Holiday rental lawyer in Marbella.

01

Getting the property compliant

In Andalusia, holiday rental homes (viviendas de uso turístico) are governed by Decree 28/2016, as amended by Decree 31/2024. Before the first guest arrives, a declaración responsable (sworn declaration) must be filed with the regional Tourism Department to enter the property in the Andalusian Tourism Register (Registro de Turismo de Andalucía). The registration code must appear in every advertisement, including on platforms.

• Prior check of the planning status: the property must stand on residential land and hold the licences required by the town plan; if they are missing, the regional government can cancel the registration.
• Review of the requirements set by the decree: minimum floor area per guest, heating and air conditioning, equipment and information for guests.
• Check of municipal limits: Andalusian town halls may cap the number of holiday rental homes per building, sector or area.
• Preparation and filing of the declaración responsable, and follow-up until the registration code is issued.

02

Your community of owners and the registration number

Since 3 April 2025, the Horizontal Property Act, as amended by Organic Law 1/2025, requires the owners' meeting to expressly approve the use of a flat as a holiday rental, by a vote of three fifths of the owners who also represent three fifths of the shares. Owners already carrying on the activity before that date are, in principle, exempt. The community may also set a higher contribution to common charges for these homes, capped at 20 %, and the community statutes may contain prohibitions that should be checked before you buy.

Royal Decree 1312/2024 created a Single Rental Register (Registro Único de Arrendamientos) which, from 1 July 2025, required a national number to advertise on platforms. The Spanish Supreme Court annulled that part of the register in a judgment of 19 May 2026, published in the Official State Gazette on 8 June, on the grounds that it encroached on regional powers. The Digital Single Window and the platforms' reporting duties remain; in Andalusia, the code your listings must show is the Tourism Register code.

03

Guests and tax

Anyone who accommodates travellers, whether professionally or not, must report the details of each booking and each guest to the Ministry of the Interior, electronically and within the time limits laid down in Royal Decree 933/2021.

If you are resident in Spain, a holiday let without hotel-type services is taxed under personal income tax (IRPF) as income from real estate, without the reductions available for long-term residential lettings. If you provide hotel-type services, such as cleaning during the stay, changes of linen or meals, it becomes a business activity and is subject to VAT. If you are not resident in Spain, you declare the income under Non-Resident Income Tax (form 210): at 19 % if you reside in another state of the European Union or the European Economic Area with which there is an effective exchange of tax information, with expenses deductible, and at 24 % on gross income in all other cases. We set this up properly from the start with the tax lawyer on our team.

04

Inspections, penalties and cancellations: we defend you

The Andalusian regional government inspects the tourist accommodation market and has cancelled thousands of registrations in recent years. Offering a property without having filed the declaración responsable is treated as clandestine activity, which tourism legislation classes as a serious infringement. If you receive a formal request, an inspection report, notice that penalty proceedings have been opened or a cancellation notice, the time limits to respond are short.

• Written submissions, proposals of evidence and, where possible, bringing the property into compliance during the proceedings.
• Administrative appeals and, where needed, judicial review before the administrative courts.
• Disputes with the community of owners: resolutions banning or restricting holiday lets, increased charges and injunction claims.