The new European regulation for short-term rentals has been in force in Spain since 1 July. It obliges owners to enter their holiday and seasonal accommodation in a central register in order to create transparency and better control illegal offers.
According to the Ministry of Housing, there are now several hundred thousand holiday homes that are regularly advertised on platforms such as Airbnb, Booking or Vrbo. A particularly large number of these properties are concentrated in the province of Alicante - according to current figures, over 40 per cent of the entire Spanish holiday home market is located here alone.
Which accommodation have to be registered?
All properties that are regularly rented out for tourist or seasonal stays of less than 31 days must be registered - regardless of whether they are marketed privately or via an agent. In future, each advert must contain a unique identification number. Without this code, publication on the Internet is prohibited.
Longer tenancies of more than one month for residential purposes and occasionally rented rooms in one's own main residence are excluded - unless regional regulations provide otherwise.
This is how registration works
The notification is made via the central platform Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos, which bundles applications and forwards them to the responsible authorities.
Step by step:
1. fill in the online form with all details about the property, the owner and the type of use
2. save the form as a PDF.
3. submit the application for allocation of the registration number online.
4. upload all required documents, e.g. authorisations or declarations in accordance with regional law.
After checking, the unique registration number is assigned - it must be clearly visible in every advert.
What information do you need?
Among other things, the following are required:
- Complete address and cadastral reference
- Maximum occupancy
- Indication of whether the property is located in a residential building
- Proof of municipal authorisations (if required)
- Personal data of the owner or representative
The portal is available in several languages - including English, German and French.
Penalties for non-compliance
Anyone who has not yet registered their property or provides incomplete information risks considerable consequences: The ministry can have unregistered properties blocked immediately. Platforms such as Airbnb or Booking must remove such listings within 48 hours of being informed.
Since the middle of last year, tens of thousands of holiday flats have already disappeared from the market - especially in popular coastal regions.
For property owners on the Costa Blanca, if you want to continue letting legally, you should comply with the registration requirements now. The effort involved is manageable - but the penalties for non-compliance are severe.
Detailed information and the possibility to
Online application can be found under:
https://www.registradores.org
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