Tourist Rental Licence in Andalucía: How to Get (or Lose) Your VUT

Short-term rentals on the Costa del Sol have become a regulatory minefield. The rules changed in 2016, again in 2023, again in 2024, and again in 2025. If you bought a property here expecting easy Airbnb income, you need to understand exactly where things stand before you list a single night.

This is the full picture for Andalucía: what a VUT is, what you need to get one, how the registration works, what can block or kill your licence, and what the tax consequences are.

What Is a Vivienda con Fines Turísticos (VUT)?

A Vivienda con Fines Turísticos — tourist-use dwelling, commonly called a VUT or vivienda uso turístico — is a residential property let to tourists for periods of less than two consecutive months in exchange for payment. If both conditions apply (holiday letting, under 2 months), Decreto 28/2016 of the Junta de Andalucía applies to you.

The regulation covers individual apartments and houses, not purpose-built tourist complexes or hotels (those operate under different frameworks). It also only covers the arrangement where you, the owner, are effectively running the rental commercially — not a friend staying over, not a long-term residential tenant.

Key distinguishing point: if you rent the same property to the same tenant for more than two months continuously, it falls under the LAU (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos) as a residential tenancy, not a VUT. Some owners use this to stay outside the tourist rental framework, but it means losing the flexibility of short-term pricing. (Either way, IBI property tax still applies to the property itself.)

Under the original Decreto 28/2016, registration was a direct process: submit a Declaración Responsable, get a number, list your property. Decreto 31/2024 (which amended and largely superseded 28/2016 for practical purposes) layered in an additional municipal step that’s caught many owners off guard. More on that below.

Requirements Before You Can Register

The Municipal Urban Compatibility Report (New Under Decreto 31/2024)

This is the big change that caught people flat-footed in 2024-2025. Before you can file your Declaración Responsable with the Junta de Andalucía, you now need a informe de compatibilidad urbanística from your local town hall (ayuntamiento). This document confirms that tourist rentals are legally permitted in your property’s urban zone.

Town halls have discretion here. Málaga city has used this as the mechanism for its moratorium — if you’re in a restricted zone (which covers most of the city centre and beachfront areas in apartment blocks), the town hall won’t issue the compatibility report, which means you can’t register, full stop.

Getting this report typically takes 1–3 months in most municipalities. Budget for it and chase it. Without it, the rest of the process is irrelevant.

Habitation Certificate

You need either a cédula de habitabilidad or a licencia de primera ocupación (first occupation licence) to prove the property is legally habitable. Under the original Decreto 28/2016, the licencia de primera ocupación was mandatory. Decreto 31/2024 removed this strict requirement, but you still need to demonstrate habitability through an equivalent document.

For properties built before 1987 (when cédulas became standard), you’ll likely need a certificate of antiquity (certificado de antigüedad) or equivalent municipal documentation. If your property doesn’t have a habitation certificate and the previous owners never sorted it, this is a significant blocker. See our guide on licencia de primera ocupación for what’s involved in getting one.

Minimum Equipment and Standards

Decreto 28/2016 sets a minimum equipment list. Your property must have:

• Air conditioning in summer (required if the property is listed as available from May to September — effectively, always on the Costa del Sol)
• Heating (required for properties listed as available from October to April)
• First aid kit (botiquín de primeros auxilios)
• Complaint forms (hojas de reclamaciones/quejas) — these must be visibly available and you must tell guests they exist
• Tourist information sheets for the local area, emergency contacts, nearest medical centre, rubbish collection rules, and rules of the property
• Sufficient linen, blankets, and crockery for the stated occupancy
• A tourist information folder (manual de bienvenida) covering house rules, WiFi, appliances, emergency numbers

Inspectors do check these. If there’s a complaint and someone shows up, the absence of complaint forms or a first aid kit becomes part of the infraction record.

Civil Liability Insurance

You need seguro de responsabilidad civil — civil liability insurance covering third-party claims arising from your rental activity. Standard home insurance policies often exclude commercial activity; make sure your policy specifically covers tourist rental. Costs typically run €150–€400/year depending on property size and insurer.

The Registration Process

Once you have the municipal compatibility report and your other documents, the registration itself is done through the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía.

Step 1: Prepare the Declaración Responsable

The declaración responsable is a self-declaration that your property meets all Decreto requirements. You’re not submitting evidence for approval — you’re declaring compliance. This matters legally: if you declare falsely, the penalties are more severe.

The declaration includes: your NIE/DNI, property cadastral reference, maximum occupancy, the municipal compatibility report reference, your insurance details, and confirmation of the equipment list.

Step 2: File Online or In Person

Online: through the Ventanilla Electrónica of the Junta de Andalucía (ventanilla.juntadeandalucia.es). You’ll need a digital certificate (certificado digital) or Cl@ve PIN. This is by far the faster route.

In person: at the Delegación Territorial de Turismo in your province. In Málaga province, that’s the Delegación Territorial in Málaga city itself. Appointments are often required; allow 2–4 weeks for availability.

Step 3: The 15-Day Window

Under Decreto 28/2016, the Registro de Turismo has 15 business days to respond. In practice, confirmation usually arrives faster online. Your VUT number is assigned in this process — it looks like VT/XXXXXX/MA (for Málaga province), VT/XXXXXX/GR (Granada), etc.

Once you have the number, you must display it prominently in all advertising, including on Airbnb and Booking.com listings. Platform algorithms are now set up to require it.

The Comunidad Veto: Ley 12/2023

This is the provision that surprised the most owners, and it’s worth understanding in detail.

Article 17.12 of Spain’s horizontal property law (Ley 49/1960 de Propiedad Horizontal) was amended by Ley 12/2023 (Ley por el Derecho a la Vivienda) to allow a community of property owners to vote to prohibit, limit, or condition tourist rental activity in their building.

The threshold is a 3/5 qualified majority of owners (by both number of owners and participation coefficient — those who own larger flats have proportionally more weight). This is 60% of the community, not 50% + 1.

How It Works in Practice

Any owner can put a motion on the agenda for the annual (or extraordinary) general meeting. If 3/5 approve, the agreement binds all owners — including those who voted against. The agreement is registered in the comunidad’s records and can (and should) be noted in the Land Registry.

Critically: this can apply to existing licence holders. If your building votes to ban tourist rentals and you already have a VUT number, legal opinion is divided on whether your licence survives — but in practice, operating against a communidad agreement creates serious legal and civil liability exposure. Courts are still working through the case law.

Communities cannot, however, impose conditions so onerous as to be effectively prohibitive without going through the full vote process. Informal letters from the presidente don’t count; it must be a formally recorded vote at a general meeting.

What to Check Before You Buy

If you’re buying a property intending to run a VUT, check the estatutos de la comunidad and minutes of recent general meetings. If the community has already passed a prohibition, you’re blocked. If one is under discussion, factor it into your decision. See our guides on community fees in Spain and how comunidades de propietarios work.

Municipal Crackdowns: Town-by-Town

Málaga City

Updated 7 July 2026. The most significant restriction on the Costa del Sol, and it arrived in layers. In August 2025, Málaga city imposed a three-year moratorium on new tourist rental licences across most of the urban area, citing housing pressure. The basis is Decreto-Ley 1/2025 (the Junta de Andalucía measure that gives municipalities this suspension power).

Additionally, Málaga (along with Fuengirola) has implemented a rule requiring VUTs in apartment blocks to have independent street access — meaning an entrance that doesn’t go through the building’s common areas. In practice, this blocks the vast majority of urban apartment VUTs.

The July 2026 extension: every remaining category, all residential land

On 1 July 2026 the city government (Junta de Gobierno Local) went much further. It approved a three-year suspension of new licences for ALL tourist accommodation on ALL residential land: hotels of every category, aparthotels, hostels, guesthouses, and tourist apartments. Press coverage often calls this “the tourist-flat ban,” but strictly the flats were already done — new VUT registrations have been frozen city-wide since August 2025. The July 2026 step closes every category the 2025 freeze left open. The legal mechanism is a modification of the PGOU (the city’s general urban plan) that makes tourist lodging incompatible with residential zoning.

The scope covers every residential zoning class by name: the historic centre, closed-block neighbourhoods, open-plan developments, Ciudad Jardín, detached and semi-detached estates, and traditional districts. The suspension runs three years (the maximum planning law allows) or until the wider PGOU revision is approved, whichever comes first.

Three details matter for owners and buyers:

• Existing licences are unaffected. The 12,748 registered city VUTs (February 2026 figure; roughly 8,600 actively marketed) keep operating. The measures remove nothing; they stop new entries.
• Pending applications are exempt. Licence applications filed before the measure takes effect proceed under the old rules; the council has said it will scrutinise last-minute filings.
• Commercially zoned land is NOT covered. Tourist accommodation can still be built on commercial parcels, which is where new development interest now concentrates.

It takes effect on publication in the BOP (Boletín Oficial de la Provincia). As of 7 July 2026 it had not yet been published (a full-council step was still pending); the council expects it in force before 15 July. The same package also tightened commercial-to-residential conversion rules (banned on major roads and public squares, with stricter light, ventilation and ceiling-height standards).

If you own an apartment in Málaga city without a licence: the door is now double-locked — VUT registration has been frozen since August 2025, and the aparthotel/hostal route on residential land is closed too. The remaining options are mid-term rentals (32+ days), long-term letting under the LAU, or selling. If you own WITH an active licence, that licence is now a capped-supply asset for at least three years; keep it compliant and active, because register purges and cancellations (3,812 in Málaga province alone) hit dormant or non-compliant entries exactly when a licence became most valuable.

Fuengirola

Has adopted the same independent-access rule as Málaga. New apartment VUTs are effectively blocked in multi-dwelling buildings without street-level independent access.

Marbella

Has not imposed a cap or moratorium as of early 2026, but increased inspection activity since 2024. Marbella town hall checks licence display compliance on platforms and does follow up on complaints. The process for getting the municipal compatibility report here is broadly functional.

Estepona

Generally more permissive than the eastern Costa del Sol municipalities. Compatibility reports are being issued. No moratorium in place.

Nerja, Ronda, and Interior Municipalities

Less restrictive in terms of active enforcement, though the legal framework is the same. The practical difference is processing speed and inspection frequency.

Operating Without a Licence: The Penalties

The Junta de Andalucía’s tourism inspection framework classifies unlicensed VUT operation under Ley 13/2011 (Ley del Turismo de Andalucía). Infractions fall into three tiers:

• Minor infractions (leve): up to €2,000 — typically documentation issues, not displaying licence number, missing complaint forms
• Serious infractions (grave): €2,001–€18,000 — operating without a licence, exceeding declared occupancy, failing to maintain minimum standards
• Very serious infractions (muy grave): €18,001–€150,000 — repeated non-compliance, operating after a closure order, serious safety failures

Airbnb and Booking.com are now legally obligated to share data with Spanish authorities upon request, and AEAT cross-references platform income data with tax declarations. Operating without a licence while earning rental income creates a compound exposure: tourism fines plus undeclared income penalties.

Tax: What You Must Declare

Every euro of VUT income must be declared. The specific tax depends on your residency status:

Spanish Tax Residents (IRPF)

Income from tourist rentals is declared as rendimientos de capital inmobiliario (property capital income) on your annual IRPF return. Unlike long-term residential lettings (which get a 60% deduction on net profit), tourist rentals get no automatic 60% reduction. You can deduct actual expenses (management fees, cleaning, platform commission, mortgage interest, insurance, depreciation), but only in proportion to the days rented.

See our guide on rental income tax in Spain for the full deduction framework.

Non-Residents (IRNR)

If you’re not a Spanish tax resident — for example, you own a Costa del Sol holiday home but are tax resident elsewhere — you pay IRNR on rental income. The rate is 19% on net income for EU/EEA tax residents, 24% on gross for non-EU tax residents. For rental income from 2024 onwards, Modelo 210 is filed annually in January (Orden HAC/56/2024 abolished the old quarterly cycle for rental income; quarterly filings now apply only to other income types). If your filer is still working to the quarterly calendar, ask why.

IVA (VAT)

Basic residential VUT rentals are exempt from IVA. However, if you offer hotel-like supplementary services — daily cleaning, meals, concierge — IVA at 10% applies to those services. Owners with fewer than 3 VUT units and not providing supplementary services do not charge or file IVA returns. This changes if you operate as a business.

Platform Reporting

From January 2024, under DAC7 (EU Directive on Administrative Cooperation), platforms like Airbnb, Booking.com, and Vrbo must report all Spanish rental income to AEAT. You cannot underreport income assuming the platforms won’t say anything — they are legally required to.

Airbnb and Booking.com: Your Obligations

Both platforms now require a licence number to list (or to keep an existing listing active) in Andalucía. Airbnb’s enforcement in Málaga province began in earnest in 2023 and is now comprehensive. Booking.com displays the licence number on property pages.

If your listing was active before mandatory verification was introduced, you may have been grandfathered — but that doesn’t protect you from inspection. The VUT number on the listing must match an active registration in the Registro de Turismo.

Operating a listing with a fabricated or borrowed VUT number is an aggravated version of operating without a licence and carries much heavier penalties.

Related Guides

• Short-term rentals in Spain: the national framework
• Rental income tax in Spain: what you can deduct
• Community fees in Spain explained
• How comunidades de propietarios work
• Getting a licencia de primera ocupación

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