Single National Registry for short-term rentals in Spain

A single national registry for short-term rentals in Spain has been declared by Royal Decree and issued by the government.

The law, which is set to come into force on 2 January 2025, makes it mandatory to register short-term rental properties in a centralised digital system. Once registered, the property will be given a unique code which will accompany its listing on any online platform such as Airbnb, Vrbo or Booking.com.

With the decree, signed by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, the government seeks to tackle illegal short-term rentals and the phenomenon of “overtourism”.

Owners will be required to obtain their registration number -which will be renewed annually- submit the required information and provide online booking platforms with their code in order to be successfully registered. The platforms themselves must ensure that owners and property managers identify their properties with their own unique code and display it very clearly on any listing on their platform.

The registration process will be carried out through Spain’s professional body for property registration known as “Colegio de Registradores”.

Protecting young renters

In an attempt to protect young renters between the ages of 18 and 35, the degree states that they are entitled to receive a rent coupon which gives them €250 for up to two years towards their rent as a way of making the renting market more affordable for younger generations.

Permits and approvals for short-term rentals in Spain

Essencially, the digital register for short-term rentals in Spain is being introduced as per it’s earlier adoption by the European Commission.

According to the decision by Cabinet Ministers, short-term rental permits will be approved or rejected after thorough checks. This process is expected to be particularly thorough in high volume tourist areas.

Permits will only be granted to accommodation that complies with the regulations set by the municipalities. For short-term rentals, owners must justify the reason they rent their property within this category of rental rather than long term for example.

Moving forward, accommodation without a permit will be considered illegal, penalties will be imposed and registration on OTA platforms such as Airbnb will be prohibited, as well as any other marketing action.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez said that with this regulation he hopes to alleviate the difficulties faced by many tenants looking for affordable housing.

The Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Isabel Rodríguez, said that the government promises not to stop until it offers a comprehensive solution to the demands and problems faced by millions of people across Spain.

She added that she hopes that the digital register for short-term rentals in Spain will be linked to the European version by 2026. As she said, the insufficient recording of information on tourist rentals in the EU is causing disarray and mismanagement in the housing problem.

Rodríguez emphasized, that having a register in place will reduce the possibility of illegality and fraud in the short-term rental market and people who really need affordable rented accommodation will be able to get it.

The objective of the Spanish Government

The Spanish government has taken measures this year to crack down on illegal short-term rentals and combat over-tourism in the wake of protests in popular tourist destinations across the country.

Illegal rentals, according to checks in Spain’s main tourist cities, are as follows:

Madrid: The central government claims that 14,000 unregistered short-term rentals on booking platforms such as Airbnb have been identified in Madrid. It hopes that the measures it is introducing will return more than 10,000 properties to Madrid’s long-term rental market.

In April, Madrid City Council announced a temporary suspension of new permits for vacation rentals in the city with immediate effect – a suspension that looks likely to last until 2025.

Barcelona: In June, in a dramatic turn of events, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni, of the left-wing Socialist Party of Catalonia, announced that the city government would ban all short-term rentals for tourists from the end of 2028.

Malaga: Is set to ban new short-term tourist rentals in 43 neighborhoods across the city, following protests by residents against the influx of digital nomads, rising rent prices and the reduction in the supply of long-term affordable housing.

More than 41,000 properties are currently believed to be rented out to tourists in the province of Malaga.

Seville: In August, Seville’s mayors office announced drastic plans to cut off water supplies to short-term rentals that are rented out illegally.

More recently, the Andalusian city council pledged to introduce short-term rental permits, which would mean that no more than ten percent of Seville’s properties could be rented out to tourists.

Valencia: Landlords who operate unlicensed and black-market short-term rental properties face fines of up to €600,000 as part of upcoming regulations in the Valencia region.

Canary Islands: A draft law, prepared across the seven-island archipelago earlier this year, would ban newly built properties from being put on the short-term rental market.

Landlords in Spain who have obtained a permit will have five years to comply with the new rules on short-term rentals. In addition, the consent of the neighbours to the short-term rental will be required in order to issue the licence.