Tourist licences in Spain. What do buyers of holiday flats need to know?

Short-term (so-called ‘holiday’) lettings in Spain remain one of the most heavily regulated segments of the property market. Between 2025 and 2026, regulations concerning, amongst other things, the consent of the owners’ association, registration and the monitoring of online listings were clarified and came into force. From 3 April 2025, an owner wishing to commence tourist accommodation activities in a property covered by a owners’ association must, as a general rule, obtain the association’s prior, explicit consent by a three-fifths majority of owners representing three-fifths of the shares. At the same time in 2025, the Spanish Ministry of Consumer Affairs announced the removal from Airbnb of approximately 65,000 listings that did not meet legal requirements. In 2026, the situation was further altered by a ruling of the Tribunal Supremo, which partially annulled the state procedure known as the Registro Único de Arrendamientos. It is therefore crucial for property buyers in Andalusia to distinguish between registration with the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA), local council requirements, the rules of the owners’ association and the regulations governing online platforms.

Spain remains one of the world’s largest tourism markets. According to the INE (the Spanish National Institute of Statistics), in 2025 the country welcomed 96.8 million foreign tourists, 3.2 per cent more than the previous year, and their total expenditure amounted to 134.7 billion euros (+6.8 per cent year-on-year). The Polish market is growing particularly rapidly: Turespaña reports that 2.44 million tourists from Poland visited Spain in 2024, and in 2025 the number of arrivals from Poland rose by a further 23.6 per cent, whilst spending increased by 28.3 per cent. The Costa del Sol remains one of the key areas of this market – Málaga-Costa del Sol Airport handled a record 26.76 million passengers in 2025, 7.4% more than in 2024.

However, growing tourist demand does not mean that every property with an existing VUT (Vivienda de Uso Turístico – residential property intended for short-term tourist lets) registration will automatically be able to be let by its new owner. Case law from the Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública (DGSJFP) in 2025 confirmed that the Andalusian licence/registration is property-specific and that the sale itself does not result in its expiry. At the same time, a more recent interpretation dated 19 March 2026 indicates that a purchaser who bought the property after 3 April 2025 must obtain the consent of the owners’ association if they wish to carry out tourist activities – even if the property was previously entered in the register. Therefore, an existing licence is an important factor, but does not in itself guarantee the possibility of continuing to let the property.

A tourist licence may be transferred to the new owner – but additional conditions must be checked

A ruling dated 30 July 2025 concerning a property in Málaga confirmed that a tourism licence in Andalusia is not tied to the owner. Its validity is primarily linked to the status of the property. Subsequent rulings have, however, clarified that the transfer of the licence and the new owner’s right to carry out tourism activities are two separate matters.

• The sale of a property does not automatically result in the expiry of the existing entry in the RTA, provided that the conditions relating to the property continue to be met.
• The new owner must notify the change of titularidad (authorised party) to the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía and update the details regarding the management of the premises.
• If the purchase took place after 3 April 2025, the current interpretation requires the new owner to obtain prior consent from the owners’ association in accordance with Article 17.12 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal (Act on Condominium Ownership and the Functioning of Owners’ Associations) – 3/5 of the owners and 3/5 of the shares.
• Regardless of the entry in the RTA, it is necessary to check the community’s articles of association and compliance with the local authority’s town planning regulations; local regulations may restrict or temporarily suspend new VUTs.

Important: an existing licence does not automatically exempt the new purchaser from the requirements in force at the time of purchase.

A transitional exception applies to owners who were lawfully carrying out tourist activities before 3 April 2025 and were previously subject to the relevant tourism regulations. According to the ruling of the DGSJFP of 19 March 2026, this exception applies to the specific owner operating the business prior to that date, and not solely to the property itself.

In practice, before purchasing a flat with an existing licence, one should therefore verify not only the RTA number, but also the date and status of the registration, the community’s resolution or statutes, and the current regulations of the municipality or city.

Procedure for transferring ownership of a tourism licence: step by step

In Andalusia, the purchaser of a property already registered with the RTA should report the change of ‘titularidad’ (ownership / legal title / being the formal owner or authorised party) via the Oficina Virtual de la Junta de Andalucía (the online portal of the Andalusian Regional Government, through which residents, businesses and authorised representatives can carry out various administrative tasks online). The office states in its current FAQs that the electronic ‘Comunicación’ form in the Andalusian Tourism Register (RTA) is to be used for this purpose; in the section on changes, ‘Titularidad’ must be selected and the RTA number provided.

The notification must include the details of the new owner and the periods during which the VUT was in operation. A current ‘nota simple informativa’ (abridged extract from the land register) from the Registro de la Propiedad must be attached to the form; if a representative is acting on behalf of the owner, a document confirming their authority must also be provided, unless the notification is submitted using the relevant certificate (trusted profile) of a representative of a legal entity.

The notification of a change of ownership alone does not fulfil the other requirements. The new purchaser must also confirm that the property continues to meet the technical and town-planning requirements, is not subject to any restrictions set out in the neighbourhood council’s regulations and – where applicable – has the required consent from the owners’ association.

Local restrictions are becoming increasingly significant

On the Costa del Sol, it is necessary to check the regulations of the specific municipality. For example, in the city of Málaga, a moratorium on new VUTs has been in force since 23 August 2025 for a maximum period of three years, due to work on amending the PGOU (Plan General de Ordenación Urbanística, i.e. the city’s general urban development plan). In July 2026, the city also provisionally adopted further amendments restricting the automatic authorisation of the ‘hospedaje’ use as an alternative to residential use. These restrictions apply to the city of Málaga, not the entire coast, so the situation must be assessed separately for each municipality.

Significant changes for property owners in 2026

From 1 July 2025, Spain operated a national system, the Registro Único de Arrendamientos (NRUA), established under Royal Decree 1312/2024 for short-term lettings advertised on online platforms.

On 19 May 2026, the Tribunal Supremo partially annulled this regulation, ruling that the state did not have the authority to establish a registration procedure of this nature in the Registro de la Propiedad or the Registro de Bienes Muebles. The judgement was published in the BOE (Official State Gazette) on 8 June 2026.

The annulment concerned the state registration procedure and the obligation to obtain a number under that procedure, whilst the provisions relating to the Ventanilla Única Digital and the data transmission obligations of the platforms remained in force. Furthermore, from 20 May 2026, EU Regulation 2024/1028 on the collection and exchange of data on short-term lettings applies. From a property owner’s perspective, this means that before publishing a listing, one must check the current registration requirements for the relevant region and platform – an entry in the RTA should not be equated with the repealed national NRUA procedure.

How does a tourist licence affect the value of a property on the secondary market?

Spain ended 2025 with a record 96.8 million foreign tourists, whose total spending reached 134.7 billion euros. Andalusia was visited by 37.9 million tourists in 2025. At the same time, the official report by the Junta de Andalucía, ‘Oferta de alojamiento turístico en Andalucía. Year 2025’ shows that the number of beds in tourist accommodation rose by 9.4 per cent year-on-year to 792,216, accounting for 54.6 per cent of all regulated accommodation in the region. The Costa del Sol accounted for 58.7 per cent of the accommodation capacity along the entire Andalusian coast.

These figures confirm the importance of the short-let accommodation segment, but also the increasing extent of its regulation. The legal status of a property – its registration in the RTA, compliance with town planning regulations, its status within the residents’ association, and the ability to legally advertise the property online – should now be verified just as thoroughly as the status of the land register or any encumbrances on the property. The licence number alone does not constitute a legal guarantee of a higher sale price or a specific rental income.

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