Property owners in Spain looking to enter the short-term rental market face a complex and increasingly restrictive landscape of regional and municipal regulations. Driven by a severe national housing crisis and a persistent deficit of affordable accommodation, local authorities are aggressively capping the number of tourist licenses to protect residential housing stock.
Tourist rentals are frequently blamed for driving up prices and reducing the availability of long-term housing. Under the reform of the Horizontal Property Act, owners of properties in shared residential buildings or compounds must obtain prior approval from a three-fifths majority of their neighbors to operate a tourist rental anywhere in the country.
In Madrid, the city council has implemented an outright ban on new tourist accommodation permits. The capital enforces strict limits on the number of apartments allowed in its historic center, and in other areas, properties must feature a dedicated, independent entrance that does not mix with those used by permanent residents—a requirement that effectively rules out 95 percent of standard residential apartments.
Furthermore, tourist apartments are capped at two percent of the housing stock in each neighborhood.
Once an area reaches this limit, no new licenses are issued. Licenses in the capital are no longer valid indefinitely and must be renewed every five years. Additionally, room rentals are strictly banned, only entire flats can be rented, and short-term stays are capped at 10 consecutive days; anything exceeding this duration falls under medium-term rental regulations.
Barcelona has taken some of the most drastic measures in the country. The city stopped issuing new tourist licenses in central zones years ago and has since passed legislation to revoke all existing licenses by 2028. Unlicensed rentals in the city face massive fines of up to €600,000. Similarly, Málaga recently announced that for the next three years, no new tourist apartments or hotels will be allowed on residential land.
Seville has also restricted the granting of new licenses in 11 neighborhoods of its historic center where the proportion of short-term rentals exceeds 10 percent of the residential supply.
Other cities in Andalusia, including Cádiz, Córdoba, and Granada, have implemented regulations to restrict the growth of tourist apartments. Some areas have determined specific periods where no more licenses will be authorized, or have frozen them entirely, such as in the Albaicín district of Granada and the historic centers of Córdoba and Cádiz.
In Mallorca, including Palma, renting out apartments in multi-family residential buildings is strictly prohibited.
Licenses are generally only issued for detached single-family homes or villas in specific designated areas, and they must be renewed every five years. Operating without a license in this region can result in fines reaching up to €400,000 or more.
Regional and municipal authorities have broad powers to limit license issuance based on local density. In many regions, municipalities may only issue new licenses if they respect a maximum threshold of 10 tourist apartments per 100 inhabitants. In municipalities that exceed this ratio, new applications are frozen until the number falls below the threshold.
This limit rises to 20 percent on the islands of El Hierro, La Gomera, and La Palma. Many city councils also demand that tourist apartments be located on ground or first floors only.
In San Sebastián, the city council prohibited new licenses for tourist accommodations and hotels in stressed neighborhoods and residential areas earlier this year. In Alicante, the council suspended the granting of any new licenses until at least January 2027, following a period where a maximum of 0.187 tourist apartments per inhabitant was allowed.
Other municipalities have tailored their own specific rules. In Logroño, restrictions were extended in March to mandate that licenses are only issued for ground-floor apartments with independent access or when the property cannot be used for habitual residence, with "saturated zones" identified in the historic center where no more apartments are allowed.
Santiago de Compostela limits licenses to 60 days a year and requires them to be on the first floor. Santander, which saw the biggest growth in tourist apartments in 2024, requires such units to be on the ground floor with a separate entrance.
Toledo sets a maximum quota of 12 percent for tourist accommodation across the entire city, not just the historic quarter. While there was a national attempt to centralize registration to combat illegal rentals, the Spanish Supreme Court ruled in May of this year against this registry, stating that the central government had attempted to intervene in issues controlled by regional authorities.
READ ALSO: Do I have to register as self-employed in Spain if I rent to tourists?
READ ALSO: What we know about Spain's planned crackdown on short-term let owners
