Short-term rentals in Spain: The Supreme Court has annulled the 'Registro Único’. What does this mean for property buyers?

The discussion about the regulation of short-term property rentals in Spain is not falling silent. Just over a year after a change in the law that resulted, among other things, in the need for a tourist licence for so-called holiday flats, the Supreme Court has issued a precedent-setting ruling. Read what it means for property owners in Spain, including on the Costa del Sol and in Andalusia.

Spain’s Supreme Court has annulled the single tenancy register

On 8 June 2026, a Supreme Court judgment (BOE-A-2026-12300) was published in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE), which annulled the legislation on the State Short-Term Rental Register(Registro Único de Arrendamientos) and the obligation to obtain an NRUA registration number. Thus, the court held that the State did not have the competence to create a register duplicating existing regional systems.

The Spanish Supreme Court’s judgment shows that it invalidated the ’Registro Único de Arrendamientos’, or Unified Rental Register – arguing that the State does not have the authority to create it – thus infringing the competences of the Autonomous Communities and duplicating the function of the existing tourist register.

The main consequence, therefore, is the elimination of the state tourism licence number (NRUA) – required from 1 June 2025 for any short-term rental property listing on platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com.

Tourist licenses for properties in Spain still in force

However, the ruling does not mean that the tourism licences in force at regional level are abolished. In Andalusia, the obligation to register properties for tourist rental and to obtain the corresponding registration number in the Andalusian Tourism Register(Registro de Turismo de Andalucía – RTA), maintained by the Government of Andalusia (Junta de Andalucia), remains in force. Property owners are still obliged to comply with the requirements, as set out in the regulations of the Autonomous Community.

At the same time, the Digital Rental Data Platform(Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos) will continue to operate, so online platforms will continue to be obliged to regularly report the short-term rental data of each property. This data will then be made available to the autonomous communities and municipalities, which will continue to be responsible for the control and supervision of the tourist rental market, monitoring compliance and enforcing existing regulations.

How do I obtain a short-term rental property licence in Spain?

– It is also worth noting that the ruling does not affect the Register of Tourist Licences in Andalusia, which operates at a regional level and remains fully in force. The Supreme Court has only invalidated the national register 'Registro Único de Arrendamientos’, leaving in place the provisions concerning the centralisation of data and the coordination of information on short-term rentals , concludes Agnieszka Marciniak-Kostrzewa, founder of Agnes Inversiones.

Thus, owners of properties in Andalusia, including on the Costa del Sol, must hold a tourist licence. In the event of a change of ownership of a property already in possession of a tourist licence, it remains valid and in force, provided that the property continues to meet all the current legal, administrative and technical requirements for the operation of a tourist rental.

For properties that do not yet have a tourist licence, it is necessary to check whether the community of owners has previously adopted a resolution restricting or prohibiting new tourist rentals. If such a ban has been passed by a 3/5 majority, it may not be possible to obtain a new licence – regardless of the will of the property owner.

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