Spanish Tourist Rental Licences
Spanish tourist rental licences — everything buyers in the Costa Blanca, Valencia & Murcia need to know. Tourist rental rules have changed significantly in recent years. We explain when you need a licence, the important 10-day rule, and what to check before buying a property with rental income in mind.
Do I need a licence if I want to rent out my Spanish property (in Alicante, Valencia or Murcia)?
One of the most frequently asked questions from our clients is – do I need a licence if I want to rent out my Spanish property (in Alicante, Valencia or Murcia)? Short answer – it depends how long you let it for.
Less than 10 days: If you want to rent your property to holidaymakers for short-term lets, that is, stays of 10 nights or fewer, you need to register it as a Vivienda de Uso Turístico (VUT) with the Tourism Registry before you take any bookings. Your property will be given a unique registration number with its licence, which must be shown with any advertisements or portal listings for your property. No number, no rentals!
10 days or more: If you rent your property out for longer than 10 days, this falls into a different category of seasonal rentals, and there is no need for a licence.
Obtaining a VUT for short-term lets has become harder in recent years, and our advice to most buyers these days is to start by planning around seasonal lets of 10 days or more, rather than short-term holiday rentals.
While these new requirements might have initially seemed like just another annoying piece of paperwork, applied correctly, they really do benefit everyone. The tourist rental landscape has become more transparent, better controlled, communities are protected, and the overall standard of accommodation is higher. This benefits all owners over the long-term.
Everything you need to know before you buy
Letting your Costa Blanca home to holidaymakers can help to cover running costs. You just need to be fully informed about how short-term tourist rentals are regulated in Spain, and how the recently introduced laws need to be factored into your plans.
Where and why holiday rentals thrive in the Costa Blanca
Holidaymakers in the Costa Blanca are typical of the rest of Spain. They want well equipped and well managed accommodation, easy airport transfers, to be within walking distance of bars/restaurants, shopping and leisure amenities and to be as close as possible to a nice beach. Desirable locations with fewer rental properties available will command higher rates.
Hot spots with strong rental markets in the northern Costa Blanca include Denia, Jávea, Moraira, Benissa Costa, Calpe, Altea and Benidorm. In the southern Costa Blanca, demand is concentrated around Torrevieja, Guardamar del Segura and Orihuela Costa, including Villamartin, La Zenia, Cabo Roig.
Resorts in the northern Costa Calida around the Mar Menor, such as San Pedro del Pinatar and Los Alcazares, as well as the area’s many golf resorts are increasingly popular for holiday lets too.
Rules and regulations
Let’s get into the detail of the rules and regulations – and why that 10-day rule is so key. Here are some key facts and pointers:
Decreto-ley 9/2024 — why does it matter?
As things stand, short-term holiday-let owners need a regional tourist licence as well as approval from the local town hall and, where applicable, your community, because of Decreto-ley 9/2024. The Valencian regional government passed this law on 2 August 2024, in force from 8 August 2024. It was the biggest overhaul of Costa Blanca tourist rental rules in years, and was passed because tourist properties in the Valencian Community had grown by nearly 160% since 2015, with increasing numbers using sites like Airbnb, and tourist lets then distorting the property market and disrupting communities. High turnover, noisy guests, and damaged common areas were common complaints. The government acted to bring control to the sector.
The key rules to consider now:
10 nights maximum. A rental is only classified as ‘tourist’ if the stay is 10 days or less to the same tenant. Anything longer becomes a seasonal rental under standard tenancy law, with different rules.
Whole property only. You cannot rent individual rooms — the entire property must be let. Whole property only. You cannot rent individual rooms — the entire property must be let.
Five-year registration. All VUTs must be registered with the Valencian Tourism Registry, valid for five years and then renewed.
Planning permission first. Before registering, the local town hall must confirm in writing that tourist use is permitted at that specific address.
Community of owners sign-off. A certificate showing the building’s community of owners does not prohibit tourist use is required to register.
Unique property reference. Every registered VUT must be linked to its individual cadastral reference number. Every rental listing on every platform must display the exact address and Tourism Registry number.
Registration doesn’t transfer on sale. When a VUT changes hands, the new owner must apply fresh — the registration does not carry over to the buyer.
For owners already registered before 8 August 2024: their registration remains valid until 8 August 2029, at which point they must renew under the new rules — but they can continue operating normally in the meantime.
Are Tourist licences different in the Valencian Community and Murcia?
Across Spain, tourist licences are regulated by each autonomous region. The Costa Blanca is in the Valencian Community and the Costa Calida in Murcia. In both regions, the tourist licence, VUT, needs renewing every five years.
In the Valencian Community a tourism licence is required when a property is rented out for stays of 10 or fewer nights. Since 2024 in Murcia a licence is required to do any length of short-term tourist rental.
Check local rules in the local area and community
Town halls have the power to freeze the issuing of new tourist licences in certain neighbourhoods or zones in a town or resort. This is currently the case within Benidorm, Calpe, Altea and Alicante city.
As mentioned above, the new rules mean that a community of owners has the power to ban short-term holiday rentals within their community, and this has become increasingly common as owners and residents strive to protect their living environment. In our experience, the majority of apartment communities and many villa urbanisations on the Costa Blanca and Costa Cálida have now voted to ban short-term tourist lets — buyers should assume this is the case and verify before purchasing with holiday let income in mind.
The process of applying for a Tourist Licence
Applications for a tourist licence are submitted on-line via the tourism portal of the Valencian Community or Murcian government. You’ll need to include the property’s cadastral documents, a certificate of urban development compatibility from the local town hall, a declaration that the property meets all legal and technical standards.
Allow several months for this process — the urban planning compatibility report from the town hall (ICU) is often the longest step and must be obtained before you can submit your registration.
Written approval for holiday rentals from the property’s community of owners and liability insurance are two other requirements for holiday lets in the Costa Blanca and Murcia.
Obligations as an owner of a holiday let
Once you are ready to start letting, remember that the details of all guests that stay in your property must be registered with the police or Guardia Civil via the SES Hospedajes system within 24 hours of their arrival.
Income generated from rentals will also need to be reported to the Spanish tax office. A local gestor or lawyer should be able to assist with an annual tax return. Non-residents file using Modelo 210 quarterly, and UK nationals (as non-EU) are taxed on gross rental income.
HomeEspaña viewpoint
The landscape has certainly shifted, and now it’s no longer easy to ‘Airbnb’ your property on a short-term basis. We believe this change, whilst inconvenient for some, has significant benefits for the communities we cherish here in Spain. Our advice is, use and enjoy your property, and if there are long periods where you won’t be using and you want to invite tenants, then don’t opt for the short-term lets, but for the 10+ days seasonal lets instead.
Rental FAQ
Yes, if you plan to let your Costa Blanca or Murcia property for short stays, you need to register it as a Vivienda de Uso Turístico (VUT) before taking any bookings. In the Valencian Community this applies to stays of 10 nights or fewer; in Murcia it covers any length of short-term tourist let. Platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com are now required to verify licence numbers before allowing listings, so an unregistered property simply cannot be legally advertised on the major booking sites. Registration must be completed through the Valencian Community’s Tourism Registry or its Murcia equivalent. Obtaining a VUT is increasingly difficult — many communities have now banned short-term lets entirely, and town halls in several key resorts have frozen new licence applications.
VUT stands for Vivienda de Uso Turístico — a property officially registered for tourist rental use. It is the legal status a home must hold before it can be let to holidaymakers for short stays in the Valencian Community (which covers the Costa Blanca) and most other Spanish regions. Short-term tourist rental refers to the temporary assignment of a furnished and equipped tourist use dwelling for brief stays, regulated by regional tourism legislation rather than the standard urban leases law (LAU) that governs long-term rentals. Once registered, the property is assigned a unique registration number that must appear on all advertisements and platform listings.
A VUT registration in the Valencian Community is valid for five years and must be renewed at that point. Properties already registered before Decreto-ley 9/2024 came into force on 8 August 2024 have a five-year transitional period to adapt to the updated requirements, applied at the point of renewal — during this time the property can continue operating normally, provided it meets existing obligations such as displaying the registration number and registering guests correctly.
Yes — and this is an important check to make before buying a property if you have rental income in mind. Since 2025, a community of owners can prohibit or restrict tourist rentals in a building by a three-fifths majority vote, and can also increase community fees for tourist apartments by up to 20%. Even where a majority vote hasn’t been taken, the community’s founding statutes (estatutos) may already contain a prohibition — older urbanisations on the Costa Blanca sometimes have these clauses without owners realising. Our advice – assume you won’t be able to let for less than 10 days until you / lawyers can prove otherwise.
Enforcement has increased and the consequences can be serious. Operating a tourist rental without the required licence and registration exposes owners to administrative fines ranging from €30,000 to €600,000 depending on the region. Beyond the fine itself, authorities can order the immediate cessation of activity and the removal of your listing from Airbnb and Booking.com — meaning guests already booked may lose their accommodation at short notice. Failing to report guests to the police via the SES Hospedajes system can separately result in fines of up to €3,000.
Not without reapplying. If you purchase a property that is currently operating as a successful holiday let, you cannot simply take over that registration — you start the process again, including obtaining a new town hall compatibility report. The town hall compatibility report can take several months, so buyers shouldn’t expect immediate rental income after purchase.
No — a VUT tourist licence is only required for short-term holiday lets. If you rent your Spanish property under a standard long-term contract (typically 11 months or more as a primary residence for the tenant), this falls under the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos (LAU) — Spain’s urban leases law — and no tourist registration is required. In the Valencian Community the dividing line is clear: if a stay exceeds 10 continuous days to the same tenant, it is no longer classed as a tourist rental and instead falls under the LAU as a seasonal rental.
IMPORTANT: Tourist rental regulation changes frequently and varies by municipality — always verify current requirements with the relevant town hall and a local lawyer before purchasing with rental income in mind.
Originally from New Zealand, Tony moved to Spain in 1990 and began working at HomeEspaña in 2018. Responsible for launching our sister firm, Kyna Insurance in 2023. Focused on demystifying the buying process and helping our clients navigate their Spanish property purchase with confidence.”