Spain’s housing policy has suffered a serious blow following the decision of the Madrid High Court to annul the unified national register for short-term rentals, one of the government’s main tools for controlling the explosive growth of Airbnb-style tourist apartments.
Spain was the first country in the European Union to implement the European regulation on the registration and exchange of data for short-term rentals, creating the so-called VUDA (Digital One-Stop Rental Window / Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos). Through this platform, property owners were required to register their properties and obtain a mandatory registration number before advertising their accommodation on platforms such as Airbnb or Booking.com.
The Court’s reasoning
However, the High Court ruled that the Spanish state does not have the constitutional authority to impose a national registration system that overlaps with the already existing regional registers of the autonomous communities. According to the court, the regulation “duplicates” the procedures already applied by the regions for tourist properties.
The ruling came after an appeal by the regional government of Valencia, while similar objections had also been lodged by other autonomous communities, such as Andalusia and the Canary Islands, arguing that tourism is an exclusive regional competence.
The impact on the market and housing policy
The impact on the market and housing policyDespite the annulment of the national register, the court upheld the operation of the digital “one-stop shop” (VUDA) and the obligation of the platforms to transmit data to the authorities for statistical and enforcement purposes. This means that online platforms remain obliged to provide information regarding the properties advertised online.
The register was launched on a pilot basis on January 2, 2025, and became mandatory on July 1 of the same year. To date, more than 341,000 properties have been registered, of which approximately 258,000 are tourist apartments and 83,000 are seasonal rentals. According to Spain’s Ministry of Housing, the system had helped identify more than 111,000 illegal rentals.
The development is expected to reignite the conflict between the central government and the regions over the management of the housing crisis, as many Spanish cities are facing intense social pressure due to rising rents and the expansion of short-term rentals.
