Painting a flat in 2026 costs between 5 and 8 € per square metre of wall, with emulsion paint and walls in good condition. An 80 m² flat has between 250 and 320 m² of wall and ceiling to paint, so the bill runs from about 900 to 2,500 €, depending on how much prep is needed.
If gotelé (textured "popcorn" finish) has to come off, the price per metre doubles or triples. And there is one detail that confuses almost everyone, so it goes first.
The square-metre trick
When a painter says “8 € a metre”, they don't mean the metres of your flat. They mean metres of painted surface: walls and ceilings.
An 80 m² flat (floor area) has, on average, between 250 and 320 m² of paintable surface, according to the Pintomicasa guide. That is three or four times more. So if you compare a “per metre” quote with the square metres on your property deeds (escritura), the sums never add up. For the metres and litres of a specific room, the paint calculator works them out from the length, width and height.
To compare two quotes, always ask for both figures: how many metres of wall and ceiling they measured, and the price per metre. If one measures 250 and the other 320, the price gap is no longer such a mystery.
Octo Service is a repair service for Valencia and l'Horta. You message us, we agree a fixed price before work starts, and the job is done by an independent professional who works with us. The figures in this guide are market prices, with their source linked. These are not our rates.
How much does a painter charge per square metre?
| Type of work | 2026 market price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Emulsion paint, walls in good condition | 5-8 €/m² | Pintomicasa |
| With wall prep (filling, sanding) | 8-12 €/m² | Pintomicasa |
| With repairs (cracks, flaking paint) | 12-18 €/m² | Pintomicasa |
| Ceilings | 20-40% more than walls | Pintomicasa |
| Big colour change (dark to light or the other way round) | +1-2 €/m² | Pintomicasa |
| Labour only, paint not included | 5-9 €/m² | Reformas10 |
| Labour with standard emulsion paint | 8-15 €/m² | Reformas10 |
| Trade reference: two coats of smooth emulsion on plaster, with primer | 6.92 €/m² | CYPE |
| Removing gotelé, skimming and painting, in Valencia | 15-25 €/m² (average 18.50 €/m²) | Quitar Gotelé Valencia |
A note on the CYPE figure. It is the price database architects and quantity surveyors use to cost building work, and its numbers are for work at volume: a whole building, new walls, no furniture. In its breakdown, 2.14 € of the 6.92 € is material and 4.64 € is labour. Use it as a floor to see how much is paint and how much is work, not as the price for your home.
Why are ceilings more expensive? Because you paint them with your arms above your head, from a ladder or with an extension pole, and the paint drips. Less gets done per hour, so it costs more per metre. If the ceiling has cracks or you want to drop it to hide pipes or lighting, that is no longer painting but a plasterboard false ceiling, and it goes on a separate line.
How much does it cost to paint a 60, 80 or 100 m² flat?
This is where price guides contradict each other the most, and it helps to know why. Here are two, side by side:
| Flat size (floor area) | Walls and ceilings, good condition (Reformas10) | With prep, half-furnished (Pintomicasa) | With repairs (Reformas10) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 m² | 660-960 € | 1,100-1,700 € | 780-1,200 € |
| 80 m² | 880-1,280 € | 1,500-2,500 € | 1,040-1,600 € |
| 100 m² | 1,100-1,600 € | 1,800-3,000 € | 1,300-2,000 € |
Source: price guides from Reformas10 and Pintomicasa.
The first column is the ideal case: smooth walls, no cracks, white over white, empty flat. The second already includes wall prep and working around furniture. A flat people actually live in is usually closer to the second.
If you want to do your own sums, multiply the paintable surface by the price per metre. An 80 m² flat with 280 m² of wall and ceiling, at 5-8 €/m², gives 1,400-2,240 €. That lands right between the two guides, which is what you would expect.
What the price includes (and what it doesn't)
A proper painting quote should state, at the very least:
- Protection. Floors covered, furniture wrapped, sockets, skirting boards and frames taped.
- Prep. Filling nail holes, sanding, sealing small cracks.
- Primer, if the wall needs it (new plaster, stains, a big colour change).
- Two coats of paint. A single coat almost never covers well.
- The paint: which brand and type, or at least which range.
- Final clean and removal of the plastic sheeting.
What is usually not included and worth asking about: doors, windows and radiators (they are painted with gloss and charged separately, per unit; if the doors are past saving, first check how much it costs to replace interior doors), moving heavy furniture such as fitted wardrobes or pianos, and fixing damp. A damp patch that is painted over comes back within weeks if whatever causes it isn't fixed.
On the paint itself: a standard emulsion costs 5-12 € a litre, a washable one 10-20 € and an anti-mould one 18-35 €, according to Pintomicasa. For a bathroom or kitchen without good ventilation, anti-mould paint is worth it.
Furnished or empty: what changes
If the flat is empty, the painter comes in, protects the floor and paints. And if you use the empty flat to change the floors as well, what laminate or floating floorboards cost is in how much it costs to lay laminate flooring. If it is furnished, everything first has to be moved to the middle of each room, covered, painted around, left to dry and put back. Every piece of furniture gets moved twice.
That is why price guides reckon painting a furnished flat adds 10-20% to labour. On a 1,500 € job, that is 150-300 €.
Three things you can do yourself so it doesn't go up as much:
- Clear shelves, low cupboards and walls. Pictures, mirrors and floor lamps out before anyone arrives.
- Leave one room empty to use as storage while the rest is painted.
- Take down what you can: curtains and rails, blinds, the TV on the wall.
If there are also things to hang afterwards or furniture to assemble, ask for it in the same job: a handyman charges a minimum per visit, and grouping jobs works out cheaper than two separate visits.
Removing gotelé: the expensive item
Gotelé is the bumpy, speckled paint texture on the walls of a huge number of flats from the 70s, 80s and 90s. Some people just paint over it, and that's the cheap option. But if you want smooth walls, the job has three steps, and each one costs:
| Stage | Price in Valencia (2026) |
|---|---|
| Removing the gotelé | 4.50-7.00 €/m² |
| Base skim coat | 7.00-10.00 €/m² |
| Professional finish | 2.50-4.00 €/m² |
| Paint | 3.50-6.00 €/m² |
| All together | 15-25 €/m², average 18.50 €/m² |
Source: Quitar Gotelé Valencia guide, published in January 2026. With those figures, a 60 m² flat (about 160 m² of wall) comes to 1,600-1,950 € and four or five days, and a 90 m² one (about 250 m² of wall) to 2,400-3,200 € and seven to nine days.
Two details move the price a lot. Older distemper gotelé (al temple) usually softens with water and comes off more easily. Gotelé done in plastic paint doesn't soften, and sometimes it pays to cover it with a skim coat rather than scrape it. Whoever quotes you should first check which one you have, and sometimes they test it with a wet sponge in a corner.
And a warning: removing gotelé raises a lot of dust if it is sanded dry. Ask how they'll do it, especially if you are living in the flat during the work.
How long does it take?
According to the Reformas10 guide, two painters can do the walls of an 80 m² flat in 2-3 days. With ceilings and wall prep, 4-6 days. With gotelé, more than a week for a 90 m² flat, because the skim coat has to dry before painting.
If you have to live in the flat while it is being painted, tell whoever quotes you. It can be done room by room, but the job takes longer.
VAT: almost always 10%
Painting your home counts as renovation work on a dwelling. According to the Agencia Tributaria FAQ (Spain's tax agency) and article 91 of the VAT Act, it carries 10% VAT (IVA) instead of 21% when three conditions are met:
- it is ordered by a private individual for their own home;
- the home is more than two years old;
- the materials supplied by whoever does the work do not exceed 40% of the taxable base.
With painting the third one is almost always met, because the expensive part is labour. In the CYPE reference, material is less than a third of the price. If you are quoted 21% to paint your flat, ask why.
And always ask whether the price includes VAT or not. A quote of 1,500 € before VAT is 1,650 € with 10%.
In Valencia: heat, humidity and when to paint
Two local things you won't find in the national guides.
The climate. CYPE's own sheet on emulsion paint says work should stop at temperatures above 35 °C or humidity above 80%. Summer in Valencia brings days of both, sometimes in the same week. In extreme heat the paint dries too fast and leaves roller marks; in muggy weather it takes ages to dry and the colour comes out patchy. Spring and autumn are the best times, and also the busiest, so it's worth asking for a quote well in advance.
Damp in ground-floor flats and bathrooms. In ground-floor flats (plantas bajas) and windowless bathrooms it is common to see stains and mould that come back however much you paint. Before painting you need to know whether it is condensation (fixed with ventilation and anti-mould paint) or damp rising from the floor or coming from a leak (no paint will fix that). If you suspect a pipe, that part is for a plumber, not a painter.
Ask for a fixed price
If you are in Valencia or l'Horta and want to paint, send us a photo of each room taken from a corner, the size of the flat and whether it has gotelé. We send back a fixed price, usually in under 2 hours, with what is included and what isn't: ceilings, doors, gotelé and whether it is furnished. What gets painted, how the metres are counted and how the job works is on the painter in Valencia page.
Ask for your painting quote. Free and with no obligation.