In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, Badalona tops this Spain ranking for studios and 1-room apartments with an 11.29% gross yield, while Mataró and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat round out the top three at 8.95% and 8.22%. The spread across the table shows a familiar small-unit pattern: compact homes can produce strong gross yields because lower purchase prices are divided into relatively resilient monthly rents, though investors should read the figures alongside listing depth and the possibility of faster tenant churn.

The highest-yield names cluster around Catalonia, with one clear outlier at the top

In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, the strongest gross yields are concentrated in Catalan cities, and Badalona stands well ahead of the rest of the field. That matters for investors because the gap between the leader and the rest of the ranking is large enough to separate a standout micro-unit market from a broader group of still-strong contenders.

Badalona posts a median asking sale price of €131,835 and a median asking rent of €1,240/month, producing the highest listed gross yield at 11.29%. Mataró follows with €146,483 and €1,093/month for 8.95%, while L'Hospitalet de Llobregat records €153,808 and €1,054/month for 8.22%.

The next tier remains tightly packed. Linares reaches 7.98% on €80,566 and €536/month, Terrassa comes in at 7.91% on €146,484 and €966/month, and Barcelona delivers 7.73% on a much higher €307,617 sale median and €1,982/month rent median. Gandia and Tarragona also stay above 7.50%, at 7.61% and 7.57% respectively.

Small apartments often outperform on gross yield because their lower entry price divides into monthly rent at a higher ratio than larger homes, especially where demand comes from singles, students, and mobile workers.

Barcelona proves that high entry prices do not automatically crush small-unit yields

In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, Barcelona is the most expensive market in this ranking by a wide margin, yet it still posts a 7.73% gross yield. For investors, that is the key reading: prime-city pricing can coexist with solid small-unit returns when rents are also elevated.

Barcelona’s median asking sale price for studios and 1-room apartments is €307,617, more than double the level seen in several other cities in the ranking. Even so, its median asking rent of €1,982/month keeps it in the upper half of the yield table. The city also has by far the deepest listing base here, with 3,418 sale listings and 513 rent listings.

That depth distinguishes Barcelona from most of the field. L'Hospitalet de Llobregat has 490 sale listings and 8 rent listings, while Terrassa has 401 and 6, and Mataró has 273 and 6. Barcelona therefore combines relatively strong gross yield with much larger visible market scale for this unit type.

This pattern sits alongside wider housing-pressure coverage in Spain, including “La falta de vivienda en Huelva dispara los precios en barrios antes baratos como Isla Chica o El Molino” (Huelva 24, 2026-04-29), which reflects how tight housing conditions remain a live topic in the same period.

Lower-priced cities still matter, but the ranking shows yield is not only a low-price story

In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, cheaper entry points appear throughout the table, but the highest yields are not confined to the lowest sale prices. That is useful for first-time buy-to-let investors because it shows the small-unit opportunity set spans both affordable and higher-ticket cities.

Linares has the lowest median asking sale price in the ranking at €80,566 and returns 7.98%, placing it fourth overall. Tarragona sits at €109,862 with 7.57%, while Murcia records €124,511 with 7.15% and Almería €129,393 with 7.15%. These figures show that sub-€130,000 entry points are still present in the table.

But the ranking is not simply ordered by the cheapest homes. Badalona leads at 11.29% despite a higher median sale price than Linares, Tarragona, Murcia, or Gandia. Girona, meanwhile, has a median sale price of €200,194 and still returns 6.73%, while Barcelona remains well above that on both price and yield.

For investors focused on compact units, that mix matters because rents can hold up strongly in one-room stock even when acquisition costs vary widely across cities.

Listing depth varies sharply, which is important in a small-unit strategy

In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, some of the strongest-yielding cities are backed by very thin rental listing counts, while others offer much broader visible supply. The practical takeaway is that gross yield alone does not describe how easy it may be to source, price, and re-let this kind of asset.

At the thin end, Mataró has 6 rent listings, Terrassa 6, Tarragona 6, and L'Hospitalet de Llobregat 8. Badalona, despite leading the ranking, has 13 rent listings. Gandia has 9. These are all small visible pools for investor comparison.

By contrast, Barcelona has 513 rent listings, Almería 267, Murcia 131, Roquetas de Mar 58, and Girona 55. Sale-side depth also varies: Barcelona reaches 3,418 sale listings, while Roquetas de Mar has 601, Murcia 585, Almería 491, and Badalona 468.

Studios and 1-room apartments often attract high-turnover tenant pools, so markets with thinner listing depth can look attractive on gross yield while still requiring more care on vacancy, reletting, and pricing discipline.

Mid-sized provincial cities remain competitive with large urban markets

In the 20 Jun 2026 snapshot, Spain’s small-unit ranking is not dominated exclusively by Madrid-scale metros; provincial and secondary cities remain competitive on yield. For cross-border buyers and specialist landlords, that broadens the map beyond the biggest headline markets.

Almería and Murcia both post 7.15%, placing them in the middle of the ranking with relatively substantial listing counts. Roquetas de Mar returns 6.79%, and Girona 6.73%. Tarragona reaches 7.57%, while Gandia records 7.61% despite only 20 sale listings.

Population size also varies widely across the table. Barcelona is by far the largest city listed at 1,731,649 residents, while Linares has 55,633, Gandia 83,135, Girona 108,666, and Roquetas de Mar 111,240. Yet all of them appear in the same investor screen for studios and 1-room apartments.

That breadth reinforces a common pattern in small-unit investing: demand for compact rentals is not limited to top-tier capitals, and secondary cities can still produce competitive gross yields when rent levels stay firm relative to purchase prices.

Explore further

Cities in Spain: Madrid · Barcelona · Valencia · Zaragoza

Related analysis:

• Most Expensive Apartment Markets in Spain by Median Sale Price
• Cities With the Highest Foreign-Buyer Share in Spain’s Apartment Sales
• Barcelona Apartment vs House Prices and Yields: June 2026 Snapshot

Browse: Highest rental yields · Most expensive · Most affordable on price · All rankings

Published: June 21, 2026