Tourist Rental Licences

As summer draws to a close in Andalucía, 2026 looks likely to be another very strong year for tourism. In 2025, the region welcomed approximately 14.5 million international visitors, and while hotels accommodate the majority, an estimated 5 million (35%) stay in apartments, villas, and other private accommodation. Against that background, recent changes to Andalucía's tourist rental regulations matter not just to professional investors but to anyone buying a property who might want to rent it out at some point in the future.

I’ve recently been researching the Marbella property market for an investor who already owns a successful short-term rental in the South of France and wanted to repeat the process in Andalucía. From the outset, we agreed on one thing: I would only shortlist apartments where the tourist licence position could be established before they spent time viewing them. I did warn them the shortlist would, in all probability, be quite short, and it was.

Tourist licences - yes or no?

Against a background of countrywide protests about the lack of sufficient and affordable properties, it has become politically expedient to shift the blame onto tourism, foreign property buyers, and tourist rental licences, completely ignoring Spain’s chronic and ongoing lack of new properties. The regulatory picture has become increasingly complicated. In 2025, central government introduced a national short-term rental registration system, parts of which were subsequently annulled by the Supreme Court in May 2026. As a result, the autonomous regions retain responsibility for their own tourism legislation, and their approaches differ considerably.

Since the ruling, Andalucía has clearly laid out its position. Andalucía’s regional government has stated a valid tourist licence (VUT) is transferable on sale, and that future Community bans could not be retrospective. But, and it’s a big but, since April 2025, if there is no existing licence, explicit approval from the Community’s administrators must be given before an owner can apply for one.

The key word is ‘transferable’

However, an agent’s property listing stating ‘existing tourist licence’ isn’t good enough; they’re not all transferable. So, a search for properties with an existing, transferable licence has several layers to it. A buyer needs to know which registry the licence is on. Where three or more tourist accommodation units are being operated together within the geographical limits defined by Andalucía's tourist-apartment legislation, they may fall under the separate non-transferable tourist apartment establishments regime, rather than that applying to an individual VUT. So, an agent stating a property has a valid tourist licence does not necessarily mean the buyer can simply take over that registration on purchase. More digging is required.

That’s exactly what happened with one apartment I recently investigated. It had a perfectly valid tourist registration, but further enquiries revealed the seller operated numerous units in the same development. The registration attached to the existing operation was therefore not something my client could simply inherit by buying one apartment. Worryingly, some agents’ listings described the property as having a tourist licence without stating it was not transferable.

For the buyer, the question is no longer simply: “Does this apartment have a tourist licence, but what kind of licence does it have?” 

However, no licence or a non-transferable one doesn’t have to be the end of the road. The next step is to find out the current attitude of the Community of Owners. The Community’s Statutes are the first step, followed by the minutes of the most recent AGM. These documents tell a buyer if tourist rental licences are already banned or if it’s an issue being considered by the owners. 

Ban rentals - or deal with the problem?

Indeed, the Community at a very well-located, beachfront urbanisation in my client’s search area discussed an outright ban at their AGM in August. The sentiment from the floor was for a ban. However, the administrators urged caution and pointed out that of more than 200 apartments only 24 held tourist rental licences and that just one owner, with two adjacent apartments accommodating a total of 16 guests, was the cause of all the complaints about noise and disruption. In addition, they raised the issue of the increased value of a property holding a valid licence. This almost sounds like a recommendation to apply for a licence if you own a property in a Community that allows new licences, even if there is no intention of using it. Remember, in Andalucía, a ban at some point in the future can’t cancel existing licences. And I also see a few agents stating in descriptions of properties without a licence that tourist rentals are allowed in the Community, indicating that the added value of a licence is now recognised.

Other issues potential investors should check: are there minimum stays associated with tourist rentals, is there a surcharge on community fees, are there other conditions in force?  While searching for this recent client, I came across two developments in the search area, with properties for sale matching the criteria, but one had a seven-day minimum stay and the other one month. Both were rejected as my client wants to attract across the sector, including the shorter stays of three to five days that are an increasing feature of the tourism landscape. Some communities are already surcharging fees by as much as 20% and imposing onerous conditions to impose good behaviour. One example I’ve heard of relates to hot-tub use, insisting the owner or a representative must be present if guests want to use the tub, a bit like a lifeguard. 

The key questions

So, for anyone buying a property where short-term rental income matters, whether from day one or potentially sometime in the future, “Does it have a tourist licence?” is no longer enough. What kind of registration does it have? Will it survive a change of ownership? What do the community statutes say? What has been decided at recent AGMs? Are there minimum stays, additional charges, or operating restrictions? And if there is no existing licence, will the community approve a new one? Those are questions to answer before viewing, not after buying.

And there is another question emerging from all this: if obtaining new tourist licences becomes increasingly difficult while existing rights are protected, what does that do to the value of properties that already have one?  I'll look at that in my next article.