New regulations in the tourist rental market and potential impact on the hotel sector

Following the trend in other countries, new regulations are being passed in Spain that tighten the conditions for tourist rentals, especially in urban areas and city centres. This could limit the supply of tourist accommodation in the busiest areas of cities, such as historic city centres, which could benefit hotels  by reducing competition.

As a general premise in Spain, laws are passed not only at a state level. Each autonomous region and local town hall regulates matters that are assigned to them in accordance with the Spanish Constitution. 

New zoning and housing regulations have been passed in recent months at state, regional and local level to limit tourist accommodation in the busiest areas of cities in favour of residential use. The objective is to preserve the essence of cities and avoid gentrification. In order to carry out the activity of renting a property other than a purpose built hotel or lodging facility for tourist purposes, generally speaking it is now necessary to obtain some form of licence, submit a responsible declaration, and / or register within the official tourist rental apartment registry.

These are the main recent new regulations at state level, that affect or may affect tourist rentals in the future:

• Prior and express approval of the owners' association: on 3 April 2025, Organic Law 1/2025 on measures for the efficiency of the public service of justice came into force (the "Law 1/2025") which, in turn, amends Law 49/1960, of 21 July on Horizontal Property (the "LPH"). By virtue of this amendment, it is established that the owner of a property (within a building) who wishes to carry out tourist rental activities therein must first obtain the express approval of at least three fifths (3/5) of the community of owners. If such consent is not obtained, the rest of the owners may demand the immediate suspension of the activity. This amendment does not affect existing tourist rentals. But it will affect any owner who, as of 3 April 2025, wants to implement a tourist rental activity within an apartment located in a community of owners.

• Approval of the Tourist Rental Register: Royal  Decree 1312/2024, of 23 December, created a Digital Rental Registry for the collection and exchange of data relating to short-term accommodation rental services (the "Royal Decree 1312/2024"), which entered into force on 1 July 2025. With the approval and entry into force of the decree, all tourist rental flats (whether existing flats or new renovations) will have to register and be assigned a specific registration number. To register, it will be necessary to present: (i) tourist rental licence; (ii) certificate of habitability, or first occupancy; and (iii) cadastral reference and exact address of the property. This new regulation also impacts online platforms that advertise tourist rentals as they will have to verify that all properties advertised on them have a valid, corresponding registration number. In addition, Royal Decree 1312/2024 obliges online platforms to register themselves with the Digital Rental Registry and, to periodically share certain data related to the short-term accommodation rental that they offer.

  Since the entry into force of Royal Decree 1312/2024, thousands of tourist rental flat owners have requested their registration and more than 20% of the requests have been denied due to a failure to meet one or more of these three requirements. Therefore such apartments can no longer be legally rented and online platforms (Airbnb, Booking, etc.) must withdraw them from their websites.

Likewise, at a regional and local level, the main Spanish regions and cities expect to soon implement new regulations that limit and control the presence of tourist flats. They are seeking to regulate an uncontrolled and poorly regulated activity that affects the configuration of cities and the type of tourism they receive.

• City of Madrid: the Plenary of the Madrid Town Hall definitively approved on 27^th August 2025 the "RESIDE Plan", to protect and encourage residential use in the city centre and guarantee an orderly and legal tourist offer that improves coexistence between neighbours and visitors. Thus, the RESIDE Plan will not allow isolated tourist flats to operate in residential buildings and will concentrate them in blocks destined entirely for tourist activity, decentralising this economic activity and taking it to tertiary activity areas. In this way, the aim is to recover and increase housing stock and residential use in the central areas. The RESIDE Plan will take effect in two areas: (i) the historic centre - where the presence of tourist housing has been greater and, therefore, the loss of properties for residential use has been also greater - and (ii) the rest of the city, especially protecting the historic centre.

  • Catalonia: on November 2023, the Catalonian parliament approved the Decree-Law 3/2023 (the “Decree - Law 3/2023”),by virtue of which the number of tourist rental apartments per inhabitants is limited (10 tourist rental apartment per 100 inhabitants), with the goal of progressively reducing the number of tourist rental apartments. The Decree – Law 3/2023 also establishes that current tourist rental apartment licences will expire in five years without the promise of renewal. The application of this Decree – Law 3/2023 implies that Barcelona could eliminate the 10,000 tourist flats currently authorised in the city by the end of 2028. This measure was challenged by the Popular Party before the Constitutional Court unsuccessfully on 13 March 2025. The ruling of the Constitutional Court states that the Decree – Law 3/2023 does not apply to all municipalities in Catalonia, but only to those with problems of access to housing or “at risk of upsetting the balance of the urban environment due to a high concentration of tourist apartments”. It applies specifically to 262 towns listed in its annex including the city of Barcelona. The list of municipalities included in the annex is to be updated every five years by order of the head of the Catalan government department responsible for urban planning after consultation with the towns concerned.

  • Valencia: on 31 January 2025, the Local Government Board approved the draft of the new rules which establish that in the city of Valencia only 2% of the residential units in each district will be allowed to be used for tourist accommodation. This way, Valencia City Town Hall aims to ensure that 98% of the properties in each district are devoted   to residential, commercial, or   leisure use. This regulation will modify the city's General Urban Development Plan and, although it has already been submitted for public information, it is still awaiting definitive approval.

Looking at the direction of the new regulations and the political agenda at all levels, will this impact the hotel sector, and will it lead to greater business opportunities for it? We cannot anticipate what will happen in the future because there are a number of factors at play. However, if tourism in Spain continues to grow on its current trajectory and demand for tourist accommodation remains high, hotels could see an increase in bookings and business opportunities. One prediction we can make is that the Spanish tourist accommodation sector will become increasingly professionalised and institutionalised. Owners will need to adapt to these new regulations in order to continue offering tourist rentals within the legal framework.