A home alarm in your rented Barcelona flat: whose contract is it?

Who pays for an alarm that's already in the flat?

Whoever holds the contract. A monitoring contract (contrato de alarma or servicio de conexión a central receptora) is a service agreement between a security company and one named person. It doesn't pass to you because you moved into the flat, and you can't be billed for a contract you never signed.

So ask the landlord what they plan to do with it. You'll usually hear one of three answers:

• The landlord keeps paying and treats the alarm as part of the flat. That's fine, but then the landlord's account is the one receiving alerts, and possibly images, from your home. Read the camera section below before you accept this.
• The landlord wants you to pay, either by adding the fee to the rent or by passing on the bill. Anything you pay on top of the rent has to be agreed. Article 20 of the Tenancy Act (LAU) only lets a landlord pass on general costs such as community fees if the lease says so in writing, with the yearly amount stated. Treat an alarm fee the same way: if it isn't in the lease you signed, you haven't agreed to pay it.
• The contract has been cancelled and the equipment is just sitting there. A disconnected keypad is decoration. Don't assume it protects anything.

Ask which of the three it is, and get the answer in an email. Our guide to who pays which bills in a Barcelona rental covers how extra costs should appear in the lease.

Should you take over the landlord's contract or sign your own?

If you want a monitored alarm, it should be in your name. Then the alerts come to you, you choose who the company calls, and you decide when it ends. Most companies offer a change of holder (cambio de titular), so you take over the existing installation without a new one.

Before you agree to a change of holder, ask the company in writing:

• Is there a permanence period (permanencia) and how many months are left? Does a new holder start a fresh one?
• Is the equipment rented from the company or owned by the landlord? Rented equipment usually has to go back when the contract ends.
• Will they reset every user code, and remove the old contact list and keyholders?
• What's the monthly fee, and is there a fee for the change of holder itself?

If the answers aren't good, sign your own contract with any company you like, or skip monitoring altogether. You're not obliged to keep an alarm just because the flat has one.

Whatever you choose, change the codes on day one. The previous tenant, the landlord and probably a cleaner or agent all knew the old ones. Our guide to changing the locks in a Barcelona rental covers the keys side of the same problem.

Can you install an alarm in a rented flat without asking?

For a small wireless kit stuck on with adhesive, usually yes. For anything that means drilling, running cables or changing the door, ask first. Article 23 of the LAU says you need the landlord's written consent for works that change the configuration of the flat or reduce its stability or safety, and a reinforced door or a wired system can fall into that.

Even for minor fixings, a short email to the landlord saying what you're installing, where, and that you'll fill the holes when you leave avoids an argument over the deposit later. Our guide to drilling and alterations in a rental explains where the line sits.

One legal detail matters if you want the alarm to be connected to a monitoring centre. Under article 1 of the Interior Ministry's Order INT/316/2011, only an authorised security company can install and maintain equipment that connects to an alarm-receiving centre. A kit you put up yourself can be monitored by you, through an app, but it isn't the same service.

Who sees the alarm's cameras, and what about your privacy?

The contract holder does. Many alarm packages include small cameras or photo-detectors that capture images when the alarm is triggered. If the contract is still in the landlord's name, that means the landlord's account could receive pictures from inside your home.

The rules on verification cameras help a little. Article 8.3 of Order INT/316/2011 says the recording systems used to verify an alarm can't capture images of the protected place unless an alarm has gone off first, unless the user has expressly authorised it. The "user" there is the person on the contract.

So before you move in, either take the contract over, have the indoor cameras disconnected, or have them removed. A landlord has no business seeing inside the flat while you live there. Our guide to cameras in a rented flat goes through the data protection side.

How do permanence periods and cancellation penalties work?

Alarm contracts often come with a permanence period, a commitment to stay for a set number of months in exchange for cheap or free installation. Spanish consumer law limits what the company can charge if you leave early.

• 14 days to change your mind. If you signed at home, by phone or online, you can withdraw within 14 calendar days of signing a service contract (articles 102 and 104 of the consumer law, the TRLGDCU), without giving a reason.
• Cancel the same way you signed. Article 62.3 says you can end a continuing service contract in the same way you entered it, without disproportionate charges. A company that signed you up by phone can't insist on a registered letter to let you go.
• Penalties must be proportional. Article 62.5 says any penalty for breaking a permanence commitment has to be proportional to the days of the commitment you didn't complete. If you leave halfway through, the penalty should reflect the half you didn't do.

This matters for renters because tenancies end. If your lease might be shorter than the alarm's permanence, ask before you sign whether a new tenant or the landlord can take the contract over when you leave. That often avoids the penalty altogether. If you're unsure whether a charge is legal, a consumer office (OMIC) or a lawyer can check the contract.

To cancel, send something like this by email or through the company's customer area, and keep proof:

"Por la presente solicito la baja del contrato de alarma n.º [número], del que soy titular, con efectos desde el [fecha], conforme al artículo 62.3 del TRLGDCU. Les ruego que me confirmen la baja por escrito y, en su caso, me indiquen cómo devolver el equipo."

Does a monitored alarm call the police?

Not directly, and not every time. Article 6 of Order INT/316/2011 says that when an alarm is triggered, the receiving centre must verify it straight away, using the technical or human procedures set out in the order, and only then pass real alarms on to the police. In Barcelona that's usually the Mossos d'Esquadra.

Verification can mean several sensors going off in sequence, images or audio from the flat, or a call to you or one of your contacts. That's why the contact list matters. If the company still has the previous tenant or the landlord as first contact, they'll be the ones phoned at 3am, and they can't tell the operator whether it's you coming home late.

A self-installed kit with no receiving centre doesn't do any of this. It sends a notification to your phone, and calling the police is up to you.

Do insurers expect an alarm in a rented flat?

Not as a rule, but read your policy. Some home contents policies give a discount for a monitored alarm, and some set conditions for covering jewellery or other valuables. If your policy lists an alarm as a condition, a disconnected or unmonitored one may not count.

Burglary is a real risk in the city. Interior Ministry crime statistics (the Sistema Estadístico de Criminalidad) recorded 3,527 burglaries of homes in Barcelona city in 2025, as reported by the comparison site Selectra. Our guides to contents insurance for renters and what to do after a burglary cover the rest.

What should you ask before you sign the lease?

If the flat has an alarm, a few questions at the viewing settle most of this:

• Is the alarm connected, and whose name is the contract in?
• Who will pay the fee, and is that written into the lease?
• Can I take the contract over, or will it be cancelled before I move in?
• Are there indoor cameras, and who can see them?
• Will all codes be reset and old contacts removed?

Get the answers by email. An agency that can't say whose alarm it is probably can't answer other basic questions either, and that's worth knowing when you're comparing flats. You can set up a Llavai search with your budget and neighbourhoods and see the next ones as they come in.

How Llavai helps

Llavai watches the main Barcelona rental portals, scores every new agency listing against your brief (budget, neighbourhoods, bedrooms) and puts the best ones first, with the agent's number one tap away, so you can call before the queue forms. That first call is a good moment to ask about things the ad never mentions, like whose name the alarm is in. Set up your search in a couple of minutes. If you'd rather not make the call yourself, Julia can make it in Spanish on the Pro plan.