New Spanish law on short-term rentals
Pressure has been mounting on the Spanish authorities to deal with a housing shortage and high rental and purchase prices exacerbated by the fact that so much of the country’s housing stock is being used for short-term holiday rentals. The new law on holiday lets is one of a series of responses designed to deal with the situation.
The latest ruling is a modification of the existing Horizontal Property Law, which sets out the regulations regarding apartment blocks and residential community relations. According to the new law, an owner of a property in an apartment complex can only use it for holiday rentals if at least 60% of owners (in number and/or their ownership shares) vote to allow short-term lets within the community. Those who continue to rent out their properties to tourists in urbanisations that have voted against it can face legal action.
After April 3rd 2025
People who managed to obtain the required tourist license before 3rd April 2025 are exempt from the new ruling, but it applies to everybody else. In another twist, communities are also empowered to raise the community fees of properties being rented to tourists by up to 20%, a measure introduced as a levy on the extra ‘wear and tear’ on communal facilities such as lifts, swimming pools, etc.
The measures don’t affect long-term rentals, but it stands to reason that those properties with an existing tourist license have risen in value relative to those that don’t have it, as well as that homeowners keen on renting out their holiday homes for short-term lets are facing an increasingly difficult regime. The likes of Airbnb and Booking.com, for instance, will have to show official property identifiers on all their listings, or be removed within 48 hours.
The new law therefore makes holiday rentals more cumbersome for private owners, pushing investors towards aparthotels, buying apartments with an existing tourist license and/or within a residential community with resort amenities that is operated by a specialist company such as Esenzia, which besides taking care of all the required licenses and documentation also manages the community. Esenzia advises developers on how to create the best structure for communities of owners and also provides a professional reception, concierge and property and rental management service that allows for a smooth, professional operation with no negative impact for residents.
“Our staff is on-site to manage amenities such as the spa, gym, reception, swimming pool areas and also restaurants and coworking spaces. We do this for residents and guests, and we’re also there to receive arriving visitors, vet potential rentals beforehand and also ensure that the community’s rules are adhered to – by homeowners as well as their guests,” says Carmen Román, Operations Manager for Esenzia at Ayana, one of the residential resorts it operates.
In this way, property owners maintain the chance of earning a return on their holiday home if they don’t live there permanently and also don’t miss out on the fact that homes with a tourist license tend to be worth 15-25% more. “It works for all involved, is managed transparently and professionally, and offers a win-win solution to what is an increasingly difficult situation for private homeowner looking to earn income through short-term holiday rentals.”