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Housing · Spain
Updated September 2026

🐀 Rats, cockroaches or bedbugs — who do I report an infestation to?

Direct answer

In a rental the landlord deals with pests that come from the building — rats, cockroaches, mice — unless you demonstrably caused them; bedbugs are argued about everywhere, but the landlord still has to act. Report in writing. Ayuntamiento — Policía local / atención ciudadana (010) — the municipality — has a pest-control service or a duty to act on public-health grounds and handles rats in the street or in bins. Servicios de salud pública / inspección de vivienda del ayuntamiento (sanidad.gob.es) inspects unhealthy housing and can order the landlord to treat. Servicio de mediación en vivienda de tu comunidad (mivau.gob.es) decides rent reduction if the home is partly unusable.

Call firstAyuntamiento — Policía local / atención ciudadana
Report toServicios de salud pública / inspección de vivienda del ayuntamiento
If that failsServicio de mediación en vivienda de tu comunidad

🗣️ What to say

"Since [date] there are [rats / cockroaches / bedbugs] at [address], photos attached. Please arrange professional pest control by [deadline] and find the source. Until the home is pest-free I reduce the rent by [%]."

🪜 Step by step

  1. DocumentPhotos, dates, where; bedbug bites and traces on the mattress; rat droppings and holes.
  2. Report to the landlord in writingWith a deadline. Ask for a professional company and for the source (drains, waste room, neighbour) to be dealt with.
  3. Municipality: Ayuntamiento — Policía local / atención ciudadanaFor rats outside and for landlords who do nothing; many cities treat rats for free.
  4. Inspection: Servicios de salud pública / inspección de vivienda del ayuntamientoEnvironmental health can declare the home unhealthy and order treatment.
  5. Rent reduction: Servicio de mediación en vivienda de tu comunidadBackdated to the report, proportional to the rooms you cannot use.

📇 All contacts

Ayuntamiento — Policía local / atención ciudadanaNuisances, roads, waste, registry, lost propertyFor anything the municipality handles📞 010🔗 www.femp.es
Servicios de salud pública / inspección de vivienda del ayuntamientoUnhealthy housing, damp, pests, noiseWhen health is at risk at home🔗 www.sanidad.gob.es
Servicio de mediación en vivienda de tu comunidadFree tenant–landlord mediation (where it exists)When the formal notice did not work🔗 www.mivau.gob.es/vivienda
OCU — Organización de Consumidores y UsuariosAdvice on deductions, deadlines and lettersBefore you write🔗 www.ocu.org

❓ Frequently asked

Bedbugs: who pays?

Practice varies. Most tenancy bodies make the landlord treat and only charge the tenant if the tenant clearly brought them in — which is very hard to prove.

The whole building is infested

Then it is the building's problem and the landlord must treat all flats at once; single-flat treatment fails. Tell Servicios de salud pública / inspección de vivienda del ayuntamiento — they can order a building-wide programme.

Can I break the lease?

If the home is unfit and the landlord will not act, an inspection report supports termination without notice in most countries.

📎 Sources

Last checked: 2026-09-26

🔎 Common searches

Recognise your own search? The answer above covers all of these.

  • “rats in rental landlord responsibility Spain”
  • “report pest infestation municipality”
  • “bedbugs landlord or tenant pays”
  • “cockroaches apartment who to call”
  • “rent reduction pests”

🧭 Is this still correct?

We check this information carefully, but phone numbers, websites and rules change — and sometimes we get something wrong. Spotted a mistake or a change? Let us know below.

🔗 Related questions

🦠Mould or damp→🔧Landlord won't repair→🔑Deposit not returned→🔊Noisy neighbours→

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