Chapter

Holiday rental licence in Spain: what a foreign owner needs

§ 1Three layers

A tourist let in Spain is not a matter of putting a listing online. Three layers of rules apply. The first is the authorisation and registration from the region or the municipality, which differs by place and which some places have closed to new licences. The second is the community of owners: in a building under the horizontal property law, a new tourist let needs the community’s prior express approval first, and the owners can limit or ban tourist lets by a vote. The third is national and is now thinner than it was: the single registry number that a 2024 royal decree created was annulled by the Supreme Court in a judgment of 19 May 2026, so what remains is regional registration, the platforms’ duty to send data to the authorities, and tax. This page belongs to the section on renting and investing.

§ 2The national registry number, annulled

The national registry number explains what the 2024 royal decree set up, what the Supreme Court removed in a judgment published on 8 June 2026 and what stays. Advice and adverts written before that date may still treat the number as a national requirement. Letting on Airbnb explains what this means for listing on a platform.

§ 3The community

In a building under the horizontal property law, a new tourist let needs the community’s prior express approval first, and approving, limiting or prohibiting tourist rental needs the favourable vote of three fifths of the owners. The community vote explains the approval, the vote and their effects, and the legal process section explains how communities of owners work.

§ 4The regions

Each region has its own rules. The Valencian Community covers the Valencian Community and Andalusia covers Andalusia.

Catalonia covers Catalonia and the Balearic Islands covers the Balearic Islands.

The Canary Islands covers the Canary Islands and Madrid covers Madrid. We read an official page or a legal text for each, and each page says what we could not read. Other regions are not covered.

§ 5Tourist or long let

The lettings act excludes temporary tourist-style lets of up to thirty-one days from its rules. The chapter on long lets, buy to let in detail, explains the lease rules, and a seasonal let for work or study follows other rules that a decree-law of October 2026 tightens. Do not describe a long let as a tourist let or the reverse, because the rules and the penalties differ.

§ 6Tax

Rent is taxed as income, as the costs section explains. Decree-law 29/2026, published on 7 October 2026 and still awaiting validation by the standing committee of the Congress, taxes furnished lets of up to thirty nights at 10% VAT from 1 December 2026, unless the home is the landlord’s own main home, and lets councils in stressed zones add a surcharge to the property tax on tourist homes, up to 50%, 100% or 150% of the tax. We read those articles in the gazette. If Congress does not validate the decree-law, none of this takes effect. The rules on rental yields explains how tax changes the yield.

§ 7Penalties and risks

Letting without the required authorisation or registration can bring fines and the suspension of the listing. The Balearic decree-law sets fines in the tens and hundreds of thousands of euros for serious cases, and other regions have their own scales. Do not rely on a home’s past use as a tourist let; ask for the papers.

§ 8Buying a home already let

If you buy a home that is let to tourists, ask for the registration, the licence, the community’s express approval and minutes, and the tax history. A licence may not transfer to a buyer in every region. The overview in how investment strategy works explains the wider risks.

§ 9Before you buy

Ask your lawyer to check every layer for the specific home, in writing, and test your plan against a ban.

§ 10Questions for the seller of a tourist home

Ask for the regional registration, the municipal licence or declaration, the community’s written approval and minutes, the registry number your platform uses and the tax filings. Ask for the booking history and the complaints. Ask your lawyer to check whether the authorisation passes to a buyer in that region, and make the purchase conditional on the answer.

§ 11What we did not read

We read official texts or official pages for six regions, and the operative part of the Supreme Court judgment on the national registry, and each page says what was missing. We did not read the platforms’ duties in detail, the court’s reasoning, other regions’ rules or most municipal ordinances. Rules change quickly, so treat each page as a starting point and confirm the current text.

§ 12A plan B

Test the purchase against a refusal of the licence or a ban by the community. If the home still works as a long let or a personal home at an acceptable price, the risk is smaller. If it works only as a tourist let, price the risk of losing that use.

§ 13Keep records

Keep the registration, the licence, the community’s approval and minutes, and the bookings in one file. Authorities and a later buyer will ask for them.

§ 14Insurance and liability

Ask your insurer whether a tourist let is covered, what it requires and who is liable for guests. Many policies for a home do not cover paid guests, and some regions require liability insurance. Keep the policy with your registration papers.

§ 15Guest records

Tourist lets carry a duty to record guests and report them to the police. Ask your lawyer which system applies in your region and who files it when a manager runs the home.

§ 16Back to the section

Renting and investing explained explains how to earn from a Spanish property and the rules that limit it.

Legal note. How the process works in general. It is not legal advice, and it never replaces an independent Spanish lawyer acting for you.