Holiday Rentals Law in Andalusia (updated 2024)

On the 12th of May 2016, the new regulation concerning holiday rentals was implemented in Andalucia. If you own a property that is regularly rented out to tourists for a fee, you are required to register it as a “Vivienda Turística” (Touristic property) in the dedicated registry established by the regional government. Failure to do so will render your apartment as “clandestine”, and you may face a fine of up to €18,000 solely for non-registration. This specific regulation has been recently updated, with significant changes.

Let’s start over and explore the scope of this new regulation:

Which properties DO NOT have to be registered?  Those rented for periods longer than 2 months (to the same person) and those that are not being offered for rent habitually. So, if you are renting out your apartment for long term, this regulation doesn’t affect you in any way. Also, if your property is on rural land or you haver 3 or more properties for rent, you have to follow a different procedure (“Apartamentos Turísticos/Touristic apartments in the first case and “Vivienda Turistica de Alojamiento Rural”/Touristic home on rural land  in the later).

Which properties have to be registered? Apartments, town-houses and villas situated on residential land  which are habitually offered for rent at a fixed price and for periods shorter than 2 months. This applies to both  properties offered completely or by rooms, but in the latter case the owner has to live in the property. So the key word here is “habitually”. The Tourism department of the Regional Government understands that a property is being offered for rent habitually when it is being advertised through tourism channels, such as travel agencies or online platforms. It is important to take into consideration that  even if you do not use any of these channels to advertise your property, but you are renting out your property habitually, you still have to register.

On January 29, 2024, the Andalusian Government enacted Decree 31/2024, introducing several adjustments pertaining to tourist accommodations, apartments, and hotel establishments in the Autonomous Community of Andalusia. This regulation, published in the BOJA on February 2nd, became effective on February 22, 2024. You can access the complete decree in Spanish by clicking here.

Regarding specifically tourist accommodations (now called VUT, instead of VFT), the modifications encompass the inclusion of new requirements and the updating of existing ones. The most notable innovations for dwellins for tourist purposes are as follows:

1. The requirement to present a First Occupation License (F.O.L.) alongside the responsible declaration has been  eliminated. Instead, the applicant for the license must declare that the dwelling complies with urban planning regulations. This can be advantageous for many properties that, for various reasons, do not possess an F.O.L. However, it is crucial to ensure that the property genuinely conforms to town planning regulations, and we strongly advise obtaining a certificate issued by an architect to confirm this compliance.

2. Limitations for VUTs in Community of Property Owners: The tourist use of dwellings located in buildings whose community of property owners’ statutes expressly prohibit it is prohibited. Additionally, and although there is not a specific mention of this in the Decree, the fact is that at the moment of filing the “Responsible Declaration” (application for the license), it is compulsory to provide a Certification issued by the Land Registry, stating that the Community of Property Owners has not forbidden VUTs. (This is representing a problem at the present moment as some Land Registries are not issuing this specific type of certificate yet.)

3.Requirement to specify activity periods in the responsible declaration: Tourist accommodations must clearly state the periods during which they are operational, preventing their commercialization outside of these specified times. This will be especially significant in instances where the Community of Property Owners has sanctioned increased fees for this type of property, as they will only be applicable during the periods when the property is “active”.

4. Update of technical and habitability requirements:

– Minimum surface area: 14 square metres per guest.
– Number of bathrooms: two if the number of sleeping places exceeds five, and three bathrooms if the number of sleeping places exceeds eight.
– Refrigeration and heating.
– 24-hour telephone assistance.
– First aid kit.
– Installation of some type of smoke detectors in the kitchen area or a fire extinguisher.
– Additionally, there is a new annex outlining requirements concerning household goods and furniture for tourist accommodations. You can find detailed information in the annex on pages 9 and 10 of Decree 31/2024, dated January 29th, published in the BOJA (accesible here)

VUTs , already licensed as such, that do not meet the habitability requirements will have a period of one year to comply with them.

5. Municipalities’ capacity to limit the number of VUTs: Local Town Halls may impose restrictions on the maximum number of tourist accommodations per building, sector, period, or area, always in the public interest and in accordance with the guidelines established by the Supreme Court in its most recent jurisprudence.

The system for obtaining the license remains the same. You need to register your property on the “Registro de Turismo de Andalucía” (Andalusian Tourism Register) by completing a “Declaración Responsable” (Responsible Declaration) where you will declare that your property meets all the requirements. You can try to do this yourself if you are in possession of a “digital certificate,” or you can use a lawyer who will file your application and provide you with all the necessary advice. Once your registration application is approved, you will be granted a Registry Number that you should include in any advertisement of your property.

Also, you or your rental agent on your behalf will need to sign a contract with every tenant, even if it is for one night only, and you need to obtain a copy of their ID, the details of which must be retained for one year along with the contract. You (or your agent) are required to provide the details of every guest over 16 years of age to the Police or Guardia Civil within 24 hours from the arrival of the guests. This can be done online once you or your agent have obtained the necessary username and password to log into the police website..You can read more about this clicking here.

And last but certainly not least, what can Bravo Legal do for you regarding this new regulation? Well, we’re here to lend a hand! We can assist you in registering your property. Once the registration process is complete, we’ll remain by your side to help with tax declarations and address any questions or concerns you may have regarding the implications of this new regulation.

We have temporarily suspended this service due to recent changes in the law. We hope to resume this service shortly. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Since November 2020, the registration can only be made on-line, and this means that if we are going to file the application on your behalf, we will need a Power of Attorney signed before a Notary. If this can be signed using our local Notary, we will not charge anything extra for this, but you will have to pay the Notary fees (approx 90 Euros). If you can’t attend to our Notary and/or you have to sign this in a Notary in your country of residence, we will charge an extra of 150,00 Euros + IVA as we will need to provide you with a draft of the Power of Attorney, and you will need to pay the Notary fees too, please also bear in mind, if the document is signed outside the UE, you will need to legalise the document with the Apostille of The Hague Convention.

If you want to read about the TAX implications of this new law please click HERE.

If you want to REQUEST OUR SERVICE please click HERE