Spain: short-term rentals go to the vote

In Spain, short-term rentals go to the vote with homeowners’ associations or property owners’ associations and communities being granted the right to ban short-term rentals in buildings and housing estates with a majority vote of the owners.

This decision was issued by the Spanish Supreme Court (Tribunal Supremo).

The landmark decision, as it has been described, establishes clear rules for such practices, enabling owners to control tourism activity within the buildings in which they have their residence. Banning short-term vacation rentals will no longer require unanimous consent, but still needs a majority of 60% in favour of the ban.

This follows two previous appeals to the Supreme Court. One involved a case in Marbella in 2019. Here, building tenants complained of noises; marijuana and urine smells; and other nuisance behaviors coming from apartments rented to tourists. With 48 votes in favor, a resolution was passed banning short-term tourist rentals. Two companies, which owned six tourist apartments in the building in question, appealed to the court, which ruled that the ban was legal.

In the same year, 2019, an article of the Royal Decree on horizontal ownership in the country was amended. Article 17.12 of the Act allowed communities to vote to ban or restrict short-term rental activity, but did not specify the voting threshold for making a decision. Thus, each court in Spanish provinces interpreted the law differently and issued different decisions.

In December last year, the Supreme Court ruled that short-term rentals can be banned by an association of apartment owners, provided that the owners’ association must expressly prohibit such economic activities in the building in question, even if the property meets all legal and municipal requirements to operate as short-term holiday rentals.

In the Canary Islands (Spain territory) the Association of Holiday Properties ASCAV (Asociación Canaria del Alquiler Vacacional) welcomed the latest court ruling, underlining that it will allow associations to freely determine whether they wish to restrict or prohibit short-term rentals. At the same time, the ruling protects the rights of individual property owners by providing clear guidelines with the regulation.