With the deadline fast approaching, many foreigners and Spaniards who own tourist rental properties in Spain are struggling to get them registered with the Spanish government due to some all too common bureaucratic obstacles.
Foreign property owners in Spain are struggling to register their holiday rental accommodation before the upcoming July 1st deadline, figures reveal.
Following reforms to Spanish legislation last year, in order for a tourist rental to be advertised it must now appear in a new registry – the so-called ‘lease registration platform’ (Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos in Spanish).
But with only two weeks to go before the deadline, around 100,000 registrations have been made throughout the country so far, according to data from Spain’s Association of Registrars.
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Reports in the Spanish press suggest this would mean that around 70 percent of total tourist flats in Spain have not yet been registered, with the deadline, July 1st 2025, rapidly approaching.
Many Spanish owners are also having difficulties with the process due to the wide disparity in criteria and processes between different registrar offices, sources familiar with the process told The Objective.
As 2024 came to an end, the Spanish government finally approved new regulations for the official registration of tourist rentals in Spain. Although the rules officially come into force on January 2nd 2025, the law established a transition period lasting until 1st July 2025 in which all short-term, tourist property owners affected can register in the new system.
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As of that date, owners of tourist and seasonal rental properties in Spain must have a unique registration number to operate legally. This includes the creation of a single register for these rentals.
Those who do not have a registration number will be forced to stop their activity, as operating without it will be illegal. This issue affects both private owners and all digital platforms dedicated to holiday rentals that advertise this type of accommodation.
“The main problem we are encountering is with foreigners who own tourist rentals, whether they are foreign clients who contact the firm directly or management companies with foreign clients,” Carlos Babot, a lawyer at Babot-Aranguren Asociados specialised in these sorts of legal processes, told The Objective.
The registration should be possible by digital certificate or in person at the Colegio de Registradores de España, and it can be done through a lawyer, gestor or agent. However, this has proven a problem for many foreign owners.
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“In this case, the property registry requires a signed authorisation with a digital signature, and what happens is that most foreigners do not have a digital certificate. Try explaining to a Norwegian how to obtain a digital certificate in Spain. It is a tedious and cumbersome process that is greatly complicating the operation,” Badot says.
Registration also requires the cadastral reference and exact address of the property, the type of rental, the maximum occupancy of the property and compliance with the specific regulations of each region.
The Objective notes that landlords are also encountering problems on a local and regional level. “The difference in criteria between the property registries, each of which requires different documentation, is another problem,” Badot explains.
“We have encountered a lot of chaos, especially because of the criteria being followed by each property registry, which are different… You go to registry 9 in Málaga and they ask you for one set of documents, you go to registry 10 in Málaga and they ask you for a completely different set of documents.”
According to the Association of Registrars, the number of registrations is expected to increase in the last two weeks before the deadline because staff have received specific training to manage the process.
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The new register set up by the government essentially means that in order for a home to be marketed on digital platforms, say on Airbnb or Idealista, it must now appear in a new registry – the so-called ‘lease registration platform’ (Ventanilla Única Digital de Arrendamientos in Spanish).
In the past anyone could advertise their properties on online platforms such as Airbnb. There was no one checking if they actually had a tourist licence when it came to advertising online. This registry will verify that the property meets all the legal requirements to function as a holiday or seasonal rental. If it meets them all, it will be issued with an identification number to be able to advertise online.
The registers will be for all rentals lasting less than one year, which includes tourist apartments, such as Airbnbs, as well as other temporary rentals, rooms and even floating boats.
