Note

Tourist rental rules in Madrid

§ 1What we read

We read the Community of Madrid’s page on the declaration for tourist-use dwellings, its list of regulations, and a published resolution of the higher registry authority in a Madrid case. The regional page says its content is indicative and not binding, so check the official publications. This page belongs to the chapter in a closer look at holiday rentals.

§ 2Legal basis

The page cites Decree 79/2014, of 10 July, which regulates tourist apartments and tourist-use dwellings in the Community of Madrid. The Community’s own list of regulations shows that Decree 27/2026 of 25 March 2026, published on 6 April 2026, amends it. We did not read the amending decree. A law-firm summary says that it lets councils limit tourist dwellings, bars homes under public protection from tourist use, asks for both proof of the community’s approval and proof that it has not prohibited the use, and gives existing tourist dwellings a period to comply. Confirm each point in the Madrid gazette with your lawyer. The declaration is required at the start of the activity and on a change of holder, closure or exemptions. Seasonal rentals and room rentals are outside it.

§ 3Municipal licence

In the municipality of Madrid the owner must hold the licence for activity and operation. For other municipalities the page says to consult the local rules. In a published case from before the Supreme Court annulled the national registry number, a Madrid registrar refused to assign it because the owner had a regional registration from 2018 but no municipal licence, and the higher authority upheld the refusal, treating the regional declaration and the licence as separate requirements. The basics of the national registry number explains the case and the annulment.

§ 4Documents

The page lists, as documents to provide, the deed of incorporation if the owner is a company, a document proving the availability of the property and a liability insurance. It describes these three as voluntary. It also requires a suitability certificate signed by a competent technician, and the approval, or absence of a prohibition, by the community of owners; the horizontal property law adds that a new tourist let needs the community’s express approval first. The basics of the community vote explains the community.

§ 5Capacity

Dwellings of under twenty-five square metres of useful area take up to two people in at least one habitable room. Dwellings between twenty-five and forty square metres take up to four people in at least two rooms. For each additional ten square metres in at least one more independent room, two more people are allowed.

§ 6What the page does not say

The page does not mention a regional register number, the national registry (annulled in 2026), the time to resolve or the effect of silence, or the detail of the suitability certificate. The rules outside Madrid city are those of each municipality.

§ 7Before you buy

Ask the Madrid town hall which licence the building has, ask the administrator for the community position and ask your lawyer to check the registry. A home that was a tourist dwelling before may lack a licence that a new owner needs.

§ 8More on this topic

The basics of letting on Airbnb explains the platform side of tourist lets and the basics of the Valencian Community explains the Valencian rules for tourist dwellings.

The basics of Andalusia explains what the Junta says about tourist dwellings and the basics of Catalonia explains the Catalan decree-law on tourist dwellings.

The basics of the Balearic Islands explains the Balearic decree-law on tourist stays in dwellings and the basics of the Canary Islands explains the Canary law on tourist use of homes.

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