buys cleaning products, holiday dates, keys and alarm code, whether they can bring children or a dog, whether the car is available. Pay by transfer with a receipt rather than cash in an envelope, and keep a simple timesheet. It protects both sides and it takes five minutes a week.
Privacy needs a sentence too. For tenants with a public profile, a short confidentiality clause is normal. Check references by phone rather than trusting a PDF, and tell the landlord in writing who has access. Most leases require it, and insurers ask the question after a claim, when it is too late.
A realistic all-in for a four or five-bedroom villa with garden and pool: cleaner eight hours a week, €450 to €600; gardener four hours a month, €180 to €300; pool contract €80 to €150; plus contributions and the gestoría. Call it €800 to €1,200 a month on top of rent if you want the house to look after itself. Less if you take the garden and the pool yourself, which works fine until the first July.
We can put you in touch with the cleaners, gardeners and pool companies our owners use across the Maresme, and we will tell you which costs belong in the lease and which belong to you.
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