Holiday rentals in Spain

New law on holiday rentals in Spain (2014)

Regarding the holiday rentals in Spain, the law project on the house rental market that was launched in 2013, i.e. the well-known "law on flexibilization measures and fostering of the housing rental market" (in Spanish "Ley de medidas de flexibilizacion y fomento del mercado del alquiler de viviendas") has been already launched in many autonomous regions in Spain. 

This law will bring many changes. One in particular is that short-term holiday rentals (less than a month) won't be governed anymore by the LAU (in Spanish "Ley de Arrendamiento Urbano") or the Law on Urban Rentals, but will be administered by the autonomous regions within the frame- work of the local tourism regulations. 

This will change the rental market in many ways and in particular will enforce minimum quality standards and better protection of holiday tenant's rights. It will also fight "black market" rentals, where Spanish property incomes are declared.

It is believed that around 20% of the holiday rental offer belongs to the underground economy. These types of rentals are typically marketed on foreign channels (most of the time on foreign websites) with payments made to foreign banks accounts making the transactions undetectable by Spanish authorities. 

Many UK newspapers incorrectly reported that there was a ban on holiday rentals for property owned by private individuals. This is absolutety not true as the objective of these changes is not to protect the interests of the Hotel industry, but simply to set minimum quality standards and break the underground rental market.   

Holiday rentals in Spanish regions

The speed at which the new regulations will be enforced depends on the region. While many regions already placed a system of registrations for the rental apartments, Andalusia will put in place the new regulations before the end of the year (for the time being and until the regulation is in place the LAU will still govern holiday rentals). 

Holiday Rentals in Andalusia 

Private people willing to rent their properties (as whole or as rooms) as holiday accommodations will have to apply for a free license to the Tourism and commerce department of the Junta de Andalucia. It's not clear what will be necessary to include in the application, but for sure a documentation of the property. There will be a minimum set of criteria's that the property will have to comply in order to guarantee standards of safety and hygiene.

These will include: 

• Fire extinguishers in the property 

• First aid kits 

• Complaint forms for guests 

• Bedrooms should have exterior ventilation (windows or doors to the outside) 

• Minimum set of domestic appliances and services in working order