Two houses two kilometres apart on the Maresme coast can carry rents that differ by five thousand euros a month. That's not a typo, and it's the single most useful thing to understand before you start viewing. This is what the towns actually charge right now, based on the listings we handle and the asking prices on the market.
Maresme is not one market. It's a string of towns along the R1 train line, and each one has its own supply, its own school catchment and its own idea of what a villa is worth. Alella and Cabrils sit in the hills and sell privacy. Sant Andreu de Llavaneres and Sant Vicenç de Montalt sell exclusivity and sea views. Premià de Dalt and Teià sell proximity to Barcelona and, on the whole, more house for the money.
The result is a wide spread. A family house with a pool and a real garden can be €3,500 a month in one town and €12,000 in the next, with a similar bedroom count. The difference is the address, the size of the plot and what the owner thinks the view is worth.
Across the coast, long-term rentals tend to fall into three bands. Entry level, which in Maresme means apartments, townhouses and smaller houses, runs from around €2,000 to €3,500. The mid band, detached houses with a pool and a garden, mostly sits between €4,000 and €8,000. Above that you're in luxury territory, and it climbs fast: €10,000, €15,000, and in the best spots €25,000 or more.
On a per square metre basis, asking rents across the Costa del Maresme have been running in the region of €15 to €17 per m², with chalets closer to €13 to €14 per m². Alella, Cabrils and Teià sit near the top of that range at roughly €12 to €13 per m² for houses; Premià de Dalt is noticeably cheaper, closer to €8 per m², which is exactly why it keeps appearing on shortlists.
Alella is the all-rounder and it prices like one. The town has a proper centre, wine country around it, and a straightforward relationship with Barcelona. Most of the rental stock is detached or semi-detached houses on the slopes.
A concrete example from our own portfolio: a four-bedroom family house of 430 m² in Alella Parc, with a 1,000 m² flat garden, a pool and a football goal, rents at €6,000 a month. That plot and that flat garden are what you're paying for. Smaller houses with less land start lower, in the €3,200 to €4,000 range.
Cabrils is quieter than Alella and slightly greener. It has a reputation as a village where people know each other, and the rental market reflects that mix of smaller village houses and larger detached villas up on the hillside.
At the top end we currently list a seven-bedroom house of 928 m² on an 1,800 m² plot with a pool, three parking spaces and an elevator, at €18,000 a month. Mid-market design houses with a pool tend to sit around €4,000, and sea-view properties a good deal higher.
Teià is the one people describe as a village that happens to be twenty minutes from the city. It's small, well kept, and close to the Alella wine area and the motorway. Rental supply is thin, which keeps prices steady rather than cheap. Expect house rents in the €12 per m² region, so a 250 m² house typically lands somewhere between €3,000 and €4,500 a month.
This is where Maresme gets more reasonable. Premià de Dalt sits up the hill from Premià de Mar and the beach, and it consistently offers more square metres per euro than its neighbours. Per m² it runs several euros below Alella and Teià.
You can rent a 423 m² house with five bedrooms and a pool for €3,450 a month here, and at the very top of the local market we list a 453 m² villa on a 1,700 m² plot, furnished, with underfloor heating and sea views, at €30,000 a month. The gap between those two numbers is the gap between a good family home and a statement property, and both exist in the same town.
Llavaneres has the golf course, the Port Balís marina and a beachfront that pushes prices up. Large houses here have been asking anywhere from €4,900 to €5,800 a month, with the exceptional properties going well past €19,000.
It isn't only villas. Two rentals in our portfolio show what the town offers at the other end: a duplex penthouse of 256 m² with four bedrooms and port views at €3,500 a month, and a beachfront ground-floor apartment of 70 m² with a large terrace and communal pool at €3,900. If you want the Llavaneres postcode without villa money, the marina and seafront stock is where to look.
The priciest of the small towns, and unapologetically so. Sant Vicenç is low-rise, spread out and home to only around 6,000 people. A well-finished villa with a pool and sea views commonly rents from €6,000 to €15,000 a month, and higher for the best positions.
For reference, we list a five-bedroom independent chalet of 450 m² there, with a lift, two gardens and sea views, at €12,000 a month. Below about €4,000 a month you won't find much villa stock in this town at all. That's a signal to look at Cabrils or Premià de Dalt instead.
An asking price is a starting position, not a fact. On long-term leases in this market there is usually some room, especially in winter, when the summer crowd is gone and owners prefer a signed annual contract to an empty house. What doesn't move much is the low end of a town's range, because that stock turns over fast.
One more thing worth knowing: the price on the portal is the rent. It doesn't include the fianza, the agency fee, the utility bills or the cost of running a pool and garden. Budget separately for those, and read our guide on the hidden costs of renting a villa before you commit to a number.
Send us the figure you're working with and the kind of house you need. We'll come back with what's genuinely available in Maresme at that level, and where you'll get the most for it.
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