andalusian tourism registry

Holiday rental property registration in Andalucia

Holiday rental property registration system.

by Chris Chaplow

The registration of tourist holiday rental accommodation by owners is compulsory in Andalucia. Whilst hotels and Apartamentos Turisticos have been regulated (and required registration) for many years, special regulations for 'Viviendas con fines turísticos' (houses rented out to tourists) (BOJA Decreto 28/2016) came into force February 2016. The registration is compulsory in most situation and is undertaken by home owners via the general 'Registro de Turismo de Andalucía' ( RTA ).

They stipulate that holiday rental accommodation must be registered with the regional government. The registration number takes the form      VFT/GR/-0999   where the middle letters ar the two letter code for the province.

From the holiday renter's point of view an apartment or villa with registration number demonstrates that the owner is following the correct procedures. Whilst there is no specific additional protection in  the event of a dispute the registration clearly demonstrates the purpose of the rental.

The Hotel industry have campaigned for holiday rental apartment to follow similar regulations to that of Hotels. On line holiday rental booking webites are also required to send reservation information to the tax authorities.

The regulation stipulate formally what property owners are obligated to provide for their guests.

Here is a list of the rules, some of which are more specific than others.

A property is defined as accommodating a maximum of 15 people, with up to four in each room. Access to tourist accommodation cannot be denied for reasons of birth, race, sex, religion, opinion, or other personal or social circumstance

Each property must offer the following:

Practical equipment :

• Sufficient equipment and furnishings for immediate use, according to how many people are being accommodated.
• Bedding, towels and household goods in general, as well as spare sets.
• Air-conditioning units in all bedrooms and communal lounge areas to provide cooling (if rented from May to September) and heating (October to April). Owners have one year to comply with this; properties are exempt when classified as "of Cultural Interest" and modifications and/or building work is prohibited.
• Fully-stocked medical kit.
• Direct external ventilation or via a patio and a window-shading system (darkening the windows either by blinds or curtains).

Support and information :

• Rules regarding use of facilities, whether pets are allowed, restrictions for smokers, and areas of the property where access is restricted.
• Instructions for electrical appliances.
• Information (either in paper or electronic form) about nearby shops, restaurants, parking, medical services, public transport.
• Official Complaints book and sign (on wall).
• A contact number to answer questions or issues regarding the property.

Additional points:

• Car parking facilities (if offered) should be within 300 metres of the property, otherwise the owner must provide free parking
• The property should be cleaned prior to the arrival, and after the departure of new customers
• All holidaymakers must present their identification document (passport or NIE) on arrival at the property. The homeowner must register this data with the national police. (This is legal requirement and has been undertaken by hotels for many years.)
• Arrival and departure times will be agreed by the homeowner and the renter, otherwise the arrival time will be at 16:00 and departure time at 12:00.
• The advertised price must be per night (no minimum stay) and must include water, electricity, cleaning and bedding.

This is a concise version - for the full law, see  here .

Checking if a rental property is registered

The registration number takes the form: VFT/GR/-0999 VFT indicates it is a registration under this law as opposed to AT which is a 'Apartment Turistico'. AT is closer an Apart Hotel. The middle two letters are the two letter code for the province. See below. The last part is the registration number.

In most cases if a property is registered the owners or managers proudly display it on promotional material. You can check this by searching on the Andalucia government Website. (in Spanish)

• Buscador de Establecimientos y Servicios Turísticos

Where Actividad - Select the item near the bottom of the dropdown list 'Vivienda con fines turisticos' Province - Select Province in the dropdown Municipio - Select municipality in the dropdown (town or village) Buscar - Click search button

This is likely to return many pages of results. Either page through the results and when you find the property you want, click on the magnifying glass icon on the right to see more information about the property. Click on 'Filtro de Busqueda' at the top left to filter the results by 'Nombre / Demoninacion Comercial' (Property Name). Another option after the search is to export the list of all the properties in the town by clicking on 'Export to Excel' or 'Imprimir Listado' PDF at the top right of the search results.

Andalucian province alpha codes

• HU = Huelva
• SE = Seville
• CO = Cordoba
• MA = Malaga
• GR = Granada
• AL = Almeria

The Complete Guide to Registering Your Holiday Rental in Andalucia

In line with many other regions in Spain, the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian government) finally published the decree to regulate holiday rentals (viviendas con fines turísticos) in Andalucía on 11th February 2016. The law became operative on the 11th May 2016, after which all owners who advertise their holiday home as tourist accommodation must register in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía. The good news is that registration is free, and the registration process simple.

In February the Junta de Andalucía held a meeting in Málaga, which was attended by over 300 people keen to get clarification on the new guidelines. I attended the meeting to find out exactly how to register your holiday rental in Andalucía.

How to register your holiday rental in Andalucia

If you have an electronic signature (‘firma electrónica’) you can do the whole process online. If not, you should complete the online registration form  “Declaración responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad”,  then you can print it off and present the application form at one of the offices listed below.

The main application details must include the owner’s details, since as an owner you are held completely responsible for your property and the activity as tourist accommodation unless you have given another party Power of Attorney to be your legal representative. If you have a property manager or agency managing your holiday rental, you can nominate them to take care of the registration, be available for the inspection, etc.

Together with the application form, you must make available copies of the following documentation:

• Paperwork from when you bought the property, including the ‘referencia catastral’ (land registry reference), which you should find on an IBI receipt or sometimes on your title deeds (‘Escritura’)
• The licence of first occupation (‘Licencia de Primer Ocupación’), or equivalent certificate, such as the ‘Cedula de Habitabilidad’.
• Property owner details, including an address where notifications can be sent.
• NIE and passport or Spanish DNI

The registration process is started by submitting the form online, or to the Tourism Office in your locality (see below). An inspection should take place sometime after presenting, but as there is a huge delay in the inspection process, the Junta de Andalucía are granting registration numbers beforehand, as long as your paperwork is in order.

When you submit your application you will be issued with a reference code, which proves you have presented your application. The code starts CTC and can be found at the top of your declaración responsable. You should be able to use this in your advertising to show you are within the process.

If you do not present your ‘Declaración Responsable’ and continue to advertise the property as tourist accommodation, it will be considered an illegal activity.

Where to submit your form

Once you have completed the application form it can be submitted online (if you have a ‘certificado digital, or ‘firma electronica’), or presented at your regional tourism department – the office of Delegaciones Territoriales de Cultura, Turismo y Deporte (click to find your local office).  We are able to do on your behalf – please read more about our holiday rental registration service for Andalucia .

You can also submit your form via the post office (correos).

The Inspection Process

An inspection of your property will be carried out during the application process. Within the Declaración Responsable you can name a representative, who will then be contacted to confirm an inspection date.

Inspections may be carried out during guest occupation. The inspector will ask to see all your paperwork i.e. Licence of First Occupation, Title Deeds, etc. so do have these ready to show them (see details above).

If a property does not meet the structural requirements of the decree, for example if you do not have air-conditioning or heating. Or if you have not got a copy of your Licence of First Occupation, you will be given one year to get the property into the required condition for rental.

Multiple Registration

If you are an owner – individual or company – with three or more properties in your name within the same building or complex, those properties must be registered as Apartamentos Turísticos. This does not apply to agents running three or more properties in the same place, who will be considered as a representative, not an owner.

What properties can be registered as a Vivienda con Fines Turísticos?

All properties that are situated on ‘suelo residencial’ (built on a residential plot/land) can register.

Several clients have asked us about the difference between coastal and inland properties. Today we understand the following rules apply:

• If your property is situated in the ‘Medio Rural’ i.e. in a natural zone – forest, farmland, river, or countryside, then you should register as a Vivienda Turística Alojamiento Rural
• If your property is situated on the coast, or within a village or town housing more than 20,000 inhabitants you should apply as a ‘Vivienda con Fines Turísticos’. We recommend you check with your local town hall to confirm this.

Quality categories will be applied with a minimum quality standard of ‘3 Keys’. As the criteria to register has been kept very simple, it’s not clear who or how your property is graded. If this happens during inspection, or based on your registration details. We hope to update on this later.

Viviendas con Fines Turísticos have two options for registering:

• Casa completa: You rent the whole property out and don’t live there during guest occupation. In this case you may offer a maximum occupation of 15 guests.
• Por habitación: You may offer single-room occupation, as long as you live there at the time of guest occupation. You would then be registered under the title: Vivienda turística por habitaciones. If you apply for this category you may use international terms, such as guest house or bed and breakfast. In this case you may offer a maximum occupation of 6 guests. And you must also submit a copy of your Certificado de Empadronamiento to prove you are living at the address.

Caution: If you offer any other services apart from accommodation i.e. breakfast, you then become obliged to charge VAT (IVA) and could receive an inspection from the ‘Departamento de Sanidad’, health & safety department. It’s important to check your responsibilities in this case and make sure you are prepared to fulfill them.

The maximum duration of rental by the same party is two months. After which it is considered a long-term rental and is covered under the ‘Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos’ for residential lettings.

Your property must have a licence of first occupation. You won’t need this to register, but if you don’t have one we recommend you apply for it straight away, and be prepared to present this to the Junta, inspector or any other administrative body when asked.

Your guests must abide by the rules and regulations, as set out within the statutes of your community, if you belong to one i.e. noise pollution, violence, etc. If they fail to do so, you will have the right to ask them to leave, giving 24 hours notice.

You are not allowed to decline any guest based on their race, sex, colour, or personal or social circumstances.

Minimum criteria to register a holiday rental in Andalucia

• If you rent your holiday home out between the months of May-September, the accommodation must be fitted with some form of cooling equipment in the living area and bedrooms i.e. air conditioning.
• If you rent your holiday home between October and April, it must also be fitted with a heating system, that maintains a temperature of 19 degrees.
• All bedrooms must have direct ventilation to the exterior and all windows and patio doors must have some way of obscuring light i.e. curtains, shutters, etc.
• The accommodation must be furnished adequately for the maximum guest occupancy.
• Adequate bed linen and towels must be supplied based on the maximum occupation, plus one extra set.
• You must offer a changeover cleaning service in between each guest occupation i.e. before arrival and after departure of each guest. But it’s not necessary to offer mid-stay cleaning.
• You should have a medical kit available in the accommodation.
• Guest must be supplied with tourist information, activities, restaurants, shops, details of the nearest parking area, medical facilities, transport, along with a map of the local area, etc. This can be supplied to guests either as a physical book, or digital format.

Managing your holiday rental bookings in Andalucia

• All guests must be given a basic contract document which includes: Owner or property manager contact details, your license number, number of guests, check in and out dates, total price of the rental and a 24 hour emergency number
• Every property must provide an official complaints form for guests and the location of this must be indicated in the property.
• Your will need to get your guests to fill our a Guest ID form, which must be submitted to the Guardia Civil within 24 hours of their arrival. Please read our updated article on how to submit guest information to the police in Andalucía.
• The check in and check out times are at the discretion of the owner, but if no times have been agreed in the booking terms, the guest should be able to occupy the home from 16.00h on the first day of the contracted period and leave at 12.00h on the final day.
• Owners must provide instructions (or the user manual) for all electrical domestics and electrical appliances and instruct the guest how to use each appliance when they arrive, at the same time as any telephone, wifi, alarm and access cards, or similar, so they have complete independence during their holiday.
• Owners should also include a set of rules for the home  i.e. pets, smoking, etc. Along with the regulations of the community or building in which the property is situated.
• Owners must keep receipts and proof of payments for each guest occupation. All proof of payments and guest contracts (above) must be kept and made available to the Junta de Andalucia or government administration office (e.g. Hacienda) for the period of one year.
• Your prices should be advertised on a per night basis and include: water, electricity, cooling and heating costs, fridge, cleaning (before arrival) and bed and bath linen.
• All guests must receive a written booking confirmation, which includes total price of stay, including any extra charges and deposit.
• Guests must receive a receipt each time they make a payment towards their stay, or ancillary services.
• You may establish clear booking and payment terms with your clients, but if you have not agreed otherwise, you may ask for a maximum 30% of the rental fee as a deposit to secure a booking, and a refundable breakages deposit on key collection. If the booking is for two nights only, you can ask for the total price in advance.
• Cancellation policy: If you have not indicated otherwise in your Booking Terms, cancellations made by the client earlier than 10 days before the arrival date, will be subject to losing 50% of the deposit. Cancellations made within 10 days of arrival, the owner is entitled to keep the full payment.

New legislation can always lead to a time of uncertainty, but these changes are hopefully going to bring more professionalism in the sector in general so can only be a good thing for tourism. If you are unsure as to the best course of action to take, then do read our recent opinion blog about the new legislation.

New article on how to register Guest ID information with the police in Andalucía

Thanks for this update Louise Could you clarify another point. I see in your update there is no mention of free wifi as stated in the draft decree. Is free wifi no longer a requirement in order to obtain the license?. Also could you confirm that it is still a fixed air conditioning system that will be required and that portable units will not be acceptable. ? I read in another article that there will be set minimum bedroom measurements and rooms which do not meet the minimum square meterage will not be allowable . Is this simply scaremongering?

Many thanks for your help!

That’s correct, free Wifi has been taken out of the decree. There is still a fixed cooling system including. The actual term is ‘refrigeración’, which is generally accepted as air conditioning, but there are actually quite a few cooling systems that also come under this term when you check. I will try to find out more.

There are no room measurements included in the decree. There is reference to room size further down for Apartamentos Turisticos, but in the meeting yesterday, it was confirmed that a property should offer a maximum guest occupancy based on what the Licencia de Ocupación states. So if you have a home fit for 4 people, you should offer a guest occupancy of no more than 4 people.

Hope that all helps! Louise

I have seen a number of Licencias de Ocupación from friends, and none of them state square metres or number of people. It is a very general document addressed to the developer that Occupancy Licence has been granted to the developer for such and such and building. It is not individualised by apartment. So I am assuming that this will be acceptable by the Junta.

Yes it will be Susan.

Thanks Louise. I really appreciate all the input you’re giving us.

Can’t see where to ask questions. What are the safety laws

Hi Louise, I own a freehold in Granada which is split into 3 separate small houses of a private courtyard. If I am looking to rent these out to tourists will I need, what you write, a hotel license? Or because it is one freehold I would be classed as a normal owner.

Also is there currently a limit on how many days a year a landlord can rent his properties out? If not is here any talk of his for the future?

Thank you for any help.

Hi Philip, It depends where your property is located, if you are going to live on site when guests are there, and if each property has its own catastral references. If you want to write to me at [email protected] perhaps I can give some further advice.

Sorry also is there a cost to the stricter license when you own 3 or more apartments and what are the extra boxes that need to be ticked to rent these properties? I cannot find this info online or a good translation of the 194/2010. Thanks

Thanks Louise Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions but can I ask something else: Is it still correct that a 24 hour contactable phone number needs to be supplied to guests ( as a property manager I have of course always supplied guests with my contact number in case of issues during their stay but I am wondering if there will be a legal requirement to allow guests to be able to call the property manager 24 hours a day ) Also, is there a requirement for a fixed telephone line to be installed at the property ? I manage several Old Town properties of which only one has the Licence de Primera Ocupación. On application for this first occupation license I would assume then that an architect would have to take measurements of rooms in order to assess for the maximum occupancy for any one house?

Thanks for your help!

Yes you must make available a 24 hour contact telephone number. As the property manager you probably need to make clear to the guests on check in that you might be hard to contact at 4am, but the number has to be available within the property.

No fixed telephone line has to be installed.

If a property doesn’t have the Licencia de Primera Ocupación they can’t register. They will need to apply for that, or equivalent if the property is older. All of these types of certificate will include room measurements and recommended occupancy.I would register at the same time and then chat to the inspector about it. Show them the paperwork, that you have it in hand. The decree does state that any renovations can be carried out within the first year of registering, maybe this will be the same for applying for your licence, but I’m not 100% sure.

Best wishes Louise

Thank you Louise

Hi I have Vivienda turistica rural so am exempt from the new law but still come under old decreto and need to register We are not Casa rural but need to fulfil basic requirements as stiplulated for Casa rural which I understand means we do not need air condition, However online I cannot find the correct form to register there are several which all look the same There are at least two declaracion responsable but which is the correct one for VTAR Thank you

The application form that previously appeared on the Junta site for VTAR properties, seems to have disappeared. When I queried this, I was asked to write in via email, which I did, but after a couple of back and forth emails, the gentleman asked me to call him.

I will do so on Tuesday. When I get information and a link, I’ll let you know. Or post it in the article.

Warm regards Louise

Visit this page: http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/turismoycomercio/opencms/areas/oficina-virtual/buscador/?ov-area=1&ov-familia=8&ov-aplicacion=15&ov-texto=&offset=0&max=&total=

and click on the application link for: Declaración responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad.

There are actually two. One is if you have a firma electronica, then you can do the whole application online. The second ‘sin certifcado digital’ is the application that needs to be filled out online and presented at the Delegación Territorial.

Hi Louise Thanks for your article. Was it clarified at the meeting that only accommodation that is advertised somewhere needs to be registered? Would you have any idea what happens about bookings taken before 12th Feb? Thanks Richard

Yes if you advertise your property through any type of tourism channel, or advertise your property as tourist accommodation, then you must register. That means booking sites, travel agencies, reservation sites, activity booking specialists, on/offline media under a travel category.

But if you don’t advertise, you won’t have many bookings, so it makes sense to register.

I don’t understand the question about bookings taken before 12th February. As long as you register your application on or around the 11th May, you will have no issue with any previous bookings. The register process should only take 2-3 weeks.

Does that help? Louise

Yes thanks Louise. Since leaving my question with you, I happened to see a Gestoria who was not as confident as yourself re only property advertised has to be registed. Thank you Richard

Hi Richard,

I strongly believe that everyone who rents their property as tourist accommodation, to holidaymakers, where money exchanges hands, should register. I don’t believe the channel you use should make a difference.

This was a point brought up in the meeting last Tuesday. The junta mentioned putting up a Se Alquiler sign on your balcony, or sending a message by Whatsapp to contacts who were interested, as examples where owners didn’t need to register in the Registro de Turismo.

My advice, always, is register! Louise

A very clear and useful article – Thank-you. I will share let’s hope many people take note .

Thanks Lynsey!

what will happen if you have bookings taken before 11th Feb but now do not wish to carry on letting your property to holiuday people ??

I’m afraid I don’t have the answer to that one Ray. What booking dates are confirmed? And how many?

various bookings ranging from March 2016 – October 2016 approx 10 devided across 2 properties . All confirmed with deposits paid .!!

Is it going to be a big issue for you to register Ray? Do you have all the necessary criteria in your property? If you do, I would register to be on the safe side. It’s free. If you want to write to me at: [email protected] to discuss further.

for one of the owners I think it will be too much hasle ,they ere only doing holiday lets as they had a lot of problems with long term letting . the other owner is considering selling up any way !!

This decree is specifically for holiday lets, not long-term. If they wish to continue they will need to register.

What about Airbnb lets, re they covered by the regulations?

Yes of course. Airbnb is a booking platform and all properties advertising as tourist accommodation on Airbnb must register.

Thanks, Louise

Excellent article Louise. Just to make one thing clear though. I think you have to keep the guest registration file with police records for 3 years and not one year.

Thanks for the confirmation Susan, I have just added the information to the article.

I just wanted to share our new article on registering guest ID information with the Guardia Civil https://rentaltonic.com/how-to-register-guest-information-with-the-guardia-civil-in-andalucia/

Louise I can’t find where to download the PDF Declaracion Responsable, is this available? Can you send me the link please.

This is the link. As with all links on the Junta site, it hasn’t got a privacy certification, which gets flagged up. You have to click Advanced on the page and proceed to page. You’ll arrive at the Oficina Virtual of the Junta de Andalucía and from there you can choose tramite con or sin certificado digital. If you don’t have an electronic signature, choose tramite sin certificado digital. The form has to be completed online and then downloaded and taken to your territorial office.

Hope that helps, give me a shout if you need any further help, Louise

Sorry and here is the link! https://ws072.juntadeandalucia.es/ofvirtual/auth/autnocertjs

thank you for the help

Do I need to register if only family and friends stop in my apartment and no money changes hands

No Alan, only if your renting it out as tourist accommodation, not if you just lend it to friends and family to stay in.

Hi Louise, we rent from a Spanish landlady who lives with her family in her own house on the urbanisation . She rents out 4 other houses on the same urb to long term i.e 2-6 months winter/spring and then on a weekly basis during the summer. Does she come under the regulations?

If she rents on a weekly basis during the summer, then she should register. Does she rent all four properties out short-term during the summer? And how does she promote the holiday lets?

You can write to me if you prefer: [email protected]

You talk about a ‘licence of first occupation’. What is that? Is it the building inspector’s approval when the property was first built? Or is it something else?

Here is an article I wrote for Spain-Holiday about the Licence of First Occupation, in collaboration with a lawyer. Hope it helps! http://www.spain-holiday.com/rentalbuzz/what-is-a-licence-of-first-occupation

Many thanks Louise for your article. I have a question on multiple registration. I am the private owner of two properties which I let as self catering holiday lets (I don’t use an agent – I do it all myself). I assumed I would be able to register them both under one licence number as they are both run and managed in an identical way i.e. terms and conditions, contracts, booking process, rules and regulations, advertising everything the same, but reading the decree it looks like I will have to register them both individually with individual license numbers and two inspections etc because it is saying you must have three or more properties to be considered Apartamentos Turísticos – have I understood this correctly? Thanks

Not sure how, but your message slipped through the net. Apologies! Yes you must register each property individually. You’ll have a registration number for each. Are they located in the same building or complex?

Thanks Louise, I thought this would be the case. To answer your question, they are both on separate urbanisations although the urbanisations are a minute walk from each other

Register them separately. You should be able to register then as Viviendas Con Fines Turísticos and not Apartamentos Turísticos, which have a different criteria. I say this because, if you own two plus properties in the same complex or building, then you do have to apply as an AT.

Hope that helps Louise

I have read elsewhere, but do NOT see in your artical about the requirement for owners to submit forms ( containing guest details ) to the Police within 24 hours of guests arriving, is this a requirement ?

We do state in the article that ID documents need to be copied and kept for one year. We are currently contacting municipal police and the ayuntamiento in Marbella to verify if these documents do have to be submitted to them. Unfortunately, to date, the police were unaware of procedures and passed us to the ayuntamiento, who asked us to put the question in writing. When we have a definitive answer, we’ll update the article. Many thanks, Louise

Thank you Louise, I look forward to seeing the police/Ayuntamiento say.

Next Topic.. I think I understand that as a NON resident owner, I must pay the NON RESIDENT INCOME TAX, based on the villa value when not rented out OR based on the rental income when it IS rented out to holiday makers.

My question is, if I become resident, I assume I would not pay the NON RESIDENT INCOME TAX, based on the villa value when not rented out, bur would still pay the 19% income tax based on the rental income. But for the period it is NOT rented out would I pay another tax instead of the NON RENTAL NON RESIDENT INCOME TAX ? Hope that makes sense.

Regards David

David see if this article helps to clarify http://www.advoco.es/advice/8-personal-tax/75-taxation-of-rental-properties-in-spain.html

I thought you would like to read our new article on how to submit guest ID information to the Guardia Civil: https://rentaltonic.com/how-to-register-guest-information-with-the-guardia-civil-in-andalucia/

What a pity. It now seems that it will no longer be possible to rent a simple finca in the countryside without air conditioning, and of course the rental price will be increased to pay for this service which I don’t require. I’m sure that the local restaurants and bars will be sorry about the loss of trade which will follow.

Depending on where your finca is located, you may not need air conditioning. If your finca is situated in a rural area ‘medio rural’, then you will need to apply as a Vivienda Turística Alojamiento Rural and air conditioning is not required.

Many thanks for your advice. There is a nearby property which has the R rural sign on the outside wall, which is nearer to the local town than our property (roughly 3 kms) so we will investigate this further.

Hi again Louise Could you just clarify something for me as this is be.coming a headache now regarding the license of first occupation ( or habitation) As a lot of the properties I manage are very old then it is still not clear how to get the equivalent license of habitation. My town hall have no clear answer! Is it concrete that when we try to register for the rental license that we will need the occupation license at the same time ? Or do we have a year to organise this in that same way we have a year to get all the air con and heating installed. ? i would be really grateful if you could help me on this as I am getting a lot of enquiries for bookings and I simply don’t know what to do about accepting them in case we are refused the license at the registering stage and I will have to start issuing refunds later on down the line . Thanks!

Let me see what I can find out for you. I understand that you don’t have to present this document until the inspection, but whether they will let the owner rent out without it, I’m not sure. Hopefully!

I’ll ask today for you. Best wishes, Louise

Thanks so much Louise!

Where you able to find anything out Louise?!

Still waiting on a reply Dawn. I promise to get back to you as soon as I have more information.

I finally got a reply on your question about Licence of Occupation. As the decree states that all Viviendas Con Fines Turísticos must have their licence of occupation, you won’t be able to apply without one. If you applied, you will be asked for the document, probably at the inspection. Without one, they will deny the application.

For owners with properties that don’t have the licence, we recommend they visit their local ayuntamiento to find out if they have a copy. If they don’t they will explain how to get one, or if getting one is not possible, then they should explain what type of documentation they can apply for to substitute the licence. Once they have started the process, they should be able to apply with the receipt they receive from the ayuntamiento, which states they are in the process of applying for the correct documentation.

I hope this helps Louise

Hi Louise, Is it necessary to provide an extra set of linen, if there is a washing machine in the house ? I charge a fee for sheets & towels. Should I give it now for free ? Also I’ve been told we need to have fire extinguishers, but don’t see it in your list. Is it required ? thanks for your advice. Carina

The decree states that you should have enough bed and bath linen for each guest, plus one spare set. These must be included in the rental price. There is no mention of fire extinguishers or smoke alarms in the decree, which does surprise me. It may be brought up during the inspection, but it makes no mention in the decree that is currently published.

Hi Louise, Should fire extinguishers be provided too ? i’ve been told so, but don’t see in your list. I charge guests a fee for linen (sheets & towels). The new law says we need to give a spare set as well. Is this also necessary when there is a washing machine in the property ? And should we give linen for free ?

Hopefully I have answered your questions above. Don’t hesitate to get in touch, if you have further questions.

Hi Louise, Sorry for posting my message twice, but the first one had disappeared for some reason 🙂 Just to be sure : in your list you says linen has to be provided “based on the maximum occupation” (in my case 6p). But in your comment you say “for each guest” (let’s say 3). Makes a big difference in the linen to provide. Could you please clarify. Thanks

No worries Carina,

I would supply a set of linen for each guest, plus one extra. So if you have a maximum occupancy of six guests, but only four are staying, then on that occasion I would supply 5 sets.

Does that make sense? Louise

Oh, so only 1 spare set in total ? I understood I had to provide an extra set for each guest ! And that’s only for towels then or also for sheets, as we have signe beds and a double ?

I have just double checked this with the Junta. You will need to supply one set of bed and bath linen for each guest and then one extra for each guest. So if you have four guests, staying in two beds, you would supply four sets of sheets and eight towels. Or sufficient towels for the guest occupation, with one extra set for each i.e. if you normally supply: two large towels and two hand towels for two guests, you’d need to supply four and four.

Sorry for the misunderstanding. I’ll also make this clearer in the article.

Hi can you tell me if properties have to be altered for disabled people and if so what does it entail? Karen

No they don’t under the current decree for Andalucía. Obviously properties that are adapted have a big advantage in terms of bookings.

Hi Louise, I have an issue with following requirement :” Your prices should be advertised on a per night basis and include: water, electricity, cooling and heating costs, fridge, cleaning (before arrival) and bed and bath linen.”.

I don’t rent per night but only on a weekly base. I charge separately for final cleaning & linen. Electricity is according consumption (meter). This is all stated in my rental agreement.

So it is really not possible for me to advertise on a nightly base and all charges included ? Thanks for advising. Carina

All I can tell you is that this is what the decree states. I believe you could probably continue to promote weekly rates in your advertising, but should ensure that within the contract, the weekly rate is broken down into a nightly rate, in case of inspection.

Your rates should be inclusive, unless you offer ‘mid-week’ cleaning, or other extras. If you choose not to do this, then you may get notified about it. It’s always better to advertise all-inclusive costs anyway. Adding electricity, cleaning and linen isn’t guest-friendly.

Sorry to bother you again Louise, I understand perfectly, but linen & cleaning fee is not for my account but for my keyholder, and is per stay, not per night. Electricity is deliberately excluded from my rental price now, since I’ve had some unpleasant bills when it was included. Tourists don’t bother and leave aircons on all day and night, with doors and windows open and covered with duvets at night in summer but aircon at 19° 🙂 They are now really conscious if they have to pay for their consumption. In hotels it’s the same : if you go out the room with your key card, you don’t have power supply anymore. We as private owners can’t do this. An issue to reflect to the Junta perhaps ? Also should Junta understand that families with children can’t effort hotels and chose therefore holiday houses without the priviliges and luxury they might have in a hotel. Why should we them get now on the same level as hotels?

Thanks for your information Louise. It looks like we are going to have problems getting the license of occupation ( or the equivalent license of habitation) on the older properties I manage. My local ayuntamiento doesn’t seem to be able to give any answers and are not being at all helpful. A problem I am foreseeing is that come May I won’t have the license of occupation in place and so won’t be able to even start the registration process then I won’t be able to advertise the property on any lettings sites as I won’t have a license number. Bit of a disaster really.

You can’t apply without the licence of occupation, as it’s required in the decree. Have you tried speaking to a lawyer or architect firm, to see if they can help?

Hello! I can’t find this registration form on the Officina Virtual, could you please help me! Could you write and guide to my e-mail, thanks in advance!

“If not, you should complete the online registration form “Declaración responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad”, then you can print it off and present the application form at one of the offices listed below (you cannot print it off and complete in pen for example)”

I’ll send you some screen shots by email tomorrow. It won’t be until the evening, as I am out of the office all day. And don’t forget if you have difficulty completing the form, we offer a service to register your property.

Hi, what is the position for a property that has more than 15 persons,what are the rules. Is the 15 persons a strict maximum,we have 11 bedrooms in a large property where families have reunions. They are all happy to be together and not spread out in various properties. I have tried to find out what the rules are for over 15 persons and no one seems to know anything. Can you help?

The decree states that you may offer a maximum guest occupancy of 15. I understand it has been contested by a local association, but whether or note this rule will change, I don’t know. At the moment, this is what you should may offer.

The question is how strict will the Junta be in checking what occupancy you advertise. Louise

Hi Louise, Perhaps a stupid question, but who must register the property ? Our house is on both names : my husband (Spanish) and myself (Belgian). I suppose only 1 of us must register ? Regards, Carina

Just one name to register is fine. Louise

Is there anywhere that I can apply on line for a copy of my First Occupation liscence using a digital certificate?

If one exists you just need to check with your local ayuntamiento. I have no idea if you can apply for a copy online with your electronic signature, but check with them. Sorry!

Hi again Louise I am still having problems trying to get an exact answer on how the ID documentation from guests needs to be collected. Does it absolutely have to be on the moment of the guests arrival ( therefore meaning that all guests have to be met personally at the property) or can it be collected by email for example. I assume that meet and greets really are going to be a requirement as guest also need to be shown around the property and how to use the domestic appliances etc. Is this correct?? Many thanks!

Just yesterday we spoke to a company who confirmed that guest ID information does have to be presented to the police. I did some further investigating yesterday and found this government website, which explains the different ways you can submit info i.e. electronically, by fax, by post, in person: http://www.interior.gob.es/web/servicios-al-ciudadano/seguridad/libro-registro-de-viajeros/comunicacion-de-datos-a-las-dependencias-policial

There is a link to sign-up to the electronic system, but I don’t know if it’s applicable for holiday homes. I am finding out and will write up an article on it.

Thanks Louise , I will have a read of that. What I am still wondering though is how the information is collected really not how to send it. As in does it have to be collected on the spot from the guests on arrival? Or can the guest simply email us the ID info and then we send it on to the police? I am just trying to ascertain whether meet and greets will now be obligatory on all properties due to this and also due to the mention that guests have to be shown around the property and shown how to use the domestic appliances etc… What are your thoughts ?? many thanks!

Thought I would share our new article on submitting guest information to the Guardia Civil: https://rentaltonic.com/how-to-register-guest-information-with-the-guardia-civil-in-andalucia/

Hi again Louise Sorry to keep bombarding you with questions but could you clarify something else for me : On one of the properties I mane the owner has “misplaced” his title deeds and seems to be having a problem getting a copy therefore we can’t even begin to start the registration process for the license yet. I have guests booked for the whole of the summer staring very soon a. Are we allowed to continue with these bookings or will we run the risk of a fine ?

Hi Louise I live in a cave house in rural Andalucia and want to rent out one or two rooms as bed and breakfast . Please can you tell me form/licence I need to apply for

I don’t think it’s possible to offer B&B in a cave house in rural Andalucía, but I recommend you check with the Junta de Andalucía. Email to: [email protected] – he should be able to answer your question.

Thanks Louise, I have done a bit f research and I can do room rental, reading the rural regulations cave house is exempt from registering but I need a viviendos touristicaa de alojamiwnto I believe

Hi Louise, is the license number the same as on our registration form, starting with CTC, or will we get another one ? Thanks Carina

as Louise is not answering : has someone got their license number already or got contacted for checking the property ? As I’m in Spain now, I would like to display my license number in the house and ads, but I only have the CTC number at registration.

Apologies for not answering sooner. I have asked the question to the Junta, but I believe you won’t get your proper registration number, until your application has been approved. At the moment your CTC number proves you have applied, and you can use it to chase up your application.

When I hear more, I will let you know. But the best thing is to use your CTC number in advertising, so that the Junta ((If they check) can see that you are in the process.

Hi again Carina

As I thought. This is not your final registration number. You’ll be notified of the number once your application has been approved. Until then use your CTC number in advertising to show that you are in the application process. Louise

great ! thanks Louise.

I have stopped taking any holiday lets as from end of August, hoping for long term rentals only. Am I clear of this new ruling for registration in Benalmadena? I have taken my properties offline so noone else can book and have asked my lawyer to look out for long term lets and draw me up the necessary contracts. Thank You.

Hi Angeline

According to the decree, even one rental booking for the year means you should register. However, if your properties can no longer be found online, then I think you should be OK and registering won’t be necessary. But legally you should register and it’s my duty to inform you of that. Louise

An agent has requested that we have a gas and electric certificate. Are these required by law in Spain???

Hi Alistair

You should have an energy efficiency certificate when you rent, or want to sell your property in Spain. It’s very easy to obtain. The cost is based on size of property. Louise

I am still unclear as to the laws on very rural properties renting out to holidaymakers and using booking platforms to get booking. Do we use a different form to register and therefore which one? Also, we only have air conditioning in the master bedroom which cools the whole property as it is small and the walls are think – would this be a problem – are there different rules for rural properties? (air conditioning units are so expensive to install and run, and it really doesn’t need it!)

Sorry for the delayed reply, I have been away on summer holidays. I am afraid I haven’t studied the rural decree enough to comment professionally on the specifications.

I can tell you that the form is the same for all types of accommodation. You will just fill in the relevant part for Casa Rural or, probably in your case, Vivienda Turistica Alojamiento Rural.

I do believe there are different rules regarding cooling and heating systems and I think they are less stringent, but I recommend you speak directly to the Junta de Andalucia, who will be able to help you on this point.

Hope that helps a little! Louise

Hello Louise, Can you please put a example in English of a completed form for submitting to the local police in Benalmadena for people in my apartment. I have a CTC certificate when should I start taking and submitting these forms of ID to the local police station ? Thanks Brian

I am afraid I don’t have an example of a completed form. Here is the form that you will need to use. It’s pretty straightforward, with comments on what’s needed for Domestic/Foreign guests. http://www.spain-holiday.com/pdfdownload/GUEST_REGISTRY_TEMPLATE_DOCUMENT_Anexo_de_la_Orden_INT_1922_2003_de_3_de_julio.pdf

Thank you Louise for a prompt reply.

Only problem is the page no longer excises !!!

Scroll down here. It’s at the bottom of the page: http://www.spain-holiday.com/rentalbuzz/help-is-at-hand-for-registering-your-holiday-rental-property-in-andalusia

Hello, Louise Brace, I have 3 questions, 1 live in a rural town with a population of 4500. post code 29310. I have been told by the Junta my house is rural, and have the CTC number, 1. is it a legal requirement to show the CTC number on any advertisement. 2. is it a legal requirement to have the R sign on my house. if Yes were can i get one from please. 3. I have been told by the Junta, that I can not have an apartment, because there only in cities, so they have listed me as renting out 2 individual rooms on my first floor, and that I am living on the property. But I have advertised it as,first floor penthouse pool suite with 4 balcony terraces. Ive left out the word ( apartment,) am I in trouble ? . Kind regards Michael.

Dear Michael, I am afraid I haven’t studied the decree for Viviendas Turisticas Alojamiento Rural i.e. semi-rural and rural homes enough to be able to comment. If you have a CTC number you should be advertising it, because it shows you are in the registration process. If you need to get an inscription mounted on the front of your house there is normally a template at the end of the decree, but I would recommend you ask the Junta where you can get them produced. I am surprised they have listed you as offering two individual rooms, as I thought this single room occupation basis was only allowed for VFT – urban and coastal properties. I wouldn’t like to comment if you might get into trouble. But be clever with your wording, as long as you are registered and declaring taxes you should be ok.

Your will need to get your guests to fill our a Guest ID form…you mean You will have to provide your guests with the Guest ID form? or what do you mean by “your will” and “fill our” ?

Hi again Kathy, please read this article to understand the Guest ID process: https://rentaltonic.com/how-to-register-guest-information-with-the-guardia-civil-in-andalucia/

You mention you can apply online if you have a firma electronica (digital certificate). How do I know if have one or how can I get one?. Thanks in advance..

You will only have one if you have applied for one. You have to fill out the form online and then present your application at the tax office. Here is an article that explains clearly what you need to do. http://www.ypamaabogados.com/en/firma-electronica-espanola-tratar-con-la-aeat-online/

If you don’t want to do that and need help, please get in touch via our form as we offer a registration service: https://rentaltonic.com/rental-marketing/registration-service-andalucia-holiday-rental/

Hope that helps! Louise

I have a holiday home in Frigiliana and I applied to register on 26/0716. I ticked the box ‘Vivienda con fines turisticos’ under 4 Datos de la Actividad. I got a reply dated 24/11/16 saying that my application was rejected as Frigiliana is a town of less than 20,000 inhabitants. No further guidance or explanation was offered. I presume I should have ticked ‘Vivienda Turistica de alojamiento rural’ (or Casa Rurales??) in box 4. Should I just resubmit the form (with the tick in the right place) ?

There’s a few more boxes to tick / info to add than just changing the box. I recommend you pop into the town hall at Frigiliana and ask them what needs to be changed/added and then you can go back and recomplete the form. If you go back into the system, you can add the original CTC number at the top of the form and they will be able to refer back. Best wishes Louise

Is there any benefits in registering in a rural area?

Hi Seger, those properties that have registered will ultimately get the lion’s share of bookings, as guests start to seek out accommodation that has the seal of approval from the tourism board. The other benefit of course is not receiving a fine for renting without a licence.

Hello! I have just aquired a place which has this license. My question is, does rental the property out entirely mean I have to rent the whole property to 1 person or can I rent it out per bed/room to multiple customers as long as I don’t live there? If that is the case I am good. If not I need to find a way to get a different license. It is very small, 10 people maximum and has 4 rooms. I am really kind of anxious if I am doing illegal things right now or not.

Thanks for your message. There are two ways to register for a VFT number. – Completo – you rent the property as a whole and you do NOT live there – Por habitaciones – you rent individual rooms in your home to different guests, but you MUST live there

The VFT document will show what the property has been registered as. If you need to change it to single room occupation, you will need to make the change with the Junta de Andalucía, and they will need one extra document, which is your padron certificate, showing that you live there. Anyway, if you have just acquired the property, you will need to make the name change on the licence, or the previous owner may find he has chased from the tax office for rental income.

Hope that helps, Louise

Is the government still issuing licenses?

Seems like the process is pretty straightforward but I worry like in Barcelona, while licenses are available they aren’t actually being issued.

Is this the case in Andalucía? I’m looking to acquire a property in Seville early next year.

Licences are issued by regional government and each region has its own decree and specifications. In Andalucía regulations were introduced in May 2016 and licences are being issued. In Seville city you need to be careful about what you buy, as a city apartment may have restrictions. I highly recommend that you get in contact with the association Apartsur in Seville, who know the law very well there.

Hi, Do you know what the timeline is for presenting the printed form at the town hall with proof of identity if you submitted the registration form online without a digital signature? Also do you need a copy of the license of fist occupation if you have the purchase documents and title deeds for the property? Thanks, Catherine

Hi Catherine

If you present with the printed form at the town hall with all of the correct paperwork, you can receive the registration number within a couple of weeks. You can’t present online without a digital signature. Only fill out the form and get your CTC application number, which you then download and take to present in person.

You can present without the LFO, but… you will need to immediately apply for it, as they will now fine owners who have registered, but not applied for the LFO, so it’s very important to do so quickly. The LFO is a requirement as part of the decree, having the title deeds makes no difference.

We can register you in Málaga and you will receive an immediate number, rather than wait for you. We can also help you apply for your LFO. You can find out more here: https://rentaltonic.com/rental-marketing/registration-service-andalucia-holiday-rental/

can anyone advise what regulations apply for renting rooms in a cave house in Andalucia? We recently stayed in 3 cave lets and none had air con in bedrooms ?!!

Dear Georgina,

Rural properties are not obliged to have air conditioning. They are regulated differently. But I recommend you always check if accommodation has it’s rental licence, just to ensure that it meets quality and safety guidelines with the Junta de Andalucia.

Thanks for the reply! All is well now and I am registering customers on the form now. I just don’t know how to register with the police? Do I just go there and say I am running this place and I need an account? Or do I need to bring some documents? I can’t find any info on it. The policestation is quite far away so I’d rathercome prepared :). I guess there is no online registering in this case?

It depends where you are situated. If you are managing properties for owners you can register their guests online, but you first need to register yourself with the local Comisaria de Policia. Have a read of this article also: https://rentaltonic.com/how-to-register-guest-information-with-the-guardia-civil-in-andalucia/

Best wishes, Louise

What documentation do you have to provide when you register for a rural holiday rental. Is the license of occupancy needed for that as well?

Dear Anne, the process is slightly different, however, depending where you you can now apply either for a VTAR or VFT licence. Please read this article just published on Spain-Holiday.com with an update to rural regulations: https://www.spain-holiday.com/rentalbuzz/andalucia-rural-holiday-rental-law .

If you are on designated rural land you may be asked for the AFO document. It’s not required according to the decree and I know many people registered don’t have one, but they are cracking down. If you need help in registering please get in touch.

How can a holidaymaker verify the authenticity of a licence number for a holiday let. A lot are allegedly using fake or made up numbers. I know there is n official register somewhere but how can anyone get access to it?

hi all could anybody help me out please, what do i need to do to rent out my yurt at the bottom of the garden legally ?? obviously it is basically a modern tent so does not have air con etc lol, do i still need to register ??

I checked on this about a year ago, and the answer was that there was no registration for yurts. Tents, or temporary structures, had to be registered under campsite, but to do that you need a certain size plot, and a minimum number of camp plots. I am checking with my collaborators to see if they know any different. I will reply again if anything has changed since our last petition about them. Best wishes, Louise

What is the process if I am renting a property and I want to rent out the spare bedrooms, the landlord is in agreement with me subletting the rooms. I do not want the landlord to be affected in any way fiscally by what I will be doing.

If you want to rent out on a room by room basis, the registration needs to be done in the owner or agent’s name, and you should be named as a legal representative i.e you have power of attorney to act on his behalf, and have the long-term rental contract in your name.

If you need help with the registration, please get in touch via our registration service contact form: https://rentaltonic.com/rental-marketing/registration-service-andalucia-holiday-rental/

Hello, Can I just ask: if the licence is issued for 5 guests, can I accommodate 4 adults and 2 children under 3 yo?

The law doesn’t specify the age of guests, it’s based on the size of your accommodation, number of bedrooms and beds available. If the children are in cots then it should be fine. If they are sleeping in beds, then they will count as the five guests. Louise

Hi Is it possible to apply for a licence whilst the application for a cedula de habitabilidad is ongoing? I want to sell the property with at least a temporary licence, and the lengthy delay is holding things up

Yes it is possible. As long as you have the cedula application in process, then you may apply for and receive your registration number. If you need help, please visit this link for information on our registration service: https://rentaltonic.com/rental-marketing/registration-service-andalucia-holiday-rental/ Thanks, Louise

Hi Louise, I am in the process of setting up our newly acquired apartment as a holiday let and was wondering if you could point me in the right direction as regards to a definitive list of the things that I have to provide within the apartment and for our guests to be fully compliant. For example, I have seen conflicting reports with regards to supplying a fire extinguisher and fire exit signs and one or two other items.

Can you please point me in the direction of where I can find a definitive list of requirements within a holiday let apartment that have to be provided to be fully compliant. Thank you.

Can you advise as to what the full list of requirements for a holiday apartment to be fully compliant would be?.

It’s all listed in the article above this comment section. You don’t need a fire extinguisher and fire exit signs in your apartment, but your apartment block should be equipped with them. Legally they should have them, whether there are rented apartments or not.

Such a fantastic and comprehensive article Louise! I can see it was published in 2016. I confess I have not read the answers you gave to the many questions people asked. Could you tell me if since then there has been any major change to the law? thanks!

Thanks Paola, only change is inland, where they have applied the VFT to certain properties that before couldn’t apply for their licence. Most importantly, anything you buy must have a Licence of First Occupation, or similar relevant document, or you won’t be able to rent it out as a VR.

Thank you Louise!

Hi Louise, For quick reference I posted your answer regarding the ac requirement. Were you able to find out more on this? You mentioned quite a few other possible cooling systems. What other systems would be acceptable? Thank you.

Louise Brace says: February 24, 2016 at 10:23 pm

That’s correct, free Wifi has been taken out of the decree. There is still a fixed cooling system including. The actual term is ‘refrigeración’, which is generally accepted as air conditioning, but there are actually quite a few cooling systems that also come under this term when you check. I will try to find out more.

Unfortunately the only cooling systems that are recognised are air conditioning units. You can have a portable one, only in buildings where no compressor is allowed. And then you’ll need a letter from the local town hall to confirm that before you apply.

We have a villa in Javea and our solicitor is in the process of applying for the holiday rental licence. We have now been informed that the local town hall in Javea is rejecting all applications unless the road outside the property is at least 10 metres wide! As our villa is up a narrow private road we do not comply. Have you heard of this latest restriction to getting a holiday rental licence?

Sorry but I am not on top of changes to the Valencia region regulations. I recommend you get in touch with the association Aptur http://www.aptur.org/ who support owners on the Costa Blanca and will be aware of any changes to the legislation. Good luck! Louise

Are there any town hall offices that accept the declaration responsible documentation or does it have to go to the local tourist office?.

Yes you can also register in the larger town halls. Depending on where your property is located. Example: You can register in Marbella’s main town hall, but not in Las Chapas, Elviria. This is just an example.

That’s great, thank you once again Louise. Have you any idea how long the process typically takes once the forms have been submitted and can we start advertising our place whilst we wait for the VFT/MA licence number to be issued?.

Sorry Louise, please disregard the above as I see you have already covered that question earlier. I now have a CTC reference that I can use until the registration process has been completed.

Can you please confirm who’s passport details have to be registered with Guardia Civil when they stay at our property.Is it just paying guests aged over 16 or is it everyone over 16 including ourselves, family and friends etc?. Thank you.

Hi Louise can you advise if portable heaters would be acceptable to get lisence to rent. I dont have any fixed heaters on my walls? Thanks Karen

Do you not have hot and cold air con in your property? Please let me know and I will be able to respond in more detail. Louise

Hello Louise,

Do you know the rules about who has to be registered with Guardia Civil when they stay at my rental flat. Is it everyone or just paying guests?.

Cheers, Steve

All paying guests over the age of 16 need to be registered.

Where can you obtain a copy of the Licencia de Ocupacion?

The best place to start is with your community administrators. If a licence exists then they should have a copy. If the property is an independent property, then you will need to check with Urbano (urban department) at the town hall. If one exists, they should have a copy. There is normally a charge to get a copy. If one doesn’t exist for your home, then contact me on [email protected] as we can help you get one. Louise

I have just been told the laws have changed, do you know anything about this?

We are about to rent out our 2 bedroom bungalow in the Campo near Villaneuva del Trabucco and have been told we can only rent for 90 days per year with the standard license? We plan to rent for roughly 120 – 150 days on average.

They said otherwise we will need a hostel license and this is very complicated?

I cannot seem to find any information when searching online.

Many thanks in advance, Hayley

Previously I have been advised that apartments in towns which are inland and with less than 20,000 inhabitants are unable to get a VTAR, do you know if this is still the case?

Kind regards Vicki

Hi Victoria, originally towns with less than 20k inhabitants were unable to apply for a VFT. They have always been allowed to apply for a VTAR. Now, it’s possible in some towns to apply for both. Best wishes, Louise

Hi Louise, I was wondering what the legal situation is with the following: I read in your article about legal houses. What if you have a temporary dwelling – a yurt- on a land that has no legal house yet; is this something that can be officially rented out (the ayuntamiento has nog problem with it being there and being occupied once in a while)? And if so; do the same rules as above, apply? Thank you! Regards, Tanja

Apologies for the delay in my response Tanja. Unfortunately there is no licence for yurts. As far as I understand the law does not allow you to run this type of business within your grounds. The only licence exists is for a campsite, on a much larger scale.

hello, i just want to be a host for bed and breakfast, so am i right that i will have to fit aircon to do this just even if im hardly going to have many people here, maybe once a month for two nights? it seems a great expense if i already live in the property and it is sufficient without aircon (i use fans). ????

Hi Tracy-Ann,

If you want to offer food – as in breakfast – then you will need to apply for a completely different licence. If you apply for a standard holiday rental licence you can’t provide on-site food. It also depends on where your property is based. If you are just applying for a standard VFT tourism licence you no longer need air conditioning, but again, it depends on where your property is based and what type of licence you apply for.

Hello, looking for some advise as new to holiday rental. If I take a booking via Booking.com, Airbnb etc do I still have to give the guest a rental agreement or is the booking with the third party agent sufficient? I don’t take payment directly only via the booking site. I’m in Andalucia. Thank you for any advise.

Apologies for the delay in my response. Yes, you do need to provide a rental agreement for the guest, which lays out conditions of payment, cancellation policy, check in and check out information, and ideally for you – your house rules.

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Larraín Nesbitt Abogados

Lawyers qualified to practise in spain.

Larraín Nesbitt Abogados is a law firm specialized in conveyance, litigation, taxation, residency permits (visa), and inheritance run by Raymundo Larraín Nesbit.

Raymond has been practicing law since 2003. After completing his dual degree in Law & Business Management in Madrid (ICADE), he went on to work for prestigious Spanish and English law firms in Spain. He also has international experience, having worked for several years in the United Kingdom for a leading British multinational.

Using the extensive knowledge and experience gained, he set up his own practice in Marbella. He advises mainly UK and non-UK domiciled clients. His main areas of expertise are conveyancing and non-resident taxation.

He is a prolific writer of Spanish tax & legal articles written in English, having published well over 500 articles since 2004. His articles and blogs are widely used by the real estate industry and property think tanks, having been translated into multiple languages. He is a long-standing contributor of Spain’s two leading online property portals; Barcelona-based Spanish Property Insight (run by Mark Stucklin) and Madrid-based Idealista (run by Jesús Encinar).

As legal pundit, he has made several media appearances throughout the years and is regularly quoted by the international press as a reliable source in his field of expertise ( The Sunday Times , The New York Times , The Guardian , WSJ, etc.)

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ANDALUSIA: tourist licence registration – Holiday rental regulations in new Decree explained in detail

Lawyer Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt explains the new regulations governing holiday rentals just introduced in Andalusia (Decree 28/2016). He gives us an overview of the Decree in force, the requirements landlords must meet, how to register your holiday rental in Andalucia and explains the steep sanctions for non-compliance.

Register through us in only 24 hours: Registration of Holiday Homes (Andalusia)

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Introduction

Since 2013 I have highlighted the ongoing trend in all regions of Spain to pass legislation on private holiday rentals:

• New Measures to Bolster Spain’s Ailing Rental Market

• Holiday Rental Laws in Spain

Anyone who has read my articles here will know I am not in favour of these tourist rental laws because they have not been drafted with consumer’s best interests in mind, but rather with those of the hotel industry that fought tooth and nail to regulate this sector, and thwart what they call “unfair competition”.

Spanish politicians, and particularly those in Andalusia, have taken a string of controversial decisions in the last few years in the face of an anemic post-crisis recovery (i.e. the infamous worldwide asset declaration requirement (Model 720) , stringent regional Holiday Rental Laws in various Spanish regions , the empty home expropriation decree for ‘social reasons’, a disappointing ‘Golden Visa’ residency investor scheme , draconian anti-money laundering laws etc.). These laws are proving to be highly unpopular with expatriates to the point of driving many away. Unsurprisingly many town halls are reporting of late that foreign population has taken a sharp dip in their census over the last few years (for example, the Marina Alta region of Valencia has lost a third of its foreign population) . Maybe some expats have chosen to live under the radar to avoid complying with Tax Model 720 worldwide asset declaration, others have simply had enough and packed their things and gone back to their home country.

If Spain had truly a modern diversified economy these unpopular laws wouldn’t be such a big deal after all, and we could shrug it off. But the sad fact is that Spain’s GDP is unhealthily over-reliant on the Tourism and Construction sectors (over 20%), and this fact, coupled with huge unemployment levels that reach alarming all-time highs in Andalusia, make for a bleak picture. Perhaps regional politicians would do well to ponder carefully on the far-reaching consequences of decisions taken on the hoof. In my humble opinion there are many countries out there that are doing a sterling job at attracting foreign investments by adopting superb fiscal measures (chiefly Portugal). Spain should take a good hard look at itself and abandon its self-complacent attitude and start embracing competitive measures that would renew the market’s interest (especially amongst British, traditionally our largest market by far). Spain has all the makings to become the hotspot; all it requires is competent down-to-earth politicians passing tax-friendly laws that attract foreign investments. Is this too much to hope for?

In February 2016, after a long struggle, Andalusia finally passed its own regional holiday rental law in the wake of much upheaval. This article serves as a gentle reminder on this new law to all those landlords who are currently letting out property in the region of Andalusia or intend to in the near future. I strongly advise to heed the guidance I provide below and not to ignore this new piece of legislation. The fines for non-compliance are very steep (ranging from £1,500 to £115,000).

Anyone who thinks the Junta de Andalucía will not hound infractors and fine them harshly is deluding himself. The whole purpose of this legislation was geared from the outstart towards sanctioning offenders as those behind it had an axe to grind. Moreover in other parts of Spain town halls are already levying substantial amounts on the back of similar new laws. They are using new technology (‘web crawlers’) that methodically and relentlessly trawl internet to come up with non-regulated rentals that are advertised over the web. Authorities cross-reference this information against their public records and unregistered properties are brought to light as a result. Not to mention that at a time where Administration’s coffers are bereft post-crisis this represents a golden opportunity to hunt, apologies, I meant raise taxes and prop up politicians’ dwindling coffers (because gold statues and palaces don’t pay for themselves you know). God bless them all.

In Barcelona, for example, in two unrelated recent cases they have levied fines of £24,000 ( source ) and £70,000 on the same token ( source ).

A positive side effect of this law will be to bring into the open all the undeclared tourist rentals. So if after reading my article you become a law-abiding citizen registering your properties to rent them out as tourist accommodations make sure you are filing and paying your Non-Resident Taxes in Spain as well! It would be a faux pas to register them and not declare and pay tax on your rental income in Spain. EDIT 11th April: newspaper article from El País:   Taxman turns attention to hidden internet property rentals .

Let this article act as a stern warning to all landlords in Andalusia: The Taxman Cometh!

Andalusia’s Holiday Rental Decree

EDIT July 2017: for a simplified version of this in-depth article jump to my blog post: Holiday Rentals in Andalusia Made Easy – 3 rd July 2017 .

Andalusia approved on the 3rd of February this new decree which had sparked much controversy and debate. The final version has dropped some of the more contentious points but still retains many which are highly questionable in my humble opinion. Andalusia’s Holiday Rental Law was officially published in the BOJA on the 11th of February. Link to the new law:

Andalusia’s Holiday Rental Law .

The official name is Decree 28/2016, of 2nd of February of Tourist Holiday Rentals ( viviendas con fines turísticos ). The best way to go around it is simply analysing point by point what it establishes.

In compliance with this Decree, and with Law 13/2011, of Tourism in Andalusia , landlords may register as from the 11th of May 2016 onwards, day on which this new Decree will come into force. Mr. Rafael Salas Gallego, Malaga’s Tourism Director, has confirmed the registry will not be operative before the 11th of May. So landlords now have a three-month deadline to gather all their paperwork and may start registering themselves as from the 11th of May onwards before Andalusia’s Tourist Registry (or ATR going forward). The Junta de Andalucía has promised public awareness campaigns to clarify on this new law.

You can download and fill in the form supplied by the ATR called ‘Declaración Responsable’ and hand it over at one of the ‘ Delegaciones Territoriales de Turismo ‘ once completed. Registration is free unlike in other regions of Spain.

If your command of Spanish is low, you can hire a lawyer to do this on your behalf in exchange of a reasonable fee.

The following properties are excluded from being regulated by this decree:

• Properties which are lent to friends or family without an exchange of money (free).

• Properties that are let to the same individual for a continuous period of time exceeding two months. In which case it will be regarded as a standard rental agreement subject to Spain’s Tenancy Act. More details in my in-depth article: Spain’s Tenancy Act (LAU) .

• Rural properties, located in what is legally classified as rural land, are expressly excluded as they are subject to their own legislation: Decree 20/2002 . I have covered this in an in-depth article: Andalusia’s Holiday Rural Rentals .

• Landlords, or property management companies, that own or rent three or more properties, personally or through corporate structures, each located within a radius of 1 km from the reception office in the same unit (i.e. building, urbanization, condominium) will be excluded from this new decree (this is very bad news). They will be subject to the much harsher Decree 194/2010 ( Apartamentos Turísticos ) which basically equates these properties to a hotel. This has very serious restrictions on use i.e. landlords cannot use the property themselves for more than two months a year, they must cede the management of the units to a professional company for a minimum period of ten years etc.

Definition of Holiday Rental – What Properties are Included

The decree is rather vague on this point. Any property that complies with the following points will fall under the remit of this new regulation:

• The property is located in land classified as ‘residential’ (in other words, rural and tertiary land are excluded as they are each subject to their own legislation on rentals).

• The property is rented out to tourists regularly on a short-term basis (days, weeks, months).

• Reservation system is enabled. Reservations can be made.

• The property will be regarded to be rented out touristically when the landlord advertises it using specialized media. By specialized media it is understood companies who intermediate between landlord and tenant in exchange of a commission such as: travel agencies, real estate agencies, holiday rental websites (i.e. Airbnb, HomeAway, Tripping, Tripadvisor, Flipkey, VRBO etc.).

Examples of Private Holiday Rentals

All the following landlords fall under the remit of this new law and must comply with its terms or face hefty fines.

1. Mr. Raistlin Majere, and loving wife Claire, own a duplex in a beachside urbanization in Estepona and rent their property out three months a year advertising through HomeAway and similar niche websites. 2. Mr. Aedan Cousland owns a luxury villa in Benahavis, Marbella, which he rents out to affluent Arabs only during the summer season for a substantial return. He advertises only through upscale real estate agencies. 3. Mrs. Morrigan Flemeth and husband Alistair own and live in a Guest House in Fuengirola renting out rooms to tourists all year round. They advertise over internet. 4. Mr. Loghain McTir, UK resident, owns and rents three high-end properties through a management agency. Two of the properties are located frontline in Puerto Banús and the third one in the prestigious Sierra Blanca estate.

Lodging Requirements

Some requirements from the draft decree have been dropped i.e. wi-fi; which is now a moot point as it is no longer required.

• The property must have attained what is known as a Licence of First Occupation (LFO, for short). It is also known in some parts of Spain as First Occupancy Licence, Habitation Certificate, Habitation Licence, Licencia de Primera Ocupación, Cédula de Primera Habitabilidad, Cédula de Habitabilidad or Cédula de Ocupación. A LFO is a licence issued by the town hall ( ayuntamiento ) once the building works have been completed, which allows the purchaser to dwell in the property legally. The property developer is responsible for applying for this licence, once the Certificate of End of Construction has been issued. It ensures the property is above board complying with all planning, health & safety and disabled access laws both at a national and regional level. It is also very important as it is required by utility companies to supply the property with water, electricity, gas and telephone connection.

• Rooms must be ventilated and have blinds or shutters to obscure them when necessary.

• Rooms will have the appropriate furniture required for use by lodgers and in proportion to the number of lodgers per room.

• Air conditioning unit affixed in every bedroom including living room (as a fixed fixture, not as a portable device unit) when the property is offered between the months of May and September (inclusive). Landlords will be given one year to adapt the rooms to this requirement as from the time this law is passed (11th of May 2017).

• When properties are let during the winter season (October through to April, inclusive) a heater must be made available in every bedroom including living room (as a fixed fixture, not as a portable device). Landlords will be given one year to adapt the rooms to this requirement as from the time this law is passed (11th of May 2017) .

• First aid kit.

• Landlord must provide physical or electronic brochures of the closest amenities, medical treatment facilities, parking spaces, restaurants, shopping centres as well as plans that detail use of urban transport, map of the surrounding area and general tourist guides.

• A complaints book will be made available as well as installing a large visible sign informing lodgers that a complaint book is available. Sample complaints form click here .

• Mandatory cleaning service at the start and end of every new accommodation.

• Clean sheets and bed linen as well as supplying a spare set.

• Provide lodgers with a working contact phone number of person to be held accountable for any complaint or query raised so the situation is addressed immediately.

• Provide instruction booklets to use household and kitchen appliances.

• Inform lodgers on property use restrictions (such as no smoking areas or pet restrictions) as well as on Community of Owners internal bylaws.

Holiday Rental Agreement & Registration Form

i. Holiday Rental Agreement

• It will have the details of the landlord, including a working telephone number as outlined in the previous section above to address complaints, the property’s unique alphanumeric code on being registered at the Junta de Andalucia, the reservation dates (arrival and departure dates), numbers of lodgers and total price of the holiday rental.

• If the agreement does not specify it, it is presumed the rental starts at 16.00 and ends at 12.00pm.

• The landlord, or person designated by him, will show the lodgers around explaining how the kitchen and household appliances work as well as providing them with security cards and access codes to the premises. If the tourist accommodation is included in what is known as a Community of Owners , the landlord must supply his guest a copy of the internal bylaws ruling the community so he adheres to them during his lodging.

• A copy of the signed Holiday Rental Agreement will be stored by the landlord for up to one year to provide it for inspection by the relevant Authorities.

ii. Registration Form

• All lodgers, not just the one making the reservation, will be fully identified in compliance with current Security laws (popularly dubbed as ‘Gag’ Law ). Lodgers will supply a copy of their personal ID/passport. Like in hotels, all guests will be required to fill in and sign a registration form on entry. In compliance with art 7.2 this registration form must be then sent to the Police or Guardia Civil for every guest over the age of 16 years old within the next 24 hours of the accommodation following Security Laws from 2003 ( Orden INT/1922/2003 , de 3 de julio, sobre libros-registro) and from 2015. You can send a copy of the filled in and signed registration form personally, by fax or else by e-mail. Registration forms are standardized by law; click here for a sample copy.

• Online registration : follow this link to submit by e-mail to the Guardia Civil a copy of your completed Registration Form. Alternatively you can also use this other link (scroll down for the links).

• Registration forms must be stored by landlords for a period of up to three years for the inspection of the Security Forces.

Price and Reservation

• Price offered will be per night and all-inclusive. This means it must include all the following: utility consumption (water, electricity, heating, A/C), cleaning of (bed)room at the start and end of every new lodging, clean bed linen, taxes. The bill will give a detailed breakdown of all expenses including any extras requested by the guest (like in hotels).

• It is compulsory for a landlord, or person designated by him, to hand invoices to a guest for every payment made including the initial reservation fee (even if it is just for one night’s accommodation).

Following article 8.2, and for the avoidance of doubt, landlords can decide freely upon the rental terms on the following points (so long as the tenant agrees): price, bookings, reservation deposit and cancellations.

If a landlord does NOT word these terms in a short-term tenancy agreement then by default the following rules will apply:

• Unless agreed otherwise, the maximum reservation fee is 30% of the total price.

• If cancellation of the reserve is done over ten days in advance the landlord can pocket 50% of the reservation fee in compensation.

• If the cancellation is done under 10 days then the landlord is entitled to pocket the full amount of the reservation fee.

• If it’s the landlord that cancels he may do so without penalty over ten days in advance.

• If the landlord cancels under ten days he must pay a compensation to his guest of 30% of the final agreed total price.

• If the cancellation is due to a force majeure, then both landlord and guest are exempt of awarding compensation. Examples of such admitted by law courts are flash floods, earthquakes, strong winds, general strikes.

How to register your holiday rental in Andalucia – Inscription before Andalusia’s Tourism Registry (ATR)

All landlords that wish to rent out their properties in Andalusia must register their property before the ATR.

You can self-register here (as from the 11th of May 2.016 onwards):

Enrolment at Andalusia’s Tourism Registry.

Download, print and fill in the form supplied by the ATR called ‘ Declaración Responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad ‘; specifically the annex on page 7. Once done, hand it over physically at one of the ‘Delegaciones Territoriales de Turismo’ in the region where your property is located. It can also be completed online if you have a digital certificate enabled. Unlike in other regions of Spain registration is free in Andalusia.

You will need to supply the following details:

• Property details, cadastral reference, number of potential guests according to its Licence of First Occupation.

• Landlord’s personal details and an address for official notifications.

• Details of management agency or designated person if landlord appoints someone to act on his behalf. Any change in details must be communicated so the ATR remains accurate at all times.

• Details of this inscription will be passed on to the local town hall.

• Once the property is duly registered before the ATR each dwelling will be assigned a unique alphanumeric code which – by law – must appear in all publicity offering the property to let (art. 9.4) i.e. internet webs, estate agency brochures, glossy magazine rental advertisements etc.

You will then be assigned a unique alphanumeric code i.e. VFT/MA/00001.

It goes without saying that any property let in Andalusia that does not sport said unique ATR code will be easy to spot and may result in heavy fines.

Fines and Sanctions

They are divided into three categories:

a.- Light offence . Can be either a written warning or a sanction with fines up to €2,000.

b.- Serious offence . Sanctioned with fines ranging from €2,001 up to €18,000. The premises may be shut down temporarily at the authority’s discretion (for periods less than 6 months), the rental licence may be revoked temporarily.

c.- Very serious offence . Sanctioned with fines ranging from €18,001 up to €150,000. The premises may be shut down temporarily at the authority’s discretion (for periods spanning between 6 months to 3 years), the rental licence may be revoked indefinitely.

If the landlord is sanctioned two or more times for very serious offences within a three-year period, the property will be struck off the ATR indefinitely.

Statutory Limitation of Sanctions

• Light offences: six months.

• Serious offences: one year.

• Very serious offences: two years.

The statutory limitation starts as from the time the sanction is imposed by the Administration. The time can be interrupted by the initiation of legal proceedings. If the administrative procedure is paralyzed for more than one month for reasons unrelated to the offender, the statutory limitation will be renewed once again (eventually time-barring the sanction).

Clandestine Activity

If the Authorities catch you red-handed renting out a non-declared property (that is not registered at the ATR) this will be regarded as a serious offence attracting fines ranging from £1,500 up to £14,000.

If you own property in the region of Andalusia and plan to rent it out as a tourist accommodation make sure your property is first registered before the ATR. Do not chance it thinking they won’t catch you as one of the requirements to advertise rentals is to publish the unique alphanumeric code supplied by the ATR in all advertisements (article 9.4). Any offering made going forward that lacks said ATR code and you will be done for. Let alone the unbridled use of web crawlers to hound non-compliers which is proving most effective.

Bottom line, always be on the right side of the law. Hire a lawyer to ensure your property is registered to let and fully compliant with all the minutiae. Ensure you acquire all the gadgets the Andalusian law requires for each room listed above (A/C units, first aid kits etc) to avoid sizeable fines. And to close, do not forget to declare and pay tax in Spain on your rental income (you can read my article Non-Resident Taxes in Spain for more information on your tax liabilities as landlord).

Registration fees (per property): on application

Larraín Nesbitt Abogados, small on fees, big on service.

Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers is a law firm specialized in taxation, inheritance, conveyancing, and litigation. We will be very pleased to discuss your matter with you. You can contact us by e-mail at [email protected] , by telephone on (+34) 952 19 22 88 or by completing our contact form .

Legal services Larraín Nesbitt Lawyers can offer you

• Registration of Holiday Homes (Andalusia)
• Holiday Rental Accounting Service (HRAS)
• Land Registry Search (Nota Simple)
• Fiscal Representation (Non-Resident Income Tax)
• Renting in Spain: Top Ten Mistakes – 8th of June 2011
• Let-to-Buy in Spain: The Smart Choice – 8th of April 2012
• Letting in Spain: The Safe Way – 10th of October 2012
• New Measures to Bolster Spain’s Ailing Rental Market – 8th of July 2013
• Tenant Eviction in Spain – 8th of June 2014
• Holiday Rental Laws in Spain – 8th of March 2015
• House Hunting in Spain – Interview with The New York Times . June 2015
• Resurgent Spain: Málaga Sees Strong Sales – Interview with Mansion Global ( The Wall Street Journal ). December 2015
• Non-Resident Taxes in Spain – 8th December 2015
• Holiday Rental Laws in Andalusia (Decree 28/2016) – 8th of February 2016
• Decree 20/2002: Andalusia’s Holiday Rural Rental Decree – 8th of April 2016
• Urban Rental Law in Spain – Spain’s Tenancy Act – 8th May 2016
• Buying Property in Spain – 10 Reasons to Hire a Lawyer – 8th November 2016
• Renting in Spain – Landlord’s Taxation – 8th of January 2017
• Renting in Spain: Non-Resident Landlord’s Rental Tax Relief – 14th of January 2017
• Buying Property in Spain from a Private Seller (Resale Property) – 21st of February 2017
• Buying Property in Spain from a Developer (Off-Plan Property) – 8 th March 2017
• NIE Number Explained – 8th May 2017
• Community of Owners in Madrid to ban Holiday Rentals – 29th of June 2017
• How to inspect an off-plan property overseas – Q&A with The Sunday Times . July 2017
• Holiday Rentals in Andalusia Made Easy – 3 rd July 2017
• Holiday-home lettings: Do NOT register with Andalusia’s Tourism Registry unless you are fully compliant – 21 st of July 2017

Please note the information provided in this article is of general interest only and is not to be construed or intended as substitute for professional legal advice. This article may be posted freely in websites or other social media so long as the author is duly credited. Plagiarizing, whether in whole or in part, this article without crediting the author may result in criminal prosecution. No delusional politician was harmed on writing this article. VOV.

* This article has been written by a third party not owned or controlled by Spanish Property Insight (SPI). SPI disclaims any responsibility or liability related to your access to or use of any third party content.

265 thoughts on “ ANDALUSIA: tourist licence registration – Holiday rental regulations in new Decree explained in detail ”

Mark Blythe says:

Dear Raymond, Further to John’s message/s to you, I would like to add the following. We have been to both the Tourism Department of the Junta de Andalucia in Granada and our local Town Hall in Salobreña on numerous occasions now, most recently this morning chasing another tail supplied by the lawyer who happened to be associated with our purchasing the property back in July (2015). Since there is clearly no LFO registered for our town house (built in 1978) – or equivalent document: “Cedula de Primera Habitabilidad”, “Cedula de Habitabilidad”, “Cedula de Ocupacion”, “Habitation Certificate”, “Habitation Licence” – I think I have covered all of the alternative title to LFO – the same aforementioned solicit sent us to the Town Hall to ask for an equivalent/alternative document, a: “Legalidad Urbanistica de la Vivienda”. The Departamento de Urbanismo has absolutely no idea idea what our solicitor was talking about, and assured us that no such document existed.

My question to you is: Since our house was built in 1978, apparently preceding the implementation of an LFO, how was the construction company able to complete and sell the property in the first place? Moreover, if it really is the case that there was no alternative process to the LFO in place then to what degree, if at all, are we: 1. Exempt for the responsibility of having to obtain said LFO, or 2. to what degree can hold the lawyer who assisted with our purchase responsible for obtaining an LFO now? This question comes loaded as she (our lawyer) was aware that we intended to run our property as a B and B!

Many thanks in advance,

Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt says:

As explained to others in this thread, LFOs are a 2000 thing. They did not exist back in the 70s.

A property built in 1978 categorically did not require a LFO. It stands to reason your lawyer never requested it.

I cannot assist you further than what I have already explained to others; you are not exempt from the law. Your town hall must supply a LFO or equivalent document for you to register before the ATR. Yes it is red tape and I have made it clear from the first paragraph of the above article, and all other related articles of mine, that I strongly disagree with many aspects of this new law.

Your Delegacion Territorial of Turismo and/or town hall must give you alternatives; common sense must prevail as you did not create the problem, otherwise you will be unable to register as you will be stuck in a legal limbo.

There is little more than I can add as the problem is of their own making as I have tirelessly pointed out in my articles relating to this matter including this one.

Dear Raymundo, Thank you for clarifying this. We will battle on then… Best wishes, Mark.

I am sorry I cannot be of more assistance Mark. But it is them that must give you a solution.

Hello Raymondo Thanks again for all of this information; I am very impressed by your ability to reply clearly to questions about such a complicated legislation. Apart from the question about the legal capability to apply to the town hall (in Nerja) which I’ve put to you further up as it relates to your reply dated February 12 to Susan (shall I repeat it here?), I have some doubts about exact content of the obligation to get details about the quests and keep them as well as pass them on to the Guarda Civil. If we rent out to a colleague, Mrs, A for the use during a week by herself, her husband, Mr. B, their sons C, aged 16 and D, aged 17 + their daughter E, aged 3, what information do we need to include – for each of these in a) the contract b) a registration form (signed by which person? – in particular when it comes to C, D and E) , which we keep for three years c) a registration form (see query above) which we send to the Guarda Civil no later than 24 hours after the commencement of the rental (or the expected arrival of the guests?) Should we keep copies of all their five passports for 3 years? Can we use the same registration form? – we have form (in Spanish) for the following information (apart from that identifying the establishment): No of identity doc. Type of doc Date of doc First “apellido” (first family name?) We expect, that Danes, who have only one family name should fill it in here Last “apellido” (last family name?) (we’d leave this blank) “Nombre” (first name?) Sex Date of birth Nationality Date of entry (into Spain or date of arrival at the apartment in Nerja?) The formula seems to be named “Tamano A-5”

Can we use this? Once more, thanks a billion for all your assistance Sincerely Jens

Hello again,

As stated in the article itself, you are under the obligation to submit a registration form for anyone over and above the age of 16 years old. Therefore guests A through to D (E is excluded) will need to be registered.

I do not translate official forms or documents, sorry. The form, following my article above, is standard and a sample copy may be found here:

http://www.interior.gob.es/documents/642012/1554605/Anexo+de+la+Orden+INT_1922_2003+de+4+de+julio/b57100c9-e269-4aad-904f-7d5edba89347

Thanks a lot, Raymundo I take it that not only do we not need to send in the details for guests under the age of 16 (that is aged 0 – 15 inc.), but we do not need to take and keep their details at all, and copies of passports as we do for the grow-ups. Do you know should sign the forms? Each individual guest for him-/herself? Those aged only 16 or 17 also? Or can one person – the one renting the apartment – sign for everybody? Also thank you for informing me elsewhere (further up in this discussion) that an owner of an individual apartment in an apartment block can apply for a cedula de habitalidad on his own instead of having to wait for the community of owners to agree on doing so. It is hard to describe what a relief it is to be able to put questions here and get good and quick answers to them. Once more, thank you! Best wishes Jens

Morning Jens,

You are correct. There is no need to keep passport details for under 16 year olds. Only for over 16 year olds for a period of three years in case there is an inspection by the Security Forces (nothing related with the Tax Office).

The registration form should be signed by the lodger (guest) himself under “Firma de viajero” on the bottom right. Yes, a 16 year old must sign in his own name and right. An adult cannot sign for him unless there is some medically certified physical or mental disability.

Apologies, I had overlooked your query on LFO. You would need to request the LFO for the whole block I am afraid. As you are an interested party you could apply for a copy yourself or else for an equivalent document for the purposes of the ATR registration. I do not believe you can request it individually for your flat following my specialized article on Licence of First Occupation. These LFOs are granted by blocks (buildings), not individually by flats. That is only true of detached dwellings.

You are more than welcome Jens.

Best regards

Thank you so much for more enlightenment, Raymundo Ok, so we won’t ask for any information about anybody under 16 (apart from them being included in the total figure of guests in the contract). Just to be sure; what you say about a LFO – which are given since 2007 or something for new buildings – also applies to a cedula de habitalidad for apartments in old buildings from the 70’es? This must mean f.inst. that if one old apartment is unfit for living in, the whole block cannot get it’s cedula de habitalidad? Doesn’t sound reasonable, does it? And neither does it sound reasonable that we cannot get a cedula de habitalidad if we can’t make the other owners (or a majority) agree to for apply for one….. Sorry to be such a fusspot about details, I’m afraid it goes with the career, doesn’t it? 🙂 Thanks again, Best regards Jens

Andrew says:

Thanks for the time you are taking answering all of these questions. Could you please answer a couple for me.

I assume that a property which is not advertised as a tourist rental and in which only friends or relations stay from time to time will not have to be registered.

Regarding the payment of tax on rentals, the non-resident department in AEAT in Málaga state that a separate tax return on form 210 must be submitted in respect of each group (at first they said each person) renting the property and submitted collectively at the end of each quarter. If the property is rented on a weekly basis for even one whole quarter this would mean 26 tax returns in the case of a property with two joint owners.

Another problem is that they say details of the renter must be included under the heading ‘Pagador/Retenedor/Emisor/Adquirente del inmueble’ which also requires a NIE number without which the form will not validate. Does this mean that everyone coming to Spain to stay in a private rental property will have to obtain a NIE number and register with AEAT? This is getting just too ridiculous for words.

I believe that the true intention of the Junta de Andalucía is to totally destroy the private rental sector to what they think will be the advantage of the hotel trade which is a big mistake because people who prefer self-catering will just go to another country for their holidays.

I dare say I think you assume wrong and my article is crystal clear on that point; there are only four exceptions that do not require registering before the ATR and yours is not one. If you are taking money to rent out this property on a short-term basis you must register before the ATR. If no money is exchanged then no need to register.

You must submit one model 210 for every joint owner, not per guest or lodger.

If your taxation is with VAT then yes you must submit your returns on a quarterly basis.

You would understand it clearly if you followed the link to my article Non-Resident Taxation in Spain :

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/2015/12/08/non-resident-taxes-spain/

Regarding your comments, I do not think they want to destroy private rental but they are certainly making it more complicated for everyone involved adding unnecessary red tape. It is not admissible that landlords need to jump through hoops to rent out their properties which, in my opinion, only benefits the hotel industry who are the ones that stand to gain from all this regulation.

Hope that helps.

My apologies for not spelling your name correctly Jens

No worries.

There is no reply option after a number of queries have been made by the same person. So I need to reply to an old post of yours to address your new question.

LFOs are a 2000 thing. A building completed in the 70s will categorically not have a LFO issued. As in previous posts, you must contact your town hall and request a LFO or equivalent document. Should this not be possible, you must explain your situation to your ‘ Delegación Territorial de Turismo ‘ so you may register before the ATR and comply with Decree 28/2016.

As written, I will not be able to reply to your new posts once a limit is reached, it is hard coded, sorry.

Hello Raymundo

Thank you for being so patient and for finding a way to answer one more in-depth question. I think that we will probably have to hire a local lawyer to help us approach the town hall. Do you think the real point of this act is not to help the hotel industry but to create employment for lawyers? One certainly has to be very stubborn to try to rent out and be law-abiding at the same time …

Most people in Spain to whom we’ve talked seem to say that this will go away and they will never find anybody out anyway, but being a lawyer myself I find it quite difficult to adopt this attitude, and on top of this we WANT to pay our taxes, so we can hardly hope to keep our renting out a secret.

Anyway I feel a lot less lost thanks now to your article here and your answers to my questions + those of other people here.

Please keep up the good work and all the best luck with your LLM.and future career – not that I think your’re going to need any luck at all 🙂

Best regards Jens

We all need much luck when we start off but I’d like to indulge myself thinking that hard work and sacrifice plays a more important role on making it (besides timing).

No I do not think this law has been enacted thinking of us lawyers. As I have highlighted in others articles of mine since 2013 the hotel lobby is powerful in Spain and pushed hard to regulate a sector which was in a legal limbo. I understand to a point their views but not to the point when it hurts pricing on artificially stifling competition through stringent regulation that limits landlords rental/property rights. On doing this you will restrict supply thus driving prices upwards making the Spanish economy overall less competitive through clumsy regulation. Other countries are adopting superb fiscal measures attracting foreign investments i.e. Portugal. We should follow their lead and not burden foreign investors, that bet in Spain with theitr own hard-earned money, with extra admin hassle. Spain categorically does not need more red tape.

The aim of this regulation, always in my humble opinion, is not to help out consumers as has been largely publicized in the media but to disincentivize private holiday rental and benefit the hotel industry as a whole. A second goal is to bring into the light undeclared lets, which are legion, and force them to pay taxes. That is why I title the heading with ‘The Taxman Cometh’ borrowing a quote from the greatest English playwrighter that ever lived.

Spanish politicians, as all their kin, wield much power and sometimes I am unsure they realize to what extent they damage the broad economy with their flawed decision-making. But again these are just my personal views.

I was careful to say ‘in which only friends or relations stay from time to time’ rather than ‘let to friends or relations’.

In respect of the tax situation, does that mean that the information given to me by AEAT that a separate tax return must be submitted in respect of each rental and declared collectively at the end of each quarter is incorrect? The article to which you refer seems to indicate that the tax on the rental may be paid on an annual basis on one form for each owner in the same way as the imputed non-resident tax. If this is so who do you put down as the ‘Pagador’ as there are likely to be several? It cannot be left blank as the form will not validate.

You mention VAT. Does VAT also have to be charged and paid on the rental? AEAT says that there is no facility for a non-resident to register to pay VAT.

I get the feeling we are talking at cross purposes Andrew.

Guests do not have to complete tax forms. That will be the landlord as explained in my quoted above article.

VAT, as explained elsewhere in this thread, is payable by the landlord if he offers ancillary paid for services such as daily changing of linen, breakfast, extra storage etc akin to what hotels offer. If no additional payable services are offered, then no VAT is payable.

If you ‘lend’ your apartment to friends, as in no money is exchanged, you are not bound by the requirements of the above article as described in point one of the exemptions listed by the Decree.

Guests or lodgers most certainly do not need to apply for a NIE number; that is only required by non-resident taxpayers i.e. landlord on renting out a property.

Obviously guests do not have to complete tax returns, I don’t think I indicated that I thought they did.

AEAT states that the name of the guest must be entered on the form 210 under the heading ‘Pagador/Retenedor/Emisor/Adquirente del inmueble’. If this is so the form cannot be validated or a PDF generated unless a name and NIE number is entered under this heading. That’s why I ask if a guest needs to obtain a NIE number and register with AEAT in order to rent a property.

AEAT also states that these returns should be submitted collectively at the end of each quarter but in your article on non-resident taxes it states that one overall return can be submitted quarterly OR ANNUALLY in respect of all of the rentals for that period. The problem of entering the details of the guest still applies as there is only a facility to enter one name and NIE number.

As far as friends or family using the property is concerned there is a paragraph in your article which states

‘The property will be regarded to be rented out touristically when the landlord advertises it using specialized media.’

implying that if it is not advertised using specialised media it is not regarded as being rented out touristically.

At the conference in Málaga on 23rd February it was stated by Junta de Andalucía officials that if a property was advertised on the internet it would be considered to be tourist rental accommodation and that if it was not registered it would constitute an absolute offence and there would be no necessity to prove that any actual rental took place. It was further stated that they would not be ‘knocking on doors’ in order to detect offenders.

There still seems to be many anomalies in the advice given by the Junta, AEAT and various third party advisory services which need to be ironed out

I see. Lodgers categorically do not need to apply for a NIE number as it would be an admin nightmare; it would be ludicrous. The only NIE number required is that of the landlord, as taxpayer, as I have stated above repeatedly.

My article on non-resident taxation indicates, that on renting, you can submit tax model 210 quarterly or annually depending on the case.

The quote you make of my article is straight out of the Decree; that’s exactly what the Decree says. If a landlord uses specialized media to advertise it will be taken for granted they are renting on a short-time basis. This however cannot be construed as only those who advertise in specialized media need to register before the ATR, those who do not are exempt; that is a wrong interpretation of my article and of the Decree. I understand it is a bit of a grey area but that’s the wording of the law. This is complemented by the four exceptions that do NOT need to register before the ATR. In my first reply to you, following what you wrote is your case, I advised you were not exempt from compliance as you were charging your acquaintances for the (short-term) rental.

Dozens of people have already queried in this very thread if they need to register and comply with the Decree despite not advertising in specialized media. My reply to all has been the same; you need to register and comply.

The Junta itself has declared that on registering before the ATR this will trigger an inspection at some point in the future to verify compliance.

Andrew, the law has just been approved, the registry is not operative until May. It is understandable there will be teething problems (inconsistencies) across the board that need to be ironed out as you write.

P.S. is there a reason you do not use my first name in your five posts across two articles when you address me? You seem to be the only person doing that.

Exactly, it would be ludicrous but the fact remains that it is impossible to submit a form 210 for actual (as opposed to imputed) non-resident tax that does not show the name and NIE number of the ‘pagador’.

Regarding the use of the property by friends and family I think it would be pretty much impossible to prove tourist use of a property that was not advertised for rental even if any kind of private transaction did take place between the renter and the owner!

There is no particular reason that I do not use your name in my posts other than the fact that it is something I have never done in any forum where the identity of the person I am addressing is not in doubt. Come to that, it is not something I usually do in face to face conversation with one person either and, with apologies to the contributors who have used it above, I am particular averse to the use of the salutation ‘Hi’.

On the other hand maybe I am just subconsciously apprehensive of being taken to task if I inadvertently spell your name incorrectly!

Michael says:

Hi Raymundo. I have been reading through all your great work again and think I understand everything. Can you please let me know if I got any of the following wrong: I own a Spanish property from 1980 that has no LFO and I can’t really find a lot of the paperwork from back then. It sleeps 20 people and I want to rent it out. I have checked the town hall and they have the same drawings/plans like the villa was built. 1) I need to hire a technical architect to come and inspect the villa. He will be able to let me know if I am missing anything like disability access in order to obtain a cédula de habitabilidad. Once I have got everything needed he will draft a Certificado técnico de habitabilidad that I take to the town hall and they will issue me with a cédula de habitabilidad within a few months that I need to obtain a renting license (ATR). At this point it does not matter what paperwork I have from 1980s purchase because the architect has signed off on that the villa has all the requirements needed. 2) I register for the ATR and obtain the license and use the number given in all advertising. Since I have registered this will trigger an inspector to come to the villa to inspect that it meets all requirements and if it does not there might be a fine. 3) I cannot advertise the property for more than 15 people so I will have to put max 15 people on all advertising. 20 people is just not allowed in any case in any villa and if I put that I might get a fine. There is no way around this. 3) The villa has to have all things you detailed including a complaints book and I need to get the passport copy of everyone above 16 and get them to sign the registration form and send it to the police. 4) I get an accountant to file yearly with the Spanish tax authorities and pay the tax. If the owner of the villa is an off shore company I can still deduct all employees wages, utility bills etc after Jan 17 and pay tax on the net profit because Isle of Man has come off the blacklist then. 5) If I rent the property out before 12th May and remove my advertising from the web before then there is no way I can get a fine as the ATR registration was not open. I am therefore assuming they are not checking villas at the moment to try and catch people out before they open the registration in May. 6) If I follow 1-4 above there is nothing further required of me. 7) On a separate note the town hall said I have not been paying my IBI that I have been on direct debit. I supplied them with the bank statements and they then said they have recalculated the castral value of the house going back to 2011 and I owe them the difference. Why would they not have taking the true amount in the direct debit every year then? Can they really come now and claim thousands of Euros dating back to 2011? I think I need to dispute this but how?

Many thanks for your help. I really appreciate your time. Thanks Michael

Good morning Michael,

Addressing your multiple quries:

1) I need to hire a technical architect to come and inspect the villa. He will be able to let me know if I am missing anything like disability access in order to obtain a cédula de habitabilidad. Once I have got everything needed he will draft a Certificado técnico de habitabilidad that I take to the town hall and they will issue me with a cédula de habitabilidad within a few months that I need to obtain a renting license (ATR). At this point it does not matter what paperwork I have from 1980s purchase because the architect has signed off on that the villa has all the requirements needed.

There is frankly not much more than I can add to your words. The paperwork will logically all be from the 80s, when you purchased.

2) I register for the ATR and obtain the license and use the number given in all advertising. Since I have registered this will trigger an inspector to come to the villa to inspect that it meets all requirements and if it does not there might be a fine.

I am afraid so. The Junta has already made it clear repeatedly that on registering before the ATR this will trigger an inspection at some point. There are conflicting reports on whether this will take a couple of weeks or else months. But it seems like a certainty the inspection will take place.

3) I cannot advertise the property for more than 15 people so I will have to put max 15 people on all advertising. 20 people is just not allowed in any case in any villa and if I put that I might get a fine. There is no way around this.

That is what the law says. Maybe at some point they become more lenient. But right now that is the limitation imposed by this Decree, yes.

3) The villa has to have all things you detailed including a complaints book and I need to get the passport copy of everyone above 16 and get them to sign the registration form and send it to the police.

Over and above 16. For the avoidance of doubt that also includes 16 year old passports. All yourlodgers will have to sign persinally the registration form (inclusing those over and above 16). This is a standard form and in my article I posta link to the model that must be used. You need to send it to the Guardia Civil. But before doing so you must contact them and register in their system so they add you to it. This is in compliance with a national security regulation from 2003 that binds all hotels and lodgements in general in Spain.

4) I get an accountant to file yearly with the Spanish tax authorities and pay the tax. If the owner of the villa is an off shore company I can still deduct all employees wages, utility bills etc after Jan 17 and pay tax on the net profit because Isle of Man has come off the blacklist then.

You would need to verify this point. All the allowances I mention in my taxation articles apply as a physical person not as a legal person which is ruled by a different tax law. In my articles I do not examine the allowances to which legal personas are entitled to.

5) If I rent the property out before 12th May and remove my advertising from the web before then there is no way I can get a fine as the ATR registration was not open. I am therefore assuming they are not checking villas at the moment to try and catch people out before they open the registration in May.

Correct, they are not and cannot before May.

6) If I follow 1-4 above there is nothing further required of me.

Just to conply with what I hace laid above in my article, i.e. first aid kit, A/C, tourist brochures etc

7) On a separate note the town hall said I have not been paying my IBI that I have been on direct debit. I supplied them with the bank statements and they then said they have recalculated the castral value of the house going back to 2011 and I owe them the difference. Why would they not have taking the true amount in the direct debit every year then? Can they really come now and claim thousands of Euros dating back to 2011? I think I need to dispute this but how?

This is normal. I advise all myc clients to set as a dircet debit IBI tax. However if a dispute arises (i.e. not enough money was in the account when it was billed) then the direct debit is automatically cancelled. The Tax Office has a statutory limitation of 4 years to claim back taxes. After that they become time-barred. Are you sure you paid your IBI tax over the last four years? They are the ones that must calculate the updated cadastral value and tax you accordingly. Seems rather odd to me.

You are welcome Michael.

Many thanks for your reply. On the last point yes I am sure. I spoke to the town hall and they said they doubled the castral value back in 2011 but it was not correctly debited from my direct debit until 2015 which is right and I can see my yearly payment doubling in 2015. They now want the difference for 2011,2012,2013,2014. In years 2015 and 2016 they have debited the correct amount. Am I right in firstly assuming they can only go back 4 years so that’s 2012 onwards and secondly can they really ask for this money now when it was their mistake? Can I write and appeal? Thanks

Not yourself, no. You need to hire a lawyer to appeal it. This is not something taxpayers can do on their own (successfully that is).

As explained, the statutory limitation is four years. They cannot go further back than this.

Got it. Lastly if you know of a good technical architect in the Mijas Costa area can you please let me know because I need to find one. Thanks

Replied by e-mail. You are welcome.

rojoybago says:

Good morning Raymundo, Once again thanks for all your posts; you really a source of reliable information for us “guiris” – I guess lots of people are looking forward to seeing your offices here on the Costas (why just have one?)…One of your USP’s is your perfect command of English. Most lawyers here can speak English but that’s it – anything else is lost in translation!! especially written stuff :(.

I’ve a question, I’m going to apply for my ATR number soon but have a so called iilegal flat in Marbella. How on earth will they know that it’s illegal (ie no LFO)?; If i look at my “nota simple” it doesn’t make any mention of it?? …. I don’t think they ask for a copy of the 1st occupation licence? –

What do you think?……

Thanks a lot, rojoybago

Hi Rojoybago,

Thank you for your kind words.

The Planning department will know. Not all problems are reflected in a nota simple.

If you cannot attain a LFO you will not be able to register before the ATR. It is one of the Decree’s requirements; in fact, it ranks in first place..

Ulf Norberg says:

Dear Raymundo, Thanks a lot for all the answers in this urgent topic!

Above, you have written:

“Landlords that own three or more properties, personally or through corporate structures, each located within a radius of 1 km from the reception office in the same unit (i.e. building, urbanization, condominium) will be excluded from this new decree (this is very bad news). They will be subject to the much harsher Decree 194/2010 (Apartamentos Turísticos) which basically equates these properties to a hotel. This has very serious restrictions on use i.e. landlords cannot use the property themselves for more than two months a year, they must cede the management of the units to a professional company for a minimum period of ten years etc.”

In my case, I own myself two properties, even if they both are on the very same title deeds. It is two separate apartements! I do all the lettings by myself and I manage the rental also for one more property in the very same urbanisation. This last property in not owned by mee, it is owend by friends!

So I interprets the law text, so it is just if you OWN the properties! Which means that I will not go under the Decree 194/2010 (Apartamentos Turísticos)!

But I am not 100% sure? Best Regards Ulf

It is unclear. It can be argued both ways. It is not just the ownership, it is the unity of management. The law says that if three or more units are managed by the same it is excluded from the above decree and ruled by Decree 194/2010. So no, it is not just the ownership.

In any case I advise you to stick with the above decree which is more favourable to you.

Afternoon Jane Coles,

The format of the registration form for the Guardia Civil is standardized by law.

You can print it off from this link:

losaltos says:

Hi Raymundo,

Came across your blog on this new law in Andalucía iro new regulation of the holiday rental market. Firstly thanks a lot for your interaction on this. Very helpful and worthwhile !

I refer specifically to your chat with Jane Coles above iro the form to be completed to Guardia Civil and/or Policia Nacional. Got the form now thanks. Next challenge, how does one get this via email/ internet to one or other of the above ?

After trying to use my Spanish digital signature to register online, I mailed Administrador de Hospederías at [email protected] and got the reply below. If I try and do this on the police web site there is not even an option to register there just a user login page.

any ideas ? thanks from Jon McKenna ( resident Johannesburg, South Africa but owner of property in La Quinta since 2008)

Buenos días Este servicio no está incluido en la Sede Electrónica no siendo posible su registro telemático en Guardia Civil. No obstante la dirección https://webpol.policia.es/e-hotel/usuario/redirect.action es de Policía Nacional, y ellos tiene sus propios recursos. Si su establecimiento está en demarcación de P.Nacional contacte con ellos. Atentamente

I believe can’t register online, you must go physically to one of their HQs and sort it out the first time.

You can choose from either the Guardia Civil or Police as per my article. Once you are registered with them you can send them this info (the Registration form) by email.

The reply you got is telling you to contact the Police and register with them so you can forward them the Registration forms.

You are welcome.

thanks Raymundo, much appreciated.

thanks for the feedback Raymundo.

Afternoon Peter Gillam,

That is not for me to say. Only an architect (or technical architect) can advise on whether your property is compliant or not with current dissability access regulations at both national and regional level.

Morning Ossie Correa,

The ATRs registration form is a seven page document as I mention above, yes.

Jazzy says:

Morning Raymundo,

I have a question regarding the disability access requirement. We are just about to get air-conditioning installed in order to comply with the new decree but am now questioning whether we will ever be compliant. Our house was built before the LFO so understand from what I’ve read here (amazing the amount of time you have put in to answering all our questions) that we will need to obtain a cédula de habitabilidad from our town hall. Our house is up a small flight of steps and is spread (like most houses) over two floors, there is no way we could be classed as accessible. So does this mean we will never be issued with the all important cédula de habitabilidad?? In which case we will give up on the expensive purchase of air-conditioning which we personally are not bothered about. Many thanks.

Afternoon Jazzy,

That is not really for me to say. It would be a technical architect who can confirm on whether you qualify or not for what is known as a cedula de ocupacion (LFO) which includsz the study of disability access compliance.

If you are in the region of Malaga I can provide you with contact details of a company that can request this document and advise you on the disability access.

Thank you Raymundo We live in Benahavis, so If you could pass on the details of the company who could advise me on disability access compliance that would be very useful and kind.

Replied by SPIs private messaging.

Kirsten says:

Hello Raymundo and thank you for your enormous effort for those foreigners who are lucky enough to own a small piece of Spain and unlucky enough to get trapped by this new legislation. If I’ve understood you correctly, there are only two ways of getting the license to rent out one’s apartment. One is to do it on the internet, and for that you need a Spanish digital signature. The other option – for me the only one, as I do not have that signature – is to turn up in person at the local junta, in my case in Malaga. I have tried to call them several times to ask if this is possible before the 12th of May, and they promise to put me on to somebody who speaks English – and then the connection is lost. Do you know the answer? I am only in Spain for a few days, so this is rather urgent. One other thing: We actually have proof that a cedula was applied for for the building in 1974; is this sufficient? And lastly, our building is accessible for handicappede, but they would find it difficult to make use of the bathroom. Is this a problem in relation to obtaining the license and retning out? Thank you very much for considering my questions. Best wishes Kirsten

Afternoon Kirsten,

I am afraid it is not possible to register before the 11th of May 2016 as I highlight in my article above. As from that date onwards you won’t have a problem with registration.

Licence of First Occupation did not exist back in the 70s, sorry. If your building is from that decade you must attain a cedula de ocupacion (another name for what is basically a LFO) from your town hall’s planning department. You will need a technical architect to achieve this. Among other issues he will verify your property is compliant with current disability access laws.

I don’t think they can turn down your rental application because of your bathroom.

Hope that clarifies Kirsten. You are welcome.

2rista says:

Good evening Raymundo,

I’ve been following this thread with great interest and have found your information clear and interesting. I’m feeling frustrated at not being able to register before May12th and am trying to get ahead with other matters. Just two questions: can I register with the police before submitting my Declaración Responsable? And where does one acquire Hojas de Reclamaciones? Can I do that before registering? With thanks in advance,

Sorry, your name deleted itself! I had written “Good evening, Raymundo,”!

Good lord, my name autodeleting iteself; that’s a first-timer. I tell you my name has a life of its own!

Thank you for your kind words 2rista.

Addressing your queries:

1. Yes, you must wait until the 11th of May to register before the ATR. 2. You may start now contacting the National Police to register with them. No need to wait till May. 3. A complaints book can be acquired online, for example, from here:

http://www.hojasdereclamaciones.com/

Hope that helps 2rista. You are welcome.

Thanks very much, Raymundo. At least I can get ahead with something now!

Figaro says:

Good morning Raymundo and what I have seen so far you are doing an excellent job in de-mystifying the new rental legislation. I have just joined your group and would like your answer to the following. I have a few rentals for this summer arranged through an agency in Spain and obviously booked before the deadline. I don’t plan to register after 11th May as I no longer wish to take anymore holiday lets. Can I honour these rentals as they were arranged before 11th May or should I tell the Agency to cancel the bookings and to re-let elsewhere? You have probably answered this in previous posts but as I am a new member to your group I would appreciate if you could clear this up for me? Regards, Brian

You can still honour them, yes.

The law expressly says that prior commitments/bookings will be respected.

Thank you Raymundo. Please let me know when you move to Marbella.

SarahB says:

Hi Raymudo, Thank you for this useful information. I read in El Mundo that “De esta manera quedan fuera de la regulación específica para usos turísticos, los alquileres de apartamentos en la playa, que seguirán sujetos a la Ley de Arrendamiento Urbano como hasta la fecha debido a que la inmensa mayoría de estas viviendas no están disponibles para su alquiler durante todo el año.” I assumed therefore that I wouldn’t have to register my house on the coast where I live some months of the year but rent out during the summer. What is the situation in this case? Sarah,

Morning Sarah,

I don´t really understand your question. The vast majority of private holiday rentals will be located on the coast, close to the beach. It would seem you are implying they are exempt from the above regulation? I am probably misunderstanding you.

The only four exceptions to this regulation are clearly laid out in my article above: rural propeties (subject to their own decree), rentals that exceed two months with the same tenant (subject to the LAU or Spain’s Tenancy Act), apartamentos turisticos (subject likewise to their own decree) and properties lent to friends or family without exchange of money (doesn’t need any regulation).

If your property is not one of the above four types, you must register if you plan to rent out on a short-term basis following a bookings/reservation system.

The article you are referring to was published before this law was passed. I analyse the law, the facts. I cannot comment on newspaper articles, sorry.

The article probably refers to the ‘alquileres o arrendamientos de temporada’ which are regulated by the LAU. I suggest you read my article on the matter:

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/2016/05/13/urban-rental-law-spain-tenancy-agreements-ley-de-arrendamientos-urbanos-lau/

I trust that clarifies the matter.

You are welcome Sarah.

Regarding the question of exeptions to the regulation, I’d like to refer to what I posted (on May 18) further up in reply to your reply to me of April 20, but which you probably haven’t seen:

“Hello, Raymundo

Thank you for all the great information on this site.

I am now in the position to repay your kindness to some small extent – or maybe to sow further confusion into the minds of the readers.

In a meeting yesterdauy in Nerja where some “delegate” from the andalucian “junta” participated, a participant who has reported to me gor the following impression:

1) The law only applies only to those who rent out through agents or on internet-pages where bookings can be made.

2) In Nerja -as it is supposed to be the case already in Malaga – the municipality will supply apartments and houses with sufficient documentation on the basis of a declaration from a specialist made on a specific formula that the municipality will set up

3) Old cedulas de habitabilidad for whole apartment-blocks will not be accepted, because the documentation needs to relate to the individual apartment.

Do you have any comments? I am particularly surprised by the bit about the scope of the law.. Also I thought that an LFO would be issued for the whole apartment block as well.”

As far as the question of apartments not being rented out on the internet etc. is concerned, I’d like to add that I’ve had the report of what was said at the meeting from a realestate agent who is perfectly aware that I’ve come to read the legislation differently, so I’m sure that he listened carefully.

Best regards J

Apologies for my belated reply.

You are right, I hadn’t seen your previous post. I tend to get a bit lost when my threads reach hundreds of queries like this one.

Regarding your first query, let me just say I refuse to comment on hearsay. In my articles I analyse the law, the facts.

The Decree has admittedly a few grey areas which are open to interpretation. I say so as much in my article. Only time will tell exactly how these unfold and how they must be construed.

My understanding of the Decree is that if you rent out to tourists on a short-term basis you must comply with this Decree. The law states that if you use a website to do bookings this will be presumed or taken for granted.

The law establishes clearly only four exceptions to its application which I have highlighted a number of times already including the query right before yours.

I honestly think you are chancing it if you rent out to tourists and only because you are not using a website you may think you are off the hook and there is no need for you to comply with its terms. The Decree clearly says that if you do not charge money you do not need to comply. So it can be surmised that if you effectively charge for a short-term rental you must comply with its terms. Also take note the Decree expressly rules that rentals with the same tennat exceeding two months fall out of its scope (and fall under the remit of the LAU). You can read a detailed article of mine on the matter here:

As for Nerja, I cannot comment. Each town hall will see what it does fit to comply with their part.

As for LFO, I get where they are coming from. In blocks or community of owners the town halls gave LFOs for whole blocks, not individually. It is logical the Administration requires and individualised LFO from landlords. More paperwork and red tape, granted, but on the bright side it adds more legal security.

spencer says:

Hi Raymundo

Excellent article! I’m sorry if I’ve missed this, (I’ve read through the article and the comments).

Please can you confirm: I rent long term, a city apartment (from a landlord) – it has a large spare room that I want to rent out to tourists using air b and b etc. Does this new law apply to me as living in the apartment and letting out just ONE room?

with thanks in advance, regards Spencer

Hi Spencer,

Yes, it applies to you.

The relation you and your own landlord have is obviously excluded as you are a long term tenant and fall under the remit of the LAU.

However, on renting out a single room on a short-term basis using a website to allow bookings, you become a landlord. And consequently fall under the scope of this new Decree.

This new law expressly contemplates the possibility of renting out single rooms.

Hope that clarifies Spencer.

Thank you Raymundo for yet another reply that makes sense. I am very impressed by your efforts here. We are going to comply with the regulation, now that the town hall is giving us the opportunity to do so. Your interpretation seems reasonable to me as a lawyer, and regardless of the interpretation, it will mean that we will have the option of renting out on the net or through an agent if we decide to in the future. I just know that some people will think that we are crazy to go to that expense and bother if it is not absolutely certain that we need to.register. The bright side of this is that the town halls seem to be able to find solutions to the problems arising out of the regulation, solutions that the junta accepts, and that the owners sholuld be able to live with. That was why I mentioned the Nerja approach here. Have a nice day. Best regards Jens

You are welcome Jens.

Also let me just add that a house that already has a rental licence is of a higher value than one that is not as it stands to logic.

There is no telling what the future may bring. As it turns out in Barcelona and Balears for example they have become very restrictive issuing new rental licences. In fact, in Barcelona there is a moratorium on all new licences which has greatly appreciated existing licences even fueling speculation as they are sought after.

paulb says:

Very good article Raymundo – Thank You. It seems the hoteliers have some very good friends within the Junta as, not only are the requirements a bureaucratic & costly nightmare, but they effectively require, cheap, simple holiday accommodation to have similar standards to a 4/5 star hotel.

So, how does this scenario work? We have a small, 2 bedroom linked villa that, if we are lucky, is rented out for maybe 7-8 weeks a year. The standard of accommodation is clearly stated on our website & those who rent it know it has ceiling fans, but no aircon. We have, since becoming residents, submitted our rental income to the hacienda, along with other earnings, interest, etc, but as a result of the amount we spend each year on our property, we pay no tax. As such, there is no financial gain, so surely we should be exempt from registering, etc on that count alone?

Alternatively, & this is something I’ve suggested to our Financial ‘Guru’, we also make homemade jams, marmalade’s, relish, etc, which we sell at craft fairs. Maybe we advertise our property as free accommodation whenever a jar or two of our ‘Special Edition’ Jam or Pickle is purchased at a suitably inflated price? So, no rent, so no financial gain, surely? Funnily enough, Financial ‘Guru’; she says go for it & can see no reason why not…………. but I’d be interested in further comment on this one!

Once again, Great article & would be interested in your feedback.

Whilst I am no financial guru, much less a law guru, my advice to you is that you must register.

Making a profit or a loss is not contemplated in this Decree and it is certainly not a factor that is taken into account on registering. That is something that must be sorted out between yourself and the Tax Office. I already criticized the futility in demanding from small-time landlords the same hotel requirements as that of pricey lodgings. I think the client profile that seek rental ads in AirBnb is clearly not the same as those who book three or four star hotels. But to each his own.

The Junta seeks that landlords such as yourself offer potential lodgers ‘blue ribbon’ standards and for that you must register before the ATR and comply with its terms.

Refusing to register is of course your prerrogative, but then, as highlighted in the article itself, you may face the prospect of a humongous fine as a result (up to €18,000).

Hope that helps Paul.

Thank you for your very prompt response.

I would, however, just like to pursue the suggestion that I offer our property free of charge. No rental at all, as a thank you to people who purchase another service, or product from me, such as a suitably priced limited edition item perhaps?. Is this a viable suggestion, or does this law expressly prevent this scenario?

Apologies for labouring this, but we already lose money renting our property out & to be honest, I can lose money just by staying in bed! To conform with this outrageous ‘sledgehammer to crack a nut’ law would bankrupt us. We are in Almeria Province &, as such, most of our renters are Spanish citizens who want the cheapest deal they cab get & are happy to have ceiling fans rather than aircon. I genuinely see us having to try to sell the property if that is possible in today’s climate.

Cheers, PaulB

If you offer it free of chage you are exempt from this Decree.

I recently asked you:

“Please can you confirm: I rent long term, a city apartment (from a landlord) – it has a large spare room that I want to rent out to tourists using air b and b etc. Does this new law apply to me as living in the apartment and letting out just ONE room?”

You kindly replied:

“Yes, it applies to you.

This new law expressly contemplates the possibility of renting out single rooms.”

However, today I have been speaking to a friend who has visited his local CONSEJERÍA DE TURISMO, and they have told him – “as a tenant you cannot rent per room. Only the full property.” He has told me that to be a landlord one has to own the property.

This is contrary to what I and you have been led to believe.

If this is correct, then as a renting tenant, I can only rent out the whole apartment, and would not be allowed to live there whilst I do so.

Is there a way for us to clear up this confusion.

With thanks in advance

kind regards, Spencer

As written, a tenant can sublet rooms unless his landlord forbids it in the Tenancy agreement. I have a whole article written on the law that allows it (LAU):

There is no confusion.

If you are referring to the Decree above I expressly write in my article the following:

“Rental Types

Properties can be let as a whole or else by rooms (like in a Guest House).

If it’s the whole property that is being rented out, no more than 15 lodgers will be allowed simultaneously at any time (think of a large villa).

If the property is being rented out by rooms, it is mandatory the landlord lives in the property himself . No more than 6 vacancies can be offered and each individual room cannot exceed four lodgers.”

If a landlord does not live in the property himself, single rooms cannot be rented out. This wording comes straight out of the Decree. So evidently single rooms can be rented out short-term using AirBnb or whatever providing the landlord lives in the property.

Thanks for your reply. The part I am confused with is this:

As I said I am in a rented apartment with a spare room, that I want to rent out. My landlord lives at a different address/building. So when you say: “single rooms can be rented out short-term using AirBnb or whatever providing the landlord lives in the property.”

– does ‘Landlord’ implicitly mean my Landlord or can it also mean me, as the person who will issue the invoice to the airbnb guest?

If it does implicitly mean MY landlord then obviously the decree says that I cannot rent my spare room, as he does not live in my apartment with me. I trust you can now see my confusion.

Kind regards, Spencer

Sublets are legally admitted; however the Decree specifies that it must be the property owner (that is your landlord presumably) that must dwell in the property in order to rent out single rooms.

In your case, you are barred from renting out a spare room as although your are a landlord (on subletting) you are not the property owner as this Decree requires, sorry.

“Artículo 5. Tipos.

1. Las viviendas con fines turísticos podrán ser:

a) Completas, cuando la vivienda se cede en su totalidad.

b) Por habitaciones, debiendo la persona propietaria residir en ella . En estos casos, podrán utilizar las denominaciones internacionalmente reconocidas para este tipo de alojamiento.”

I hope that clarifies.

Thanks for the reply and the clarification, that basically puts an end to my plans and lot of other people’s too!

I really feel for people that make ends meet by renting one room. Yet again the people’s liberty and opportunities are being squeezed. When will the ‘powers at be’ recognise that giving power to the people gives power to the country.

best, Spencer

You are welcome Spencer.

My stance has always been clear regarding these holidays rental laws; I am against this type of regulation as it restricts and stifles competition artificially raising prices in benefit of a few creating an oligopoly. Which I find unacceptable in a free market economy.

Your case is a perfect example. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

mi casa says:

Hello Raymundo, Thank you for all the advice you have posted. It is appreciated. We purchased an off plan property directly from a builder in 2003 in the rural area above Frigiliana. We naively used the same solicitor as the builder. The builder did not finish the property and we paid another builder to complete, our solicitor advising us to hold back the last payment to cover this cost, which we have. Our villa was to be part of an urbanization but the builder has left one villa adjacent to us partly built and any others not started. As things stand, we have no catastral number and have to rely on the builder to charge us for utilities which is unsatisfactory. Our solicitors tried to get all the required documents in our own names but the local authority in Frigiliana continually refused mainly, we believe, because the urbanization was not completed. Our solicitors declared they could do no more 2 years ago. As things stand, our savings are tied up in the house and we believe the villa is ours but we cannot sell it. Equally we cannot let it because we cannot get any of the necessary documents required for rural letting We had originally intended to live at the house but the whole experience left us disillusioned and we are based in the UK. Can you suggest anything at all that may be of assistance?

Best regards Paul

Hello Raymundo,

Thank you for all your excellent information. I did write to you 17 June but do not seem to be able to locate a response. I would like to take the matter up further and wonder can I contact you directly to discuss it. Kind regards Mi Casa

Morning Paul,

Your query is unrelated to the article at hand. Normally it would go unanswered because I want to avoid people hijacking threads to ask unrelated queries as it creates much too confusion.

Your legal situation is very sticky and I see no easy way out.

Your best bet would be to go down the path of an AFO. More on this in the following article:

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/2016/02/29/regularisation-of-illegal-property-by-the-andalusian-regional-government/

Additionally you could group with other individual houses to attain a LFO. This has worked in the past. More on LFO:

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/legal/licence-of-first-occupation-explained/

The lawyers you used, were they the ones recommended to you by the developers?

Good morning Raymundo,

Thank you for your response. I am looking through the articles you have kindly highlighted.

Yes, the lawyers were those recommended by the developers.

You are welcome Paul.

Lawyers acting on behalf of a developer will normally serve his interests only. After all, it is him who pays them.

In general, It is highly unadvisable to retain the same lawyers used by a developer as at times buyer’s and seller’s (developer) interests are at odds. Legal independence is key to safeguard a buyer’s interests. Lawyers acting for both sides will frequently have a conflict of interests.

I hope the articles help you out on your matter.

Flamingo says:

I have followed your very informative article with great interest since and thank you for your clear descriptions and answers. I would now like to pose a question if I may.

We have a rural property which we would like to rent to holiday makers, it has been confirmed that we are rural but it seems that a stumbling block in obtaining a rural licence might be that we are horizontally divided.

Would this stop us from getting a rural rental licence.

Thank you in anticipation of your response.

Kind regards

Hi Stephen,

As written in my article, rural property is expressly excluded from the scope of this Decree.

I have written a specific article on renting out rural property (in Andalusia):

http://www.spanishpropertyinsight.com/2016/04/08/decree-202002-andalusias-holiday-rural-rental-decree/

The above article classifies different types of rural lettings. I don’t know which type yours belongs to, sorry.

Also I am not aware of the term ‘rural rental licence’. Can you cast some light on it, please? The short-term rental licence I describe in the article above that kicks off this thread refers only to urban (residential) property; not to rural land such as yours.

When you speak of horizontal division are you referring to the Spanish term ‘division horizontal’. You cannot rent out (legally) any property which lacks a horizontal division if it is indeed required (as not all property requires it), rural or not.

Hope that clarifies.

Thank you Raymundo,

We are a Casa Rural with ‘ Parcela construida sin division horizontal’ noted on the land registry which I guess excludes us from renting.

I guess it does exclude, yes. You are welcome.

More on rural rentals in Andalusia in my specifc article:

Hope you are well.

We previously communicated on this blog about the new rental law. Thanks for this because I our apartment is now registered with Junta Andalucia !!

I was not sure whether you have created a “Brexit” blog so apologise in advance if I my post below is in the wring place.

I am a dual British / South African citizen, currently resident in Johannesburg, S. Africa. I have owned our apartment in La Quinta, Costa del Sol for eight years now. I have a Spanish NIE number, pay AEAT Impuesto, IBI etc etc… I do not yet have a tarjeta de residencia as I have never thought this to be necessary, as I rent out our apartment (as you already know) ie only spend about one month year in Spain,

I have heard from other sources that the Spanish government is going to implement changes with regard to residency for UK citizens now that UK has voted to leave the EU. ie before the UK actually leaves the EU.

so my questions are :

1. Have these changes been implemented yet ? If so what is going to change while Britain is still in the EU for at least another 2 years.

2. Do you think it would be in my best interests to take out full Spanish residency to protect my interests in Spain ( post Brexit) ?

3. Do you think that it may be better ( from now on) to use my South African citizenship in my dealings with the Spanish authorities, bearing in mind the complexities that are now bound to arise in negotiations between Britain and Spain ?

is life not complicated enough !!

saludos Jon McKenna

Morning Jon,

I’m glad you could register your holiday rental in Andalusia.

Regarding your queries:

1. It is too early yet for these changes. They will not take place until a couple of years. 2. Taking up Spanish residency will be an advantage, yes. Many of these tax allowances which are now available to non-residents will be scrapped. 3. I do not see the advantage in using a South African nationality.

thanks Raymundo ! have a great evening

You too & you are welcome.

Sharon3010 says:

Can you confirm which rooms require external ventilation? Does this apply to bathrooms and kitchen? if so how does this work for apartments town houses, where often there are no bathroom or kitchen Windows?

Afternoon Sharon

Article 6b specifies that all rooms which purpose is to be used as accomodation require external ventilation. It doesn’t specify toilets or kitchens.

The exception are buildings catalogued as of historic interest.

b) Las habitaciones tendrán ventilación directa al exterior o a patios y algún sistema de oscurecimiento de las ventanas. Este requisito no será exigible cuando la vivienda o el edificio en el que se integra esté catalogado como Bien de Interés Cultural y el nivel de protección impida realizar algún tipo de obra, modificación o intervención que sea necesaria para cumplir con el requisito.

JohnHarrison says:

Hi Raymundo I took my application to the Junta in Malaga in July and was told that I could begin renting my property. I have not yet received a registration number …should I have been sent one by now? Anyway my main question concerns Air Con as my house is in the beautiful whitewashed village of Frigiliana and I am reluctant to install AC units. I understand that if I had a put on my application that it was a ‘Casa Rurale’ (instead of Casa vacacional’) I would not have to meet the requirement to install AC. Would I be able to amend my application? Your information has been very helpful by the way.

Many thanks

Thank youf or your kind words.

Regarding your first query, the registration numbers are taking long to be handed over. August was a holiday month for most people in Spain. The Junta has received thousands of applications for this new law since May. So they are probably snowed under work with a huge backlog.

Regarding your second query, casas rurales do not need AC units, correct.

However it is not a matter of choice, as the option on registering for one or the other hinges on the land classification of your property. If your property is classified as urban, you must meet the above mentioned requirements of Decree 28/2016. If your property on the other hand is classified as rural, you must comply with the terms laid out by this other article of mine, Decree 20/2002:

You cannot ‘jump ship’ at your choice.

I hope that answers your query.

Angus says:

I know it has been a while since the last post on this thread so hope you are still there! Your advice has been brilliant and I have read as much as I can, not sure how you keep your patience with all those questions, including mine.

The issue that I am not sure has been completely clarified (either because I haven’t seen it answered – sorry – or maybe because it is not possible!), is around the subject of how you can get an LFO if you live in a pre-2000 block of apartments and the Community of Owners is not concerned about it as most of the residents are Spanish and don’t rent out. I live in Torre del Mar which is full of older tower blocks and I’m in one of them, where the 36 apts are almost all Spanish-owned and permanent residents., so my questions are: – Do we know yet if the LFO has to be acquired for the whole building or can an individual get one just for them? – If for the whole building, does everyone in the community have to agree (and pay!) or can one person apply a veto? – Does an inspector then have to visit every apartment? – And if one of those apartments is in a poor state of repair does that mean the whole building can’t have an LFO?

I spoke to my agent and she had no idea and advised that most people in the town who rented were probably either not aware of the ruling or were trying to find ways around it because this first hurdle of getting an LFO for apartment blocks is so unclear. I have also written to my Community but they have not replied. So do you know if this aspect has been clarified at all or have there been any experiences that others have gone through successfully in this situation? It all seems very not-thought-through at the moment…..

Morning Angus,

I´m still replying to articles posted by me over a decade ago, so an article like this one from 2016 is ‘new-ish’.

Regarding your plight, this is precisely why I introduced my article above writing that this new regulation is not thought with consumer’s bets interests in mind but rather those of the hotel industry. In your case your Community of Owners would need to apply collectively for a copy of a LFO. Barring that you need to contact your town hall for a solution i.e. alternative document ( cedula de ocupacion ). There is no straightforward solution to your matter as it’s an old property that was likely built before LFO were mandatory.

In practice, most people in your situation would either not register to avoid the red tape and added expenses (in which case you are doing so illegally facing the prospect of fines) or else throw the towel which would play into the hands of the hotel industry.

Thank you for your swift reply, Raymundo, and as I feared the situation is not good as I cannot believe that my Community of Owners would want to collectively apply for an LFO so it looks like I will need to liaise directly with the Town Hall as you suggest and see if there are any options they would be happy with. If there aren’t, I may have to very reluctantly sell up.

Meanwhile there are big ‘for rent’ signs on the balconies of almost every old tower block here, most of them with no air-conditioning, so it is clear that the new law is being flouted all over the place!

Your point about the hotel industry is well made, this week’s papers reporting that “numbers from outside Spain staying in hotels in 2016 increased by 11.5 per cent”. This might be great for the hotel bosses whose lobbying has paid off, but if this ham-fisted law is applied to the letter and this prevents people like me from renting out, the authorities may stop celebrating when they realise that there is a corresponding (or higher) fall in numbers renting and overall tourism spend is decreasing. We shall see…..

Indeed, I am well aware the law is being flouted.

But it is worse than you write in my opinion. Not only will the numbers fall on renting out property but as a result many British (and other nationals) will sell up and move abroad. It is with good reason I introduced my article with the news that this law, along with other unfortunate ones I list, are driving Brits away from Spain. Sure the number of tourists will remain high, but I am talking of foreigners who buy property and decide to settle down in Spain. It is these that are dwindling.

Spanish Authorities should sit down and think long and hard on the adverse effects these laws are having on our highest foreign contingent: British. As I write in my article, if Spain’s economy were diversified, the loss of foreigners would not be a big deal. But as it happens, Spain is overeliant in its Tourism and and construction industry.

Only last week Spanish newspaper El Sur reported a sharp drop in British citizens in Malaga province year-on-year (5,000 to be exact, the real figure could in fact be much higher as British normally do not register themselves in the local census).

http://www.surinenglish.com/local/201701/27/british-costa-exodus-continues-20170127100604-v.html

For me this news is extremely concerning as the local economy stagnates as a result. Brexit, a low pound, global political instability do not help either of course. But Spanish Authorities (both at a national and regional level) would do well in not adding more fuel to the fire and should (strongly) incentivate (i.e. lowering taxes, cutting red tape) that British and other nationals buy property in Spain and establish themselves here.

A year later from publishing my article we can see that the outcome I predicted in my article’s introduction is sadly becoming a reality. I wish I were wrong but again I stress this law (and others) were not passed with consumer’s best interests in mind. That is why I end the article with my phrase:

“ Politics: the art of creating new problems where none existed. ”

Your phrase about politics is spot on, I like it. I have another phrase I used to use in the office with my team: “Keep it simple, make it work”. It is a shame these new regulations were not tested against that mantra; the world would be a better place if officialdom did not try to over-complicate things whilst simultaneously failing to understand the impact of their initiatives. Yes, they needed to crack the nut, but they have certainly used a sledgehammer to do so.

You are also completely right about Brits already leaving Spain for various reasons, and this license situation won’t help. I really love living down here, I couldn’t be happier, but my apartment and life down here was to be funded by rental income. If I can’t do that, then I may have to join the exodus. That means I won’t be here spending my money in all the local shops – perhaps I will be spending it in Portugal instead. Such a shame!

Kathy says:

Hi Raymundo, can you please either direct me to an article or give me the main points of the law covering an owner with 3 or more properties. We currently have two which comply with the new decree but we are thinking of buying a third that is within a km of the other two. We live nearby and manage them ourselves.

Morning Kathy,

Following what you write, three or more properties within one km radius from the main office would fall under the remit of Decree 194/2010 (apartamentos turisticos). You can find the wording (and requirements) of this law in Spanish here (only for the region of Andalusia):

http://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2010/90/3

I take it you are not asking me to give you a ‘brief’ rundown of the points, are you?

Johnno0611 says:

I am not sure whether this Article is still current, but I am trying to establish whether there is a period during which we can provide B&B without the Licence. I seem to remember that lets up to three months are exempt but U cannot find that reference now, although I understand the Junta has moved the goal posts several times during the process.

Comments are closed.

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Registration Form in English for new Holiday Home Rental Law in Andalusia

Due to popular demand, we have created a guide in English to filling out the registration form - the "responsible declaration" to register a property in the Andalusia Tourism Register ( Registro de Turismo de Andalucia ) 

To recap from our previous article on the new Law affecting holiday home rentals , the Decree 28/2016 comes into effect on 12th May 2016.

ALL properties that are rented out for short term holiday rentals, as per the terms outlined in the Decree, must be registered in the Andalusia Tourism Register referred to as the RTA

How to Register

This form must be filled out either to start rental activity or to make modifications to the registration such as data relating to their classification, companies and establishments.

The presentation of the declaration of responsibility will be sufficient to register in the RTA and entitle the property owner to rent out the property for holiday rentals without prejudice.

There are essentially 2 ways to register:

• Online registration 
• In person 
• By post mail

1. Online Registration (with digital certificate)

The online version of this form 002057/4/A05DR “ Declaración responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad ” is available in the Virtual Office of the Junta de Andalucia

To complete the entire registration process online, you will need a digital certificate issued by the Junta de Andalucia . Further information is available here on digital certificates  in Spanish.

2. Registering in Person

Without a digital certificate, the only option is to present the registration form in person, either by the property owner, or your legally authorised representative, at the Department of Tourism (addresses below)

You can either choose to submit it in person in any of the Department of Tourism or by sending it using postal mail.

To gain access to the online version , input your NIF/CIF/NIE.  Thankfully, there is a save feature to this 7 page form so you can partially complete it and return to it by re-logging in with your NIF/CIF/NIE.

Once you complete your Declaracion Responsable, you will be able to print it and submit your application. The CTC Number of Registration will be automatically generated and it could be used as a provisional Registration Number until the Junta approves your licence.

Remember to print two copies , one for the authorities (or to send it using your nearest post office) and the other for your own. If you choose to send it by postal mail, don't close the envelope until you arrive at the office as they have to stamp both copies of the form to state the date when you are sending your application form.

The completed document should be presented at any Department of Tourism ( Consejeria de Turismo ) at the “ Direccion General de Calidad, Innovacion y Fomento del Turismo ”. The addresses for each municipality are at the end of this article.

The form must be filled out in Spanish.  The English guide is only orientative.

The registration process does not require a lawyer however, as with all legal matters, it is recommended that you consult with a lawyer or gestor.

The timeframe for the Junta de Andalucia to process the form and issue the Registration Number is two weeks .  However, you may begin rental activity from the moment you present the form to the Junta.

Although it is possible to fill out and present the declaration of responsibility before 12th May 2016, it is unclear at the time of writing whether registrations will be processed before that date or, more than likely, after that date.

Of particular interest

There are 2 points of particular interest that are worth pointing out:-

1. The Decree in its original Spanish version makes reference to the "entidad explotadora" which seemed to be causing some misunderstanding to what it means exactly in Spanish, as well as being difficult to translate into English.  

We have contacted the Junta de Andalucia and can clarify the following:-

• The "entidad explotadora" would translate into the "Operator" in English which is a little vague.
• It actually refers to the company or individual who invoices  for the services provided, in this instance, the rental of a holiday home
• If a property owner rents out his/her property directly to the holidaymaker and invoices them, then he/she is classed as the "Entidad Explotadora" - the Operator
• If the property is managed by a rental management company and they invoice the holidaymaker, then in this instance the rental management company would be considered the "Operator"
• The "Operator" therefore does not automatically refer to the property/rental management company that is the key holder and point of contact in Spain.
• This point is important since the Law states that 3 or more properties of the same owner or operator that are located in the same building or urbanisation are exempt from this Law regarding holiday home rentals and are instead regulated by the Law 194/2010 regarding "tourist apartments"

2. The second point of particular interest refers to Section 4 on page 3 of the form.  

This section refers to the type of tourism activity relating to the property and offers two choices - renting out the entire property or room only. 

• The online version of the form only allows you to choose one option.  Therefore, this would suggest that you must choose to rent out the entire property OR by room only but CANNOT choose to offer the property for holiday rental for both options.
• On this point, it is worth referring back to Article 5.1.b of the Law 28/2016 which states the owner must reside in the property if it is rented out by room only.

Andalusia Tourism Register form for Holiday Rental Properties IN ENGLISH

Departments of Tourism in Andalusia

Alquiler turístico en Andalucía: requisitos y documentos necesarios

If you are thinking of renting your property this summer for tourism purposes or even buying a flat for holiday rental, it is important to know what are the requirements and documents needed for tourist rental dwellings in Andalusia .

At Ódice Abogados we will help and guide you through the process of registering your property in the Register of Tourist Apartments in Andalusia for so, prevent you from breaking the rules and being sanctioned.

Andalusia Tourist Apartments Register

The application for a holiday rental licence or the registration of the property in the tourist flat register will be two of the most important aspects of legalising your holiday flat. 

In Andalusia, you will be able to do this by room -the owner must reside in it-, or by complete unit -if it is transferred in its entirety-. To do this, you must make sure that the property in question has cédula de habitabilidad or licence of first occupation.

In the same way, the Junta de Andalucía requires, among other requirements that we will see below:

• To have the licence of first occupation or certificate of occupancy.
• Formalise a responsible declaration.
• Register the property in the Andalusian Tourism Register.

Applying for a first occupancy licence in Andalusia

This document - issued by the City Council - certifies that the dwelling complies with the habitability requirements and has been built or refurbished according to the technical aspects set out in a previously approved execution project; therefore, it must be requested once the works have been completed.

Without this document, you will not be able to carry out the contracting of supplies, nor obtain the tourist licence without which you will not be able to legally register the accommodation.

Formalising the responsible declaration in Andalusia

By means of this document, the owner declares that he/she fulfils the requirements demanded by the regulations for tourist accommodation in Andalusia. In this declaration, both the details of the property (cadastral reference and capacity of the property) and those of the owner must be stated.

Registering the property in the Andalusian Tourism Register

Once the formalisation procedure has been completed and the responsible declaration has been presented to the Andalusian Tourism Register, the dwelling is registered, receiving a Registration code that must be attached to any type of promotion of the dwelling. 

Comprehensive management of registration in the Andalusia Tourist Apartments Register.

At Ódice Abogados, we carry out legal advice in relation to tourist rental in Andalusia and we take care of all the administrative processes necessary to register your property in the Andalusian Tourist Apartments Register. 

Can I rent out my property as a holiday home if I usually live there?

Yes, in this case it would be a dwelling for tourist purposes for rooms.

However, it should be borne in mind that, as provided for in the Department of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Regional Government of Andalusia. -Not all dwellings can be used for tourism purposes, and those that fall into the following categories are excluded:

• Dwellings which, for holiday or tourist purposes, are transferred without financial consideration.
• Housing hired for more than two months continuously counted by the same user.
• The dwellings in rural areas which, if they are intended for tourist accommodation, shall be governed by the provisions of Article 48 of the Law 13/2011 of 23 December and by the Decree 20/2002, of 29 January 2002, on Tourism in the Rural Environment and Active Tourism, and must be constituted as a rural house or as a rural tourist accommodation dwelling (VTAR) and only in the event of not being able to comply with the requirements of these two figures may it be constituted as a dwelling for tourist purposes, with the limitations of not being marketed as rural accommodation.
• The groups consisting of three or more dwellings or flats owned or operated by the same person which are located in the same building or group of adjacent or non-adjacent buildings (within a radius of one kilometre), and are subject to the regulations on tourist flat establishments, regulated in the Decree 194/2010, of 20 April 2010, on tourist flat establishments .

Requirements for tourist dwellings in Andalusia

The requirements for dwellings for tourist rental purposes in Andalusia are defined in Article 6 of the Decree 28/2016 of 2 February 2016 on housing for tourist purposes .

• Licence of first occupation.
• Rooms with outside ventilation or courtyard access.
• Vivienda suficientemente amueblada.
• Cooling and heating in bedrooms and living rooms.
• First aid kit.
• Tourist information.
• Complaints and claims forms, together with a notice board.
• Cleaning on arrival and departure of new customers.
• Bed linen and kitchenware.
• Customer service telephone number.
• Information and instructions for household appliances.
• Informing users of internal rules.
• Comply with accessibility requirements, dimensions of corridors and rooms.
• Register in the Andalusian Tourism Register.

You can complete this information through the Department of Tourism, Regeneration, Justice and Local Administration of the Regional Government of Andalusia. .

Do you need to apply for a Tourist Licence in Andalusia?

The large influx of tourists in Andalusia has made holiday rentals one of the most prosperous business models. However, as we have seen in this article, there are different procedures and fundamental requirements to be able to register your property in the tourist flat registry.

For this reason, we recommend qualified legal advice capable of managing the necessary procedures in compliance with current legislation. At Ódice Abogados, - tourist rental lawyers in Andalusia We, experts in Real Estate Law, will study your case in detail to provide the best solutions.

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TOURIST LICENSE IN ANDALUCIA. REQUIREMENTS AND PROCESS

• 1.0.1 First: What is a “tourist rent activity”? : This is the activity where houses and apartments are rented  and offered for holidays (and not for permanent residence)  using online platforms as Airbnb, Homeaway, Booking, etc.
• 1.0.2 LICENSE FOR TOURIST RENT
• 1.0.3 1.- APARTMENTS THAT ALREDY HAVE “CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION” (Also called “Licencia de Ocupación“) and built “before 1988”.
• 1.0.4 2.- APARTMENTS WHICH DOES NOT HAVE THE “CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION” and they were built “after 1988.

Renting your property for tourist activity  involves a  determinate process.

First: what is a “tourist rent activity” : this is the activity where houses and apartments are rented  and offered for holidays (and not for permanent residence)  using online platforms as airbnb, homeaway, booking, etc..

It’s a property where there are the following conditions:

– When there is a compensation for the use.

– When there is immediate availability of the apartment.

– When the “use” or “destiny” of the apartment is “touristic”

– When it is done on “regular basis“. Regular basis means that you are in  ONE  of the following cases

– When the rent is managed by big touristic operators/companies

– When you publish the property in touristic channels (internet, newspapers, etc).

– When even not being “a company”, you make some of these services: property maintenance and repairing, room service, cleaning apartment, toilets, etc, washing private clothes or apartment equipment (sheets, towels, etc.), luggage custody, etc.

So,  when you are renting your property for “residential” purposes , with medium-long term of families or individuals renting it for “living” and not for “tourism”, then, your property is out from this “touristic property” regulation. “Residential rents” will be regulated by the general law of renting (or “Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos”). So, you will not need to follow these formal requirements of registration, But, as explained below, you will need to declare your rental incomes for Spanish taxes.

LICENSE FOR TOURIST RENT

In order to carry out the tourist rental activity it is necessary to take into account several factors and minimum requirements as the following:

• Direct ventilation to outside  of every room outside (or to patios)  and a type of window darkening system.
• Be sufficiently furnished and equipped with all the necessary devices for immediate use.
• Thermal conditioning by means of fixed elements in the rooms and rooms when: Months from May to September: Refrigeration Months from October to April: Heating
• The apartment must be furnished with first aid kit.
• You need to have tourist information avaliable of the area, leisure areas of tourist interest, services, ways of transport, map of the town and touristic guides.
• The house will have complaint and claim sheets available to all guests.
• Complete cleaning of the house at the entrance and exit of the guests.
• A telephone contact number must be provided to all users so that users can resolve all doubts or incidents that occur.
• Manual sheets and instructions from every devices .

Finally, all users must have the information regarding the internal rules regarding the use of facilities, units and equipment of the house, as well as the admission of pets in the house, restrictions for smokers as well as areas of restricted use, and EMERGENCY PLAN PROCEDURES AND DOCUMENTATION FOR THE LICENSE.

In order to ensure that the house can be used for tourisT purposes, it must have an occupancy license for tourism purposes according to Decree 28 / 22. BOJA No. 28 of 11/02/0216.

To get the “occupancy license for tourist purposes” there are two ways:

1.- APARTMENTS THAT ALREDY HAVE “CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION” (Also called “ Licencia de Ocupación “) and built “before 1988”.

In these cases, the same “Certificate of habitation” is valid to obtain the “Tourist Licence”.

2.- APARTMENTS WHICH DOES NOT HAVE THE “CERTIFICATE OF HABITATION” and they were built “after 1988.

In these cases, the occupancy license for tourist purposes must be requested in the General Registry of the Planning Department at the Town Hall. Required Documentation:

• Application form: 1 copy and 1 original providing the cadastral reference
• Photocopy DNI, NIE or CIF.
• Proof of re-representation if it is a legal person.
• Proof of payment of the corresponding fee.

In this case, the presentation of technical documentation will also be necessary, which is:

• Date of completion of the work
• Description of the state of the building and its facilities.
• Cadastral and registry identification of the property.
• Responsible declaration form of the Technician or other document issued by the official college, according to the Model 14 document of the town planning management of the town hall.

Once the occupancy license for tourist rental  in Andalucia is obtained, Registration in the Tourism Registry of Andalusia is mandatory , in order to perform the provision of housing accommodation service for tourist rental, with all this you must submit a document called “Declaración Responsable”  to the Regional Government responsible for tourism, the content of this document will be:

• Data corresponding to the identification of the house:
• Cadastral reference
• Capacity based on occupancy license
• Data of the owner and address for notifications.
• Identification of the person who will carry out the activity and the title that enables it

Proceso de compra de inmueble Parte 1.-

Proceso sucesorio par 2.-.

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Tourism Registry

Decree 28/2016 about the Tourist Rental Licences in Andalusia.‎

‎Please, bear in mind that, ‎since May 12, 2016, in order to use your property for tourist rental, it must be registered in the Tourist Registry of Andalusia and obtain the registration number that certifies it.

The most important part of the legislation relates to the requirement that all properties that are let for holiday vacations must be inscribed in a Tourism Registry. The Decree provides that inspections will take place and that the owners of any property in which this activity is taking place, and that is not registered, will be liable to a fine of between 2001 € to 18,000 €. Summing up, anyone advertising a property in Andalucía for vacation lettings should register the property in the Tourism Registry immediately to avoid sanctions, unless it is believed that one of the exceptions mentioned in the legislation applies.

‎ Read the information brochure in PDF format (in Spanish). For more information on the procedures, you can consult the following website: ‎ ‎Andalusia Tourism Registry‎

Service offer :‎

‎We remind you that our agency ServiTurismo-Carboneras offers our owners the service of carrying out all the necessary procedures for the registration of their property in the Andalusian Tourism Registry. ‎‎ If you want more information about this service (requirements and prices), please contact us.‎

Request a quote from our agency ServiTurismo-Carboneras ‎ ‎ ‎‎(With the invoice, these are expenses can be deducted from rental income on their Hacienda tax return)‎.

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About licensing your tourist rental property in Andalusia

Last updated on 23 Mar 2024

With tourism being the main driving force of Spain’s economy and many Andalusian regions being some of the most popular tourist hotspots, it comes as no surprise that many property owners on the Costa del Sol decide to venture into holiday rentals industry and let out their houses and apartments to the millions of tourists visiting the area year after year.

Holiday rental of private properties can be a very lucrative business, but as any other industry it comes with its own laws and regulations. Andalusian government had worked on its own regulations aimed at standardising the holiday rental industry to meet the demands of tourists, and in May 2016 a new Decree came into force regulating the properties offered for holiday rentals . It was then further amended in 2018 and again just recently in February 2024. The above regulation addresses different type properties situated on the residential land and offered on a regular basis as tourist accommodation at a fixed price (properties on rural land and 3 or more properties by the same owner within the radius of 1 km fall under a different regulation).

Even with the latest amendments introducing more requirements, the Andalusian law is significantly “softer” and simpler compared to many other regions of Spain (Balearic or Canary islands, Barcelona etc) allowing the activity to anyone who complies with the regulations and is properly registered through submitting the Responsible Declaration. Failure to comply with the law may impact hefty fines starting from 2’000€ and going up to 150’000€ and even closure of the establishment.

To obtain your Tourist Rental license you need to meet a set of requirements.

Paperwork includes Certificate from the Property Registry confirming that tourist rentals are not expressly prohibited by the Community of Owners, and documentation confirming ownership or the right for exploitation. Other documents might be required depending on each individual case.

Your property needs to meet an extensive list of requirements , some of which (not all) are listed below:

-    Strict compliance with the urbanistic requirements of each municipality -    Minimum constructed area of 25m2 and a minimum required area per each accommodation place of 14m2 -    Equipped for cooling and heating -    Adequately furnished and equipped with the set of appliances, fixtures and fittings required for immediate use and according to the number of accommodation places offered. A detailed list of specifications per each room type is published on the Junta de Andalucia website -    First aid kit available in the property -    All guests provided with tourist information about the location, leisure areas, restaurants, grocery stores, closest parking facilities, medical services, transportation, as well as maps of the city and entertainment guides. -    All guests should have at their disposal clear information and instructions on the usage of appliances and installations, as well as internal regulations and restrictions if any 

The operator of the tourist accommodation is obliged to:

-    Provide to all guests a 24-hour contact number to be available on and resolve any incidents -    Have available Claims and Complaints book at guest’s disposal  -    Provide cleaning service on arrival and departure of each new guest -    Sign rental contract with each guest -    Provide guests with all relevant information about the accommodation and the applicable norms

Once you comply with all above you need to register your property by submitting the Responsible Declaration “Declaracion Responsable” in front of the Tourist Board of Andalusia. In this document you declare that you fulfil all above requirements and will be able to prove it during the inspection once it takes place. Once the Declaration is submitted you get your Registry number which is the same as your Tourist License Number and you can legally start the activity of tourist rentals. Don’t forget to include the above Tourist License number in any advertisement of your property. 

Once you have obtained your Tourist License you also need to register your property with the Local Police or Guardia Civil to fulfil your obligation of passing on ID details of each guest over 16 years of age. 

The overall procedure is not complicated and if you have a reasonably good command of Spanish you can attempt to do it yourself. Alternatively, if your tourist rental property is on the Costa del Sol, in the region between Malaga and Marbella and you wish to save yourself time and trouble - let Malaga Expat Consulting help you obtain your rental property Tourist license in a matter of days. 

We can help you along the whole process starting from advising on regulations to getting your Tourist License number and registering you with the Local Police. Get in touch to start the process now and avoid any obstacles in your new business venture on the Costa del Sol!

Andalucia's Home Sharing Registration Process: Frequently Asked Questions

Last updated: 5/15/18

Airbnb is planning to implement a new protocol for accommodation listings in Andalucia that makes it easier for hosts to comply with tourism regulations.

Hosts on Airbnb platform in Andalucia can apply for inclusion of their tourist accommodation registration number or declare exemption from this obligation directly on the Airbnb webpage.

Below are the answers to the most frequently asked questions about the implementation and compliance process.

What does current Andalucian legislation say about tourist accommodations?

Before renting your accommodation, you need to find out if it is among the types of tourist accommodations covered by tourism legislation. If it is the case, before renting your lodging, you need to submit an affidavit to the competent tourism board. This will allow you to rent your accommodation from the moment the affidavit is submitted. The tourism authorities will automatically enter your accommodation in the Tourism Register of Andalucia, and you will be assigned a registration number.

What does this registration entail?

The registration number confirms the entry of the establishment in the Tourism Register of Andalucia . The tourism authorities will provide you with your registration number.

Who needs to register?

All tourist accommodation establishments covered under the Andalucia Tourism Act and its implementing regulations.

The entry of dwellings to be used as tourist accommodations will be mandatory when they are dwellings or rooms located on residential land, they are rented for tourist purposes, in exchange for money, and they are marketed through tourist offering channels such as travel agencies, companies that broker or organize tourist services and channels that include the possibility of booking an accommodation, as indicated by Decree 28/2016 , of February 2, on dwellings to be used as tourist accommodations and amending Decree 194/2010 , of April 20, on tourist dwelling establishments.

Dwellings that do not meet the above requirements, or ones leased to a single person for more than two months on a continuous basis, to which civil laws ( Civil Code and Urban Leasing Act ) will apply, do not need to be registered.

In any case, the existence of circumstances that determine that tourism legislation does not apply to the rental must be able to be verified by documents or some other sufficient proof.

What happens if I want to rent my accommodation solely on a long-term basis? And what if my accommodation is a rural country house, a tourist dwelling or a rural tourist accommodation dwelling?

If you only plan to rent your accommodation to a single guest on a continuous basis for more than two months, tourism law does not apply, in which case you wouldn’t have to submit an affidavit or obtain a registration number in the Tourism Register of Andalucia.

Tourism legislation covers different types of tourist accommodations:

• Hotel establishments (hotels, hostels, boarding houses and hotel-apartments)
• Tourist apartments
• Tourist campgrounds
• Rural country houses
• Rural accommodation tourist dwellings

Each of these accommodation types is regulated by its own rules for compliance, with specific requirements regarding the minimum conditions and characteristics and the need for tourism licenses and registration. These include:

• Decree 47/2004, of February 10, 2004, on hotel establishments
• Decree 194/2010, of April 20, on tourist dwelling establishments
• Decree 164/2003, of June 17, 2003, on tourist campground planning
• Decree 20/2002, of January 29, 2002, on rural tourism and active tourism

How do I register?

These are the steps you need to follow to apply for a registration number, to add an already existing license number or to declare that your accommodation is exempt from this requirement:

• Sign in to airbnb.es and access Your listings
• Click on your listing for accommodation in Andalucia
• Click on Registration at the top of the page and then select an option
• Follow the instructions to register or exempt your listing and when you finish, click on Next and then Submit
• Repeat this process for all the accommodations you have in Andalucia

What if I’ve already registered?

If you’re already registered, follow the above steps and add your accommodation license number to each of your listings in Andalucia.

What happens if my accommodation is exempt from this obligation?

To claim exemption, follow the steps described above and state that your accommodation is exempt from this obligation.

How much does it cost to register?

The registration process is free.

How often do I have to renew my registration number.

You don’t need to renew it. The number is valid while the accommodation maintains the conditions and requirements imposed by the F any of the accommodation data changes, you must notify the Andalucian authorities. You also need to update the listing on Airbnb platform to reflect the new information.

What documents do I need to provide to the Andalucia tourism board so that my tourist accommodation dwelling can be registered in the Tourism Register of Andalucia?

You need to submit an affidavit to the tourism office with jurisdiction in the matter, demonstrating compliance with the requirements established under Decree 28/2016 , of February 2, on dwellings to be used as tourist accommodations and amending Decree 194/2010 , of April 20, on tourist dwelling establishments, providing the following information and documents:

• Identification data of the dwelling, including its land register reference, and its capacity according to the occupancy license or equivalent document
• Data pertaining to the owner and address for notification purposes
• Identification of the person or operator and title entitling this person or operator, if they aren’t the owner of the dwelling

If you have a digital certificate , you can download this form .

If you do not have a digital certificate , you can download this form .

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Granada Short-Term Rental Regulation: A Guide For Airbnb Hosts

Starting a Short-Term Rental Business in Granada

Short-term rentals, such as those listed on Airbnb and VRBO, are subject to specific regulations in Granada and the Andalusia region of Spain. Hosts must register their property with the Andalusian Tourism Registry and obtain a registration number that must be displayed on all advertisements.

To register, property owners need to submit a declaración responsable (sworn declaration) to their local town hall or tourism office, along with supporting documentation like proof of ownership and a first occupation license. Properties must meet certain quality standards, including having air conditioning, WiFi, and a first aid kit.

Granada has taken steps to regulate the growth of vacation rentals in the historic city center. In 2019, the city council proposed limiting new holiday rental licenses in the Albaicín and Realejo neighborhoods to prevent "touristification" and preserve local residents' housing access. The regulations have not yet been finalized.

The Andalusian regional government also passed a decree in 2016 (Decreto 28/2016) establishing rules for short-term rentals. Under the decree, properties rented for more than 2 months a year must be licensed and meet certain standards. Owners can rent out a maximum of 6 bedrooms and must provide 24/7 phone assistance to guests.

Hosts who fail to comply with registration and quality requirements can face fines up to €150,000. Airbnb and other short-term rental booking platforms are required to remove unlicensed listings or face penalties. Since July 2018, Airbnb has not allowed unregistered properties to advertise on its platform in Andalusia.

Despite the regulations, Granada remains a popular destination for vacation rentals. As of 2023, there were over 2,100 active Airbnb listings in the city, with 67% of all homes and 19% private rooms. Hosts can earn an average of €1,944 per month for an entire 2-bedroom apartment.

However, the registration process and potential for new restrictions adds uncertainty for short-term rental operators. Some real estate investors on forums like BiggerPockets question if it's worth the hassle and recommend sticking to long-term rentals in the city. Others note that Granada's STR regulations are still more relaxed than cities like Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca that banned Airbnb in certain areas.

Overall, starting a short-term rental business in Granada requires carefully navigating the local and regional licensing rules. While the market remains strong, hosts should stay apprised of any new regulations that could impact their ability to operate vacation rentals in the city. Consulting with local property managers and officials is advised to ensure compliance with all requirements.

Short-Term Rental Licensing Requirement in Granada

In order to legally operate a short-term rental property in Granada, owners must obtain a license from the Andalusian Tourism Registry (Registro de Turismo de Andalucía). This requirement applies to any property rented out for tourist purposes for periods of less than two months at a time.

Property owners must submit a declaración responsable (sworn declaration) to their local town hall or tourism office to register. The declaration affirms that the property meets all the necessary requirements for tourist accommodations. Along with the declaration, owners must provide supporting documentation such as:

• Proof of ownership of the property
• The property's cadastral reference number
• A first occupation license (licencia de primera ocupación) or equivalent certificate of occupancy
• Detailed floor plans showing room dimensions and intended use of each space
• Proof of a valid insurance policy covering civil liability with coverage of at least €300,000

Properties must meet certain quality standards to be eligible for a license. These include having air conditioning, WiFi , a fully equipped kitchen , and a first aid kit. There are also minimum size requirements - the property must have a constructed area of at least 25m2 and provide at least 14m2 per guest.

Once the declaration and supporting documents are submitted, the tourism office has 15 days to register the property and provide the owner with their official registration number. This number must be displayed in all advertising of the property.

It's important to note that in the city of Granada, there is currently a moratorium on issuing new short-term rental licenses in certain historic neighborhoods like the Albaicín and Realejo. The city council implemented this freeze in 2019 to combat "touristification" and preserve housing access for local residents. Existing licensed properties can continue to operate.

Failure to properly register and obtain a license can result in fines ranging from €2,000 to €150,000. Since July 2018, booking platforms like Airbnb are required to remove any unregistered listings or face penalties themselves.

The licensing process adds some administrative hurdles for short-term rental operators in Granada. But it's a necessary step to legally take advantage of the city's booming tourism market. Hosts should carefully review the requirements, gather all necessary documentation, and consult with local officials to ensure they are in full compliance.

Required Documents for Granada Short-Term Rentals

Property owners must gather and submit several required documents to legally operate a short-term rental in Granada as part of the registration process. These documents ensure compliance with local regulations and provide necessary information to the authorities. Here are the key documents needed:

• Proof of ownership: Owners must provide a copy of the property deed (escritura) or other legal document demonstrating their ownership of the property.
• First Occupation License (Licencia de Primera Ocupación): This license certifies that the property meets all necessary safety and habitability standards. For older properties built before this license was introduced, a Certificate of Occupancy (Cédula de Habitabilidad) or equivalent may be accepted.
• Passport or national identity card (DNI): Property owners must submit a copy of their valid government-issued identification.
• Company documentation: If the property is owned by a company, relevant corporate documents such as the company deed (escritura de constitución) and tax identification number (NIF) are required.
• Floor plan: A detailed floor plan showing the layout and dimensions of the property, including the intended use of each space, must be provided.
• Cadastral reference: The property's unique cadastral reference number, which can be found on the property tax bill (IBI) or obtained from the cadastral office, is needed for registration.
• Responsible Declaration (Declaración Responsable): Owners must sign a declaration stating that their property meets all the requirements for tourist accommodations set forth by the Andalusian Tourism Registry.
• Community approval: If the property is part of a homeowners' association (comunidad de propietarios), written approval from the association permitting short-term rentals must be obtained.
• Insurance policy: Hosts are required to have a valid insurance policy covering potential damages and liabilities arising from the rental activity.

In addition to these documents, property owners must ensure their rental meets the minimum quality standards outlined in the Andalusian tourism regulations, such as having air conditioning, Wi-Fi, and a first-aid kit. Once all the necessary documents are gathered, hosts can proceed with registering their property with the Andalusian Tourism Registry to obtain their official registration number.

It's important to note that document requirements may vary slightly depending on the specific circumstances of the property and owner. Consulting with local authorities or a legal professional specializing in tourism law can help ensure a smooth registration process and full compliance with Granada's short-term rental regulations.

Granada Short-Term Rental Taxes

Short-term rental hosts in Granada are subject to various taxes at the national, regional, and local levels. Understanding and complying with these tax obligations is crucial for operating a successful and legal Airbnb business.

At the national level, rental income from short-term stays is subject to Spain's personal income tax (IRPF). For tax residents of Spain, net rental income may be reduced by 60% if the property is used for living purposes. Non-resident individuals are taxed at a flat rate of 24% on gross rental income, with no deductions allowed.

Regionally, Andalusia has not implemented a specific tourist tax like those found in Catalonia or the Balearic Islands. However, there have been discussions about introducing such a tax in the future to support sustainable tourism initiatives and infrastructure. Hosts should stay informed of any potential changes to regional tax policies.

Locally, Granada City Council has not imposed any additional taxes on short-term rentals beyond the standard property taxes and fees. However, the city has taken steps to regulate the growth of vacation rentals, particularly in the historic Albaicín neighborhood. In 2019, the council proposed limiting new holiday rental licenses in certain areas to preserve housing access for local residents.

It's important to note that even without a specific tourist tax, hosts in Granada are still responsible for collecting and remitting the 10% VAT (IVA) on their rental income. This applies to rentals with additional hotel-style services like cleaning and laundry. For rentals without these services, the activity is exempt from VAT.

To ensure full tax compliance, Granada hosts should:

• Register with the Andalusian Tourism Registry and obtain a registration number to display on all advertisements.
• Declare all rental income on their annual Spanish income tax return (Modelo 100 for residents, Modelo 210 for non-residents).
• Collect and remit 10% VAT if providing additional hotel-style services.
• Keep detailed records of rental income and expenses to support any deductions claimed.
• Consult with a local tax professional to ensure they are meeting all national, regional, and local tax obligations.

While Granada may not currently have a tourist tax like some other Spanish destinations, hosts still face a complex web of tax requirements. Careful record-keeping and professional guidance can help short-term rental operators navigate this landscape and avoid potential penalties. As the city and region continue to grapple with the impacts of tourism, hosts should stay attuned to any future changes in tax policies that could affect their bottom line.

Spain Wide Short-Term Rental Rules

While each autonomous community in Spain has its own specific regulations for short-term rentals, there are some general rules and considerations that apply nationwide.

One key aspect is the distinction between long-term and short-term rentals. In Spain, rentals are considered short-term or seasonal if the duration is less than 2 months. Rentals longer than 2 months fall under the Urban Leasing Act and have different requirements.

For short-term rentals, owners must typically register their property with the local tourism authority and obtain a license or registration number. This number must be displayed in all advertising, including on platforms like Airbnb. Failure to properly register can result in significant fines.

Owners are also required to report guest information to local police within 24 hours of check-in for security purposes. This includes guest names, passport numbers, and dates of stay. Some regions have online reporting systems to facilitate this process.

Short-term rental properties must meet certain habitability standards, such as having air conditioning, heating, and Wi-Fi. They may also be subject to periodic home inspections to ensure ongoing compliance with regulations.

Income from short-term rentals is subject to taxation in Spain. For non-resident owners, there is a flat tax rate of 24% on gross rental income. Resident owners pay tax on net profit at their marginal tax rate. Proper filing and payment of taxes is essential to avoid penalties.

In some areas with high tourist demand, like city centers and islands, there are additional restrictions on short-term rentals. These may include zoning limitations, permit caps, or even complete bans in certain neighborhoods to preserve housing for local residents.

It's important for hosts to carefully research the specific rules in their locality, as regulations can vary significantly from place to place. Consulting with a local attorney or property manager can help navigate the complex and evolving landscape of short-term rental laws in Spain.

Overall, while the specific requirements differ by region, Spain has taken steps nationwide to formalize the short-term rental industry and ensure proper oversight. By understanding and complying with these regulations, hosts can operate successful and legal rental businesses across the country.

Does Granada Strictly Enforce STR Rules?

Based on discussions in real estate forums and online communities, it appears that Granada enforces its short-term rental regulations more strictly than some other Spanish cities. The city has taken steps to regulate the growth of vacation rentals, particularly in the historic Albaicín neighborhood.

According to posts on BiggerPockets, Granada requires hosts to register their properties with the Andalusian Tourism Registry and obtain a registration number that must be displayed on all advertisements. Failure to properly register can result in significant fines. The city also conducts inspections to ensure compliance with quality standards like air conditioning, WiFi, and first aid kits.

Reddit users note that Granada has proposed limiting new holiday rental licenses in certain areas to combat "touristification" and preserve housing access for local residents. While the regulations have not yet been finalized, it suggests the city is taking a proactive approach to managing the impact of short-term rentals.

Compared to cities like Madrid and Barcelona, which have seen explosive growth in Airbnb listings, Granada appears to be less Airbnb-friendly overall. The registration process and potential for new restrictions adds uncertainty for short-term rental operators.

However, this doesn't mean there are no active Airbnb hosts in Granada. As of 2023, there were still over 2,100 active listings in the city according to data from AirDNA. 67% of these were entire homes, suggesting a significant number of dedicated vacation rentals.

The general consensus among BiggerPockets and Reddit users is that while some hosts may be flying under the radar, Granada's regulatory environment poses compliance risks. The city seems to be enforcing its rules more actively than other Spanish destinations. Hosts who fail to register or meet quality standards could face fines or other penalties.

How to Start a Short-Term Rental Business in Granada

Starting a short-term rental business in Granada requires careful planning and compliance with local regulations. Here are the key steps to get started:

• Familiarize yourself with Granada's short-term rental regulations. The city has proposed limiting new holiday rental licenses in certain historic neighborhoods like the Albaicín to combat "touristification" and preserve housing for residents. Stay apprised of any rule changes that could impact your ability to operate.
• Register your property with the Andalusian Tourism Registry and obtain a registration number that must be displayed on all advertisements. You'll need to submit a sworn declaration affirming your property meets all requirements, along with supporting documents like proof of ownership and a first occupation license.
• Ensure your property meets the quality standards outlined in the Andalusian tourism regulations. This includes having air conditioning, WiFi, a fully equipped kitchen, and a first aid kit. There are also minimum size requirements of 25m2 total and 14m2 per guest.
• Provide a 24-hour contact number for guests and have a complaint book available. You must also maintain a detailed guest log including names, passport numbers, and dates of stay. This information must be reported to local police within 24 hours of check-in.
• Register with tax authorities and obtain any necessary business licenses. Short-term rental income is subject to taxation in Spain. Resident owners pay tax on net profit at their marginal rate, while non-residents face a flat 24% rate on gross income. Consult with a local tax advisor to ensure compliance.
• Invest in high-quality photos and a detailed listing description to showcase your property's unique features and location. Highlight proximity to top attractions like the Alhambra and Albaicín neighborhood. Consider hiring a professional photographer to make your listing stand out.
• Develop a competitive pricing strategy based on seasonality , local events , and comparable listings. Granada's peak tourist season is spring and fall, with lower demand in summer and winter. Use dynamic pricing tools to automatically adjust rates based on occupancy trends.
• Establish a reliable cleaning and maintenance routine to ensure your property is guest-ready. Hire a reputable cleaning service to handle turnovers and conduct regular deep cleans. Build a network of trusted contractors to quickly address any maintenance issues that arise.
• Create a comprehensive house manual with instructions on appliances, WiFi password, parking details, and local recommendations. Provide maps, tourist brochures, and public transit information to help guests explore Granada with ease. Consider offering additional amenities like a welcome basket or late check-out for a memorable stay.
• List your property on popular booking platforms like Airbnb and VRBO, making sure to include your official registration number. Respond promptly to inquiries and booking requests to secure reservations. Encourage satisfied guests to leave positive reviews to build your reputation and drive future bookings.

By following these steps and staying attuned to Granada's evolving short-term rental landscape, you can launch a successful vacation rental business in this historic Spanish city. Prioritizing regulatory compliance, guest satisfaction, and local engagement can help you thrive in Granada's competitive tourism market.

Who to Contact in Granada about Short-Term Rental Regulations and Zoning?

If you have questions about short-term rental regulations and zoning in Granada, there are a few key contacts that can provide guidance:

1. Andalusian Tourism Registry (Registro de Turismo de Andalucía):

This is the regional authority responsible for registering and regulating holiday rentals in Andalusia, including Granada. You can contact them for information on the registration process, requirements, and applicable laws.

Phone: +34 955 062 627 Email: [email protected]

2. Granada City Council - Urban Planning Department (Ayuntamiento de Granada - Área de Urbanismo):

The local urban planning department can provide information on zoning regulations and any city-specific rules that may apply to short-term rentals. They can clarify if there are any restrictions or permit requirements based on the location of your property.

Phone: +34 958 248 100 Email: [email protected]

3. Granada Tourist Office (Oficina de Turismo de Granada):

The local tourist office can offer general advice on the short-term rental market in Granada and point you in the right direction for more specific regulatory information. They may also have resources for hosts looking to promote their listings.

Phone: +34 958 247 128 Email : [email protected]

4. Andalusian Federation of Holiday Home Associations (Federación Andaluza de Asociaciones de Viviendas Turísticas):

This organization represents the interests of holiday rental owners and managers in Andalusia. They can provide guidance on best practices, industry trends, and advocacy efforts related to short-term rental regulations.

Phone: +34 951 308 649 Email: [email protected]

When contacting these entities, be prepared to provide details about your property, including its address, type (apartment, house, etc.), and intended use as a short-term rental. Having this information on hand will help them give you the most accurate and relevant guidance.

It's also a good idea to consult with a local attorney specializing in property law and tourism regulations. They can provide personalized advice based on your specific situation and help ensure you are in full compliance with all applicable laws and zoning requirements.

By engaging with these key stakeholders and experts, you can navigate the regulatory landscape for short-term rentals in Granada with greater confidence and peace of mind. Don't hesitate to reach out and ask questions - they are there to help you understand and comply with the rules governing this growing industry in Andalusia.

What Do Airbnb Hosts in Granada on Reddit and Bigger Pockets Think about Local Regulations?

Discussions on forums like Reddit and BiggerPockets provide insight into how Airbnb hosts in Granada feel about the city's short-term rental regulations:

One host on the Granada subreddit mentioned that while the registration process with the Andalusian Tourism Registry can be a bit of a hassle, it's a necessary step to operate legally. They noted that the city has been cracking down on unregistered listings, with inspectors cross-referencing Airbnb ads with the official registry.

Another Granada host on BiggerPockets shared that the city's zoning restrictions have made it challenging to find properties that are eligible for short-term rentals. Many residential areas are off-limits, leaving only certain designated zones open to vacation rentals. This has limited supply and driven up prices for compliant properties.

Some hosts on Reddit have expressed frustration with the city's proposed cap on new licenses in the historic Albaicín neighborhood. They argue that the ban unfairly penalizes responsible operators and won't effectively curb the negative impacts of over-tourism. Instead, they suggest stricter enforcement of existing rules and cracking down on "bad actors."

However, other hosts on BiggerPockets have taken a more pragmatic view. They note that while Granada's regulations may be strict compared to other Spanish cities, they are still more favorable than markets like Barcelona or Palma de Mallorca that have implemented total bans in certain areas. One host advised focusing on properties in the permitted zones and being diligent about compliance.

Overall, the sentiment among Granada hosts seems to be grudging acceptance. While they may not love the added bureaucracy and restrictions, most recognize that the regulations are designed to balance the needs of residents and tourists. The key, they say, is to play by the rules and adapt your strategy to the local market conditions.

As one host put it on Reddit, "The days of the Wild West are over. If you want to do short-term rentals in Granada, you need to dot your i's and cross your t's. It's more work, but it's still a viable business if you do it right."

Disclaimer: While we here at BNBCalc strive to keep all of our city regulation guides updated and accurate with all the latest local laws, we still do not suggest using them as your sole or primary source for local regulations. We also do not recommend you rely on the third-party sources we link to or reference, and we are not responsible for any of the information on these third-party sites. These guides are for entertainment purposes only and only provide basic information and should not be considered as legal advice.

We highly recommend directly contacting the responsible parties for each city and hearing what their officials have to say. Ultimately, it's your responsibility as an investor to ensure you fully comply with the local laws, and it's best to speak with professionals before making an investment decision.

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Property registration service holiday rental Andalusia

We are specialized in taking care of your holiday rental registration so that you can concentrate on your rental business with all peace of mind.

In the line with many other regions in Spain, the Junta de Andalucía (Andalusian government) published the decree to regulate holiday rentals (viviendas con fines turísticos) in Andalucía on 11th February 2016. The law became operative on the 11th May 2016, after which all owners who advertise their holiday home as tourist accommodation must register in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía.

It is now compulsory to have all the short-term rental holiday homes registered and fines will be applied to those owners and agencies that do not have the tourist registration.

How to register a holiday rental in Andalucia in general

If you have an electronic signature (‘firma electrónica’) you can do the whole process online. If not, you should complete the online registration form “Declaración responsable para el acceso o ejercicio de la actividad”, then you can print it off and present the application form at the nearest Spanish tourist office. The main application details must include the owner’s details, since as an owner you are held completely responsible for your property and the activity as tourist accommodation unless you have given another party Power of Attorney to be your legal representative. If you have a property manager or agency managing your holiday rental, you can nominate them to take care of the registration, be available for the inspection, etc. Together with the application form, you must make available copies of the following documentation:

• Paperwork from when you bought the property, including the ‘referencia catastral’ (land registry reference), which you should find on an IBI receipt or sometimes on your title deeds (‘Escritura’) • The licence of first occupation (‘Licencia de Primer Ocupación’), or equivalent certificate, such as the ‘Cedula de Habitabilidad’. • Property owner details, including an address where notifications can be sent. • NIE and passport or Spanish DNI and full address where the owner resides

Minimum requirements for tourist accommodation:

• First License Occupation or equivalent certificate, such as the ‘Cedula de Habitabilidad’ (Habitability Certificate)
• Admission document stating at least the name of the person or organization that operates the property, the alphanumeric registration code in the Andalusian Tourist Registry, the number of people who will be taking them, the dates of entries and Departures, total prices and contact telephone number.
• Bed linen and household linen.
• Curtains in all rooms (shading systems like blinds, blackout curtains, shutters)
• Direct ventilation to the exterior or to patios.
• Have information and instructions on the operation of appliances or other devices that require it for use.
• First aid kit.
• Book of Tourist information about the area.
• Complaints book.
• Air conditioning, in bedrooms and lounges: months from May to September, both inclusive (Air conditioning will not be required when the property or building is classified as a Property of Cultural Interest and the level of protection prevents any kind of work, modification or intervention necessary to comply with the requirement).
• Heating by fixed elements in rooms and lounges: months from October to April, both inclusive (term for installation until 11/05/2017)

The registration process is started by submitting the form online, or to the Tourism Office in your locality. An inspection should take place sometime after presenting it.

When you submit your application you will be issued with a reference code, which proves you have presented your application. The code starts CTC and can be found at the top of your “responsible declaration”. You should be able to use this in your advertising to show you are within the process. If you do not present your ‘Declaración Responsable’ and continue to advertise the property as tourist accommodation, it will be considered an illegal activity.

Where to submit your form Once you have completed the application form it can be submitted online (if you have a ‘certificado digital, or ‘firma electronica’), or presented at your regional tourism department – the office of Delegaciones Territoriales de Cultura, Turismo y Deporte. We are able to do on your behalf – please see below. You can also submit your form via the post office (correos).

The Inspection Process An inspection of your property will be carried out during the application process. Within the Declaración Responsable you can name a representative, who will then be contacted to confirm an inspection date. Inspections may be carried out during guest occupation. The inspector will ask to see all your paperwork i.e. License of First Occupation, Title Deeds, etc. so do have these ready to show them. If a property does not meet the structural requirements of the decree, for example if you do not have air-conditioning or heating, or if you have not got a copy of your License of First Occupation, you will be given up to one year to get the property into the required condition for rental.

Let us do it for you!

As you can see, the entire procedure can be done by each owner by himself, which is quite complicated, or through our agency. We can deal with this complicated process. For this, it is necessary to send us the documentation described (if we don´t have it) here and our agency would do all the processing.

Management of Tourist Home Registration.

We can carry out the entire process for you as exclusive operating agency through our digital signature. The amount for this service will be €199 + IVA.

For those owners who wish to contract our registration service please fill out our application form for which we need the following data:

• PERSONAL DETAILS OF OWNER: Name, ID, email and telephone
• FULL ADDRESS OF WHERE THE OWNER RESIDES
• FULL ADDRESS OF RENTING ACCOMMODATION
• CATASTRAL REFERENCE NUMBER OF RENTING ACCOMMODATION (must have 20 digits).
• PROTOCOL NUMBER, DATE OF SIGNATURE AND NAME OF NOTARY (This is found in the Title Deeds, on the first page.)
• NOTA SIMPLE OF THE PROPERTY, COPY N.I.E NUMBER AND PASSPORT.

Management of holiday rentals in Andalusia: Know the legal requirements

A complete guide to the legal management of holiday rentals in andalusia.

• Types of properties for holiday rentals in Andalusia.
• Regulations for holiday rentals in Andalusia.
• Steps to obtain the Tourism Register in Andalusia for holiday rentals.
• How to manage a holiday rental efficiently.
• Avoiding penalties in holiday rentals.

September 2023

If you own a property in the beautiful region of Andalucia, you may have considered renting it out for holiday purposes. Why not? It’s a great way to generate additional income and make the most of your investment. But do you know what are the legal requirements for managing holiday rentals in Andalusia ? Do you know the regulations you need to comply with, such as Decree 28/2016 and the Andalusian Tourism Law? In this article, we will provide you with a complete guide on holiday rental management in Andalusia , as well as explain everything you need to know to comply with the law and avoid problems. So, if you are ready to dive into the world of holiday rentals, read on!

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What is holiday rental management?

Holiday rental management is much more than simply renting a property. It is a process that involves a number of tasks and responsibilities that must be attended to in order to ensure a positive experience for both the owner and the renter. This includes:

• Promotion and marketing of the property.
• Reservation and payment management.
• Customer Service.
• Cleaning and maintenance of the property.
• Compliance with local laws and regulations.

This is where the role of the holiday rental manager comes into play. This professional takes care of all these tasks, making the owner’s life easier and ensuring that guests have a pleasant stay. A good holiday rental manager is like a conductor, coordinating all aspects of property management so that everything runs smoothly. Holiday property management can be a full-time job, especially if you have multiple properties or if your properties are in high demand. But don’t worry, with the right help and the right tools, you can handle it efficiently.

There are numerous holiday rental management tools that can help you automate tasks, organize your business and improve your guests’ experience. Holiday rental management is a business that can be very lucrative if done right. But it also requires a solid knowledge of laws and regulations, as well as a commitment to excellence in customer service. In the following sections, we’ll provide you with all the information you need to succeed in this exciting field.

Types of holiday rental properties in Andalucía

Andalusia, with its rich history, beautiful scenery and vibrant culture, is a popular tourist destination. As an owner, you have the opportunity to offer a variety of holiday rental properties. 

• Villas are a popular choice, especially in the coastal and rural areas of Andalusia. These properties tend to be larger and offer more privacy, making them ideal for families or large groups. Many villas feature gardens, swimming pools and stunning views, adding extra value to the guest experience. 
• Apartments , on the other hand, are a common choice in cities and urban areas. These can range in size from studios to multi-bedroom apartments. Apartments offer the convenience of being in the centre of the action, with easy access to restaurants, stores and tourist attractions. 
• Rural houses , for example, offer a more authentic and tranquil experience, ideal for those looking to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. These properties are usually located in rural settings and offer closer contact with nature and local culture. Like villas and apartments, casas rurales must also comply with holiday rental regulations, including registration with the Andalusian Tourism Registry. 
• Finally, VFT or Viviendas con Fines Turísticos are properties that are rented for short periods of time. These properties can be either villas or apartments and are subject to specific regulations in Andalucía. This category was created to regulate properties that are rented to tourists, ensuring that they meet certain quality and safety standards.

Holiday rental regulations in Andalucía

In Andalusia, holiday rental regulations are mainly regulated by Decree 28/2016 and the Andalusian Tourism Law . These regulations are essential for any owner who wants to rent their property for holiday purposes, as they establish the rules and requirements that must be met.

According to Decree 28/2016 , any property rented for less than two months to the same person is considered a holiday rental, this means that if you plan to rent your property for short periods, you must comply with the holiday rental regulations. In addition, all holiday rental properties must be registered with the Andalusian Tourism Registry. 

This registration is a way to ensure that all properties meet the quality and safety standards required by law. Requirements include:

• Air conditioning in the rooms from May to September, and heating from October to April.
• Provide sufficient bedding, towels, kitchen utensils and furniture for all guests. 
• Owners must provide guests with information about the area, including medical services, stores, restaurants, parking and public transportation. 

Complying with these regulations is not only a legal obligation, but will also help you provide a better experience for your guests, which can result in better reviews and more bookings.

Steps to obtain the Tourism Registration in Andalusia for holiday rentals

Obtaining Tourism Registration in Andalucía is a crucial step for any owner who wants to rent out their property for holiday purposes. This registration is a way to guarantee that your property meets all legal and quality requirements. Here we explain how to obtain it:

• Comply with the requirements: Before starting the registration process, you must ensure that your property meets all the requirements set forth in Decree 28/2016. This includes having air conditioning and heating, providing bed linen and towels, and having enough furniture and kitchen utensils for all guests. 
• Submit a responsible declaration: Once you are sure that your property meets all the requirements, you must complete a responsible declaration. This is a declaration in which you state that your property complies with all legal and quality requirements. You can submit this declaration at the Consejería de Turismo or through their website. 
• Obtain the registration number: After submitting the responsible declaration, you will receive a registration number. This number must be displayed on all advertisements of your property. 
• Property inspection: Finally, the Consejería de Turismo will inspect to confirm that your property meets all the requirements. If your property passes the inspection, you are ready to start renting it for holiday rentals.

How to manage a holiday rental efficiently

Efficiently managing a holiday rental can be a challenge, especially if you have multiple properties or if your properties are in high demand. However, there are some strategies that can help you manage it efficiently: 

• Hire a holiday rental manager: A holiday rental manager can handle all the tasks involved in managing your property, from marketing and reservations to customer service and maintenance. This can relieve you of many responsibilities and allow you to focus on other areas of your business. 
• Use tools to manage holiday rentals: There are numerous tools that can help you manage your holiday rentals more efficiently. These tools can automate tasks such as booking and billing, help you organise your business and improve your guests’ experience.
• Keep your property in good condition: A well-maintained property is more attractive to guests and can result in better reviews and more bookings. Be sure to perform regular maintenance and fix any problems as soon as they arise. 
• Provide excellent customer service: Good customer service can make all the difference in holiday rentals. Make sure you are available to your guests, respond to their questions and concerns in a timely manner, and do everything possible to make their stay enjoyable.

Avoiding penalties in holiday rentals

No one wants to face penalties or fines, so it is crucial that you comply with all Andalucía holiday rental laws and regulations . This includes registering your property in the Tourism Registry, complying with quality and safety requirements, and paying the corresponding taxes. Penalties can be of three types: minor, serious and very serious. 

• Minor penalties, which can range from 2,001 euros to 30,000 euros, are usually for minor non-compliances, such as not having the documentation in order. 
• Serious penalties , which can range from €30,001 to €150,000, can be for more serious non-compliance, such as not having a holiday rental license. 
• Very serious penalties , which can exceed 150,000 euros, are usually for non-compliance that affects the safety or well-being of guests. 

In some cases, you may even face a ban on renting your property. Therefore, you must take regulatory compliance seriously. In addition to legal penalties, non-compliance with regulations can also damage your reputation. Dissatisfied guests may leave negative reviews, which may deter future guests from booking your property. Therefore, complying with regulations is not only a legal obligation, but also good business practice.

Managing holiday rentals in Andalucía can be an excellent way to generate income from your property. However, it also requires a solid knowledge of local laws and regulations, as well as a commitment to excellence in customer service. In this article, we have provided you with a complete guide on how to manage a holiday rental in Andalucia . We have covered everything from the definition of holiday rental management to the legal requirements, the typology of properties, how to obtain the Registro de Turismo, and how to manage your property efficiently. By following the steps and tips we have provided, you can ensure that your property meets all the requirements and provides a wonderful experience for your guests. Remember, success in holiday rentals is not only about having an attractive property but also about providing exceptional service and complying with regulations. Good luck in your Andalucia holiday rental adventure!

Other posts in this category:

Legal requirements for the management of holiday rentals in murcia, working from home and workation: how to adapt your holiday rental, holiday rental management: tools to manage your property, what is a channel manager and how can they help you manage your holiday rentals, advertise your holiday rental on the best platforms, lgbt tourism and inclusive holiday lettings in the united kingdom.

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30 Jul Registering a vacation rental: how to apply for the license and register the home?

One of the most interesting investment options in recent years is undoubtedly the vacation rental. Through the vacation rental you get a very high profitability and, in addition, in Spain we are lucky to have one of the most active passenger cars in the world. So, if you’ve made up your mind, the first thing you’ll have to figure out is how to register a vacation rental.

It is important that the holiday rental regulations are strictly adhered to, and this will depend on the location of the home. Keep in mind that in some Spanish communities you cannot currently register a vacation rental and in those that you can, each one has regulations. Some of the requirements will be to have the occupancy certificate, request the vacation rental license and register the home as a tourist apartment.

In this article we are going to focus on the autonomous community of Andalusia, which currently concentrates the majority of vacation rentals in the national territory. However, the process that we are going to tell you is usually repeated in the different communities, and there may be differences, especially in the requirements that the home must meet.

In case you have questions or doubts about other CCAA, leave the questions in comments and we will be happy to answer you!

What type of homes can be used for this kind of rental?

In accordance with Decree 28/2016, of February 2, on housing for tourist purposes and the modification of Decree 194/2010, of April 20, of tourist apartment establishments (BOJA No. 28, of February 11, 2016 ), holiday rental apartments are considered to be those that, located on land for residential use, offer the accommodation service on a regular basis and for tourist purposes at a price.

The following cannot be registered as dwellings for tourist purposes:

• Properties rented for a period of more than 2 continuous months to the same person. In this case, the rental is regulated by the Urban Leasing Law.
• Properties in rural areas, which also have their own regulation.
• VPO accommodations. According to its own regulation, these homes must be used as a regular and permanent home. But, the rental of rooms for tourist purposes is allowed, as long as the main use of the house is that of a habitual and permanent residence by the owner.

How to register a vacation rental?

Once we are clear if the home we want to rent can be used as a vacation rental, we will explain how to register a vacation rental.

The steps to take will be the following:

• Have a certificate of occupancy or occupancy license.
• Present the responsible declaration
• Register the home in the tourist accommodation register

These are the steps that, as we said before, you will have to follow in almost all the autonomous communities. The differences between communities lie in the technical and quality conditions of the houses. For example, in Andalusia, the rooms have to have direct ventilation to the outside, they have to be furnished, they have to be refrigerated in summer periods, cleaning must be done at the entrance and exit of each client, etc.

Certificate of habitability or occupancy license

Through the certificate of occupancy certificate or occupancy license, it is verified that a space meets the minimum requirements so that it can be inhabited by people at the level of health, hygiene and solidity. It is legalized through the autonomous communities and has an expiration period of 15 years.

In this check, the useful surface and the minimum surface of the spaces in the house are regulated together with the minimum equipment that must be integrated: toilet, kitchen, hot water, etc.

And how do we get the occupation license? We must contact an architect or technical architect and request a Certificate of Habitability endorsed by their professional Association. The professional will check whether or not it complies with current regulations through a visual inspection of the property.

In Andalusia, as specified in Decree 60/2010, each city council is in charge of having the procedure it deems appropriate for obtaining a first occupation license.

Responsible declaration

To register a vacation rental this would be the second step to follow. The responsible declaration is a document in which the fulfillment of the requirements of technical conditions and quality of the houses that we indicated previously and that change according to the autonomous community is manifested.

It also contains the data of the home, such as the number of places available in the home; the data of the person who will operate the activity, as well as the contract that enables him to do so.

Once the responsible declaration has been submitted, we go to the last step.

Registration

This last step to register a tourist rental is done automatically when presenting the responsible declaration. This procedure can also be carried out in person at the Malaga Tourism Office, in the Andalusian Tourism Registry.

When this document is presented, you are given an entry record that certifies that you have complied with the obligation to present the responsible declaration.

Subsequently, you will receive a resolution by which you are registered in the Andalusian Tourism Registry and a registration code or number will be assigned to you, which must appear in any advertisement made of the home for tourist rental purposes.

We hope we have resolved all your doubts and, if not, we await your comments!

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NEW REGULATIONS FOR HOLIDAY HOMES IN ANDALUSIA IN 2024

Written by Gustavo Calero Monereo on 26 February, 2024 . Posted in Sin categoría .

Are you renting out an URBAN Andalusian property to tourists? Are you planning to do so in the future? Or are you an intermediate who rents out holiday homes in the name of the property owner? Then please read this article to the end, as new regulations for holiday homes recently have been put in place by the Junta de Andalucia. You can also ask for our summary PDF for applying for the RTA-license.   

Over the last few years, tourism in some Andalusian cities and towns has grown nonstop. Property sales , attracted partially by the boom in holiday homes and the income that can be obtained from these activities have had a direct effect on the high prices of traditional rental properties.

Due to this market situation for holiday lets, the Regional Government of Andalusia published a new Decree 31/2024, of 29 January, which entered into force on 22 February 2024 . This Decree repeals and amends a few articles of the Decree published in 2016, which regulated holiday lets in Andalusia for the first time.

For the first time, this new regulation makes it possible for City Councils to limit holiday lets for reasons of general interest. Likewise, from this moment, companies or individuals managing holiday lets in one or more properties become liable to the administration and users of the properties. And also for property owners, there are various changes to adapt to.

Table of Contents

The high demand for property sales and the attractive business of holiday lets

Property purchases by individuals, companies and investment funds in strategic locations with a strong demand for tourism have had a direct effect on property prices. Malaga and other municipalities in the Costa del Sol , such as Marbella , Benalmádena , Fuengirola , Mijas or Nerja , for instance, have seen property prices reach historic highs.

We should especially mention foreign investors, who target property investments in cities like Malaga , Seville and Granada, as well as other municipalities in the Costa del Sol and Costa Tropical. The number of holiday homes offered as holiday lets, due to this property frenzy, hasn’t stopped growing in some cities. This has led to increasing costs for traditional lets for residents, with very high prices, along with certain problems of tourist overcrowding in some areas, where residents have been slowly disappearing.

To what holiday homes in Andalusia does this Decree apply?

This Decree applies to homes equipped for immediate use, intended to be let for less than two months , where accommodation services are offered in exchange for paying a price, habitually and for tourism purposes. Tourism purposes are understood to occur when the home is marketed or advertised in tourism promotion channels , such as travel agencies, tourism companies and channels that make it possible to book accommodation.

Does this Decree apply to holiday lets in non-developable or rural land? This Decree does not apply to homes located in a rural environment, i.e. homes in non-developable or rural land. Using these homes as holiday lets is governed by different regulations.

When can a home not be used as a holiday let in Andalusia?

Homes to be let as holiday homes must comply with a series of requirements to be registered in the Andalusian Tourism Register (RTA) and carry out activities related to holiday lettings.

Ban on the use of social housing (VPO) in the regulations of holiday homes

These homes cannot be used as holiday lets. However, it should be noted that, if you’re thinking about buying a property and the Property Register report shows a VPO qualifier, this classification is often outdated and its expiry can be requested. This is something that happens often, as VPO classification only lasts a certain amount of time. However, in many cases, the VPO qualifier continues to appear in the Property Register report, even if the property lost that legal status due to the passage of time.

Inability to operate holiday lets if the Owners’ Association expressly prohibits the use of the home for holiday letting

If the property you’d like to purchase or let is part of an Owners’ Association that expressly prohibits this activity in its by-laws (founding statutes), the home cannot be used as a holiday let. It’s uncommon to find this prohibition in older buildings or developments, since holiday lets “didn’t exist” until recently and, therefore, this wasn’t regulated in the by-laws.

However, the Community of Owners can at any time modify the Statutes and introduce the prohibition of tourist vacation rentals. Nevertheless, this would not apply to those homes that were already registered in the RTA prior to the prohibition.

NOTE: However, there is a dilemma regarding the percentage necessary to modify the Statutes of a Community of Owners for this specific limitation. Some court rulings establish that a majority of 3/5 (=60%) of the total owners would be sufficient and others establish that it is necessary for unanimity (100%) of all owners. From our legal interpretation of the law, unanimity would be necessary. In the future, we understand that it will be clarified.

Maybe in the light of this contradiction, you decide to already apply for your RTA even allthough you don´t actually rent out (yet). This might be recommendable, but you need to know that in theory the authorities have the right to cancel your RTA when you’re not submitting your rental profit in your income tax declaration (either IRPF or IRNR).

The special case of a ban on holiday lets in the by-laws of new builds

It is usually in new housing developments where the by-laws (´estatutos´) can ban this activity expressly more easily. In this case, it’s important for you or your lawyer to review the by-laws thoroughly. If you’re thinking of buying a newly build home (or off-plan) and intend to use it as a holiday let, you should know that it’s possible that, once the development has been built, the by-laws may prohibit the use of the homes as holiday lets. In other words, when you sign the private sales contract, it’s very likely impossible to know whether the by-laws will prohibit holiday lets once the developer forms the Owners’ Association.

Ban on holiday letting for homes that are incompatible with the urban planning regulations of the municipality where they are located

Homes on urban residential land with a Habitability Certificate or First-Occupancy Certificate (LPO) may be used as holiday lets. The same applies to homes that, when built, were not contrary to urban planning in the municipality and hold an unregulated resolution or an equivalent LPO certificate, if these were built prior to 1986.

Regarding this matter of the requirement to have an LPO or Habitability Certificate, the new Decree has eliminated the need to have an LPO and has replaced this with the requirement for homes to comply with urban planning regulations. Perhaps this change is designed so that, in the future, other homes lacking an LPO for different reasons, can access the RTA, for instance, if the City Council implements a certain procedure to obtain a license to use a home for tourism purposes, even if such resolution is not an LPO as such. If the City Council creates such a specific procedure and a home without an LPO obtains a license for tourism purposes, it would be understood that the home complies with the urban planning regulations of the municipality. Over the next few months, we shall see whether any City Councils implement such a procedure.

Therefore, it will still be advisable to submit the LPO or Habitability certificate to register your property in the RTA, but you can also prove that you fulfill the urban planning regulations with any other document or technical certificate.

Ban on holiday letting for urban homes recognized as Equivalent to Unregulated (DAFO)

Homes built on urban land after 1986, which do not comply with the planning regulations of the municipality where these are located, may be considered homes with a status equivalent to unregulated. If recognized as such, these may only be used as holiday lets with express authorization from the City Council for such change in use.

What should I do to meet the criterion of the regulations of holiday homes in Andalusia? 

To use a home as a holiday let, it’s necessary for the person or entity intended to engage in such activity to register the property in the Andalusian Tourism Register (RTA) . To complete this registration, it’s necessary to submit an affidavit (DR) electronically, certifying compliance with the requirements provided in the Decree, and the property may be used as a holiday let after the submission of the DR. The Decree establishes the minimum contents that the affidavit must include, with one of the new features being the requirement to specify whether the home is let year-round or for specific periods , which must be specified in the affidavit (declaration).

NOTE: While publishing this news article, C&D Solicitors has submitted a first RTA-application through the new web form. Although it concerns a responsibility declaration, the system still asks for the applicant to upload the concerning documents. The form states that if you don´t upload the correct documents within 10 days, the application will be cancelled.   

What happens if I don’t have a Habitability Certificate or First-Occupancy Certificate?

There are different processes to obtain the first-occupancy certificate for a home:

How to get an LPO in Andalusia for homes built prior to 1986

This is the simplest and cheapest process, as all urban homes built in Andalusia prior to 1986 with no subsequent modifications are considered homes with planning permission and a first-occupancy certificate. Based on current urban regulations in Andalusia, called LISTA, the owner can request this administrative recognition by submitting a small project signed by an architect and paying a fee. Processing times vary for every City Council, as some are faster than others.

How to get an LPO in Andalusia for homes built after 1986

In this case, the process is lengthier and more costly, due to both the type of project to be drawn up by the architect and the fee charged by the City Council. If the home is part of a building and this building has no LPO, it’s very likely for a single home to be unable to obtain an LPO and the Owners’ Association should be the one to request the LPO for the entire building. In the case of semi-detached or fully detached properties, an LPO can be obtained as long as an architect confirms, in a project, that the home complies with urban planning regulations.

As mentioned before, if the home built after 1986 does not comply with urban planning regulations, an LPO can’t be obtained. Only a certificate of equivalent to unregulated can be procured and this is neither worthwhile nor convenient for an urban home.

What changes does the Decree introduce for managers or operators of holiday lets?

One of the most important modifications of the Decree is the new position of responsibility and relevance taken on by professionals and companies that manage, on behalf owners, the operation of properties in the holiday lettings market. Operators of holiday lets, whether they are individuals or companies and even if they only operate a single holiday let, must be registered as holders in the affidavit (DR). To register the manager as holder of the DR for a property, each and every one of the legal owners of the property must provide their authorization, by signing the appropriate assignment or management contract between the operator and the owners.

Management and administration of a property by a third party are assumed to take place when a third party takes care of the delivery and collection of keys, welcoming guests, providing services during their stay, cleaning at check-in and check-out, etc. The holder of the DR will be liable towards the administration and the users of the service, with the requirement to have a contract with the owners to carry out such an activity. They will be required to notify the administration of any changes in the legal title or the conditions of the properties.

What are the obligations for homes already registered in the RTA prior to this Decree?

Homes already registered in the RTA must check whether they meet the new, additional requirements introduced by the Decree and, if not, they’ll have certain deadlines to adapt to these.

What is the deadline provided by the Decree to comply with the regulations for holiday homes in terms of furniture and quality?

The Decree provides a period of up to one year from its entry into force, i.e. until 22 February 2025, for owners already registered in the RTA to recondition the properties. These requirements mainly refer to furniture, air conditioning, minimum room sizes, minimum quality levels, etc. For example, you now need to have 2 bathrooms when having more than 5 guests and 3 bathrooms when more than 8. If you wish to receive our summary PDF with all requirements, please just ask your legal assistant at C&D or read the total decreet in Spanish. 

What is the deadline to notify of changes in the number of beds for accommodation?

The new Decree establishes a maximum occupancy per home of 15 persons (max 4 per room), if let as the entire property, and of 6 persons if let by the room (max. 4 per room). ( Otherwise you need another kind of RTA license for ´establicimiento hostelero or establicimiento apartamentos´ which also requires a business opening license from the Town Hall) . It also introduces minimum and maximum surface areas for the bedrooms and their maximum occupancy, a minimum number of bathrooms, etc.

If a holiday let already registered in the RTA needs to change the number of beds due to the new standards, the decree provides owners or operators six months from its entry into force to do so, i.e. until 22 August 2024.

What is the deadline to notify of the period or periods where the home is used as a holiday home?

If your home is registered in the RTA and you intend to let your home only for a certain period of the year and not for year-round, you have 6 months to do this, i.e. until 22 August 2024.

If you use your property as a holiday let year-round, you don’t need to do anything as, after this 6-month period, the administration will assume it’s used as a holiday let year-round.

How long does a manager or company working on holiday lets have to register as a holder in the affidavit?

The companies or managers who currently manage properties as holiday lets have 6 months to notify the Tourism Register of the change in holder for the RTA registration, for each of the homes they manage.

How does the new Decree affect resolutions banning holiday lets from Owners’ Associations?

The Decree clearly and unequivocally provides that a property cannot operate as a holiday let if the Owners’ Association’s by-laws expressly prohibit tourist accommodation activities. In our opinion, the only way for an Owners’ Association to prohibit holiday lets is for it to amend the by-laws and introduce this express limitation in them.

If there is just a resolution from the Owners’ Association in the minutes of an ordinary or extraordinary meeting, without amending the by-laws to prohibit this activity, even if the resolution is registered with the Property Register, we understand that this prohibition can’t be imposed on the current owners or future buyers of the property.

Can City Councils prohibit or limit holiday lets with the new Decree?

In article 2, the new Decree, allows for “… City Councils, for imperative reasons of general interest, may establish limitations , proportionate to these reasons, in terms of the maximum number of homes used for tourist accommodation per building, area, sector or period…” .

Without a doubt, this is one of the main new features in the regulations of holiday lets in Andalusia. Due to the tourist saturation in some areas or neighborhoods of large cities like Malaga or Seville, as well as other areas in the Costa del Sol, some City Councils have been calling for this measure to enable them to limit tourist activities.

If a City Council wants to limit and prohibit such tourist activities, this must be argued and justified in detail, i.e. it’ll need to show that such a limitation is necessary with clear and objective data. It must also be published prior to its adoption.

Limitations for existing licenses

It is understood that limitations from the Town Hall or the Community of Owners won´t apply to existing licenses. However, once you have a RTA license and you in reality don´t rent out and don´t declare the income tax (IRPF or IRNR), the authority can cancel your RTA license.

C&D Solicitors

At C&D Solicitors, we specialize in providing property advice to foreign clients, whether individuals seeking to buy a second home or an investment property in Spain, as well as investment companies or investment funds seeking to grow their asset portfolio and take advantage of the capital gains they can obtain in the property market and in property operation.

We offer “full service” advice throughout the process in your native language: English, Dutch, Swedish, French and German. You can call us at +0034 952 532 582, send us a WhatsApp message at +34 639 54 16 02 or write to us at  [email protected] . We’ll look into your case, we’ll send you information about the process and a cost estimate for this, with no commitment whatsoever.

LAWYERS IN MALAGA FOR ENGLISH LEGAL ADVICE ON BUYING, SELLING OR INHERITING IN ANDALUSIA

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Costa del Sol nears 600,000 tourist beds as holiday lets surge

The number of tourist properties has grown by almost 80% since 2019 despite much of this period coinciding with the travel sector crisis during the covid-19 pandemic.

Pilar Martínez / Alba Martín Campos (graphics)

Monday, 29 April 2024 | Updated 02/05/2024 15:31h.

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While Amsterdam is banning the opening of new hotels, Venice is imposing a five-euro fee to enter its historic centre, and protests against mass-tourism in the Canary Islands, the Costa del Sol is continuing to set new tourism records.

After experiencing its best year in 2023, new data shows the destination is approaching 600,000 accommodation beds. Since 2019, accommodation has shot up by almost 80% and the number of places offered by around 50%, resulting in 600,000 beds available on the Costa del Sol. The supply of accommodation has almost tripled in the past eight years, according to data from the Junta's tourism delegation in Malaga.

A new boom in holiday homes in Malaga province, very similar to the growth that occurred in 2016 when they were first regulated, has played a big role in the high figures. The overall increase recorded in 2023 was 81.8% in the case of holiday rental properties, rising from 38,915 to 70,764, which meant the number of places on the market on the Costa del Sol has risen by 84%, figures showed.

In the province

74,739 properties

Holiday lets

Rural cottages

Apartamentos turísticos

Rural tourist complexes

42,277 properties

Rural prop.

Fuente: Junta de Andalucía

Rural holiday lets

Rural tourism complexes

Apart. turíst.

The data is significant, even more so considering the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 which put a halt on the travel sector and forced numerous tourist properties out of the market and into the standard rental market instead.

In August 2020, the holiday rental bubble showed signs of bursting, and a report by the Andalusian Tourist Housing Association (AVVA-Pro) estimated there were up to 4,000 tourist properties that were returning as traditional rentals due to the crisis in the sector in Malaga province. The study pointed out the pandemic was taking its toll, with between 6-10% of owners opting to look for clients for their flats outside the tourist industry.

AVVA president Carlos Pérez-Lanzac said at the time: "Those who have chosen this alternative are also afraid of the consequences of the law on urban leases, which sets the period of the contracts at five years, as well as the fear of non-payment and the legal entanglement of eviction."

This was followed by a new regulation limiting the increase in rental prices, which had the opposite effect, with many considering it was time to enter the tourism sector, added to which was the pull effect generated by the negotiation over the past year of a new regulation by the Junta to update the previous one, which included new requirements and the power of local councils to regulate this activity. These factors, according to experts, prompted many owners to register their properties before the new regulations were applied, which were approved just a few weeks ago.

Moderation in hotels

This upward trend is not reflected in the rest of the tourist properties, such as hotels, flats, rural houses or campsites. This type of accommodation is also growing, but by 18.3% and with a smaller increase in bed capacity, which has increased by 6.4% since 2019. "Within the properties, it is important to highlight the growth in all modalities, but especially in rural houses, with an increase of 22.7%, and tourist flats, 23.7%," said the Junta's delegate of tourism in Malaga Gemma del Corral.

It also focuses on the growth of the hotel supply, which has added 616 new properties with 12,413 beds between 2019 and 2023 - an increase of 5.2% and 7.2%, respectively. And it does so by highlighting more than half of these new beds correspond to luxury hotels.

Specifically, the Costa del Sol has increased its number of four and five-star and grand luxury hotel beds by 6,268. "Not only are new properties being created, but the current ones are being improved by focusing on higher value segments," Del Corral said.

According to the data, there are currently 2,820 more four-star beds on the market; 1,299 more five-star beds and 2,149 more grand luxury beds, compared to 2019. Del Corral said the trend in the accommodation sector in Malaga province is leading towards a moderation in growth.

The statistics show the giant leaps the Costa del Sol's accommodation offer has taken to reach the current situation in which it has almost the capacity to accommodate 600,000 tourists a day. It was in February last year when the commitment of investors, entrepreneurs and professionals to this destination meant the province had 514,838 beds, which meant that for the first time it could accommodate more than half a million tourists a day, according to data from the Junta's Andalusian tourism register. The figure showed 48% more hotel beds, tourist accommodation, flats, rural houses and campsites than before the health crisis.

Precisely, at the end of 2019, Malaga province reached 400,000 accommodation places for the first time, and in 2018, accommodation places in the province exceeded 348,000 - two years earlier they barely exceeded 210,000.

Malaga city in step with the province

Malaga city continues to keep pace with the rest of the province where data from the Andalusian tourism registry showed that in the period from 2019 to 2023, the total accommodation offer has increased by 4,982, which means 30,898 beds. The figures showed a 78.8% increase in business and a 64% increase in bed capacity.

"In relation to the provincial data, the growth is very similar, although there is a certain tendency towards tourist properties with fewer vacancies in the case of Malaga city," Del Corral said, adding that the increase in holiday rental properties is 82%, from 5,945 to 10,822. "It should be noted that not all these properties are permanently destined for tourist use, as well as the existence of duplicates," she said.

Del Corral said "Malaga is growing, but it is growing in all types of offer," and added: "it is important to highlight the growth of the hotel offer". From 2019 to 2023 the city gained its first five-star Gran Lujo, the Gran Hotel Miramar; it added two new five-star hotels and six four-star hotels. These have been joined by new forms of accommodation such as capsule hotels, which are part of the hostel sector.

"The great explosion of accommodation in Malaga comes from the hand of tourist flats, which since 2019 has grown by 83 from 171 to 254, reaching 48% more properties and places.

This growth comes part of this tourist transformation in which the strategy now focuses on increasing the quality on offer. This is why Malaga mayor Francisco de la Torre said the city needs more luxury hotels. Tourism councillor Jacobo Florido said the city wants to double its offer of places with more stars in a period of about four years, adding the city needs a thousand more five-star beds in addition to the almost a thousand already available.

In the pipeline are the Hotusa chain's hotel in the Palacio de la Tinta, football star Piqué's project to be managed by Meliá on the site of the old Andalucía cinema, and another hotel in the upper part of calle Victoria where the post office will be converted into a luxury hotel. With these projects, Malaga city will have a dozen five-star hotels in the very short term.

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