How to get a Tourist Licence in Spain?

Today we are going to show you how to get a tourist licence in Spain. This is necessary if you want to rent your property for short stays.

Nowadays, the Tourist licence in Spain is compulsory in almost all the Spanish autonomous communities to rent properties for tourist propose or short terms rentals (less than 3 months).

That is why it is so important to proceed with the administrative procedures to obtain your tourist rental licence and to be able to continue renting your property legally in Spain, and no receive any fine.

In this article, we will inform you about the current legislation that applies to holiday rentals in each region. Every year the process change, they require more and more documents. If you are planning to rent out short terms your property, we highly recommend you to apply as soon as possible, before it becomes impossible.

What is a tourist licence?

This is a declaration that some Spanish autonomous communities ask for when an owner starts renting out their property for tourist purposes. Following the entry into force of Decree 48/2016, a distinction is made between holiday homes (long-term rentals) and homes for tourist use (short-term rentals).

Since January 2016, some of the biggest rental websites (Booking.com, HomeAway, Airbnb, etc…) have asked for this licence number, which is the tourist licence number. In some cities, If the owner does not provide it, these sites deactivate the advertisements that they consider illegal in the eyes of the autonomous community in which the property is located.

They have started requiring the Tourist rental licence as many Spanish cities, such as Alicante, Barcelona, Valencia, and Orihuela Costa, have fined these companies very high amounts of money

In Alicante, Valencia community, the tourist Licence Law changed on the 9th of July 2018. From that date, there is a new re­quire­ment to ob­tain a tour­ist li­cence that is the Cer­ti­fic­ate of com­pat­ib­il­ity with tour­ist use, the Town hall has to is­sue it.

So in the Valencia Community, there are two steps to get the tourist licence, and we Will explain them later on.

What is a holiday rental home?

Holiday apartments are those properties whose owner lets them to third parties for a fee, for a maximum period of 90 days, two or more times a year.

There are different types of tourist properties. The most commonly used terms are:

Rural houses:

Rural houses are located in rural and remote areas and normally they do not have a license for second occupancy or a Habitation certificate.

In the Valencian Community and Alicante, it is difficult to obtain a license for holiday rentals. If you are in this situation and need help, let me know. We need to Study every case.

Flats or houses in an urban area:

These properties do not have any problems in obtaining a tourist licence, as a general rule.

Why is it important to apply for a tourist licence?

There are many factors why it is so important to rent legally your property in Spain, but the 2 more important reasons are:

1) Tourist Rentals Fines

The main reason is that many cities have started to make inspections and issue fines in the case of properties that do not have a tourist licence. When we talk about fines, we are talking about thousands of euros.

2) Problems with insurance companies in the Tourist rental properties

Also, if something happens to your house and the insurance realizes that you were renting illegally, they could not afford the cost of preparing anything.

The autonomous communities are responsible for regulating the holiday rental market in their region. Each region has a different regulation, so it is important to check with them to know your obligations. Indeed, some of them have not yet established a specific decree for holiday rentals, requiring the presentation of this license.

The Autonomous Communities that require a Tourist Licence for all types of holiday rentals are the following: Andalucia, Aragon, Asturias, Catalonia, Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Basque Country, Galicia, Community of Madrid, Murcia, Community of Valencia, Castilla y Leon.

What are the main requirements?

Each community has different requirements for tourist homes. The general requirement is that the property must be fully furnished and ready for a person to have a short stay.

We are specialists in Andalusia, Valencia and Murcia regions. If you have any questions about the specific requirements of these 3 communities, contact us and we will give you all the information.

How much is a tourist Licence in Spain?

Valencia and Alicante Region

Our service Price to get the Tourist Licence in the Valencia and Alicante Region:

90€ + VAT=108,9€ Fort the compatibility report

50€ + VAT= 60.5€ for The Licence number

More info about our tourist license service…

How long does it take?

This depends on every city and can be from 3 months up to 1.5 years. The best is to contact us and ask about the times in your city.

You also need to know that there is a tax involved in the compatibilities report in the Valencia community and this is completely different in every town hall.

If your property on the Valencia community and you have to know the Taxes, please let me know and I can contact the town hall.

More info about the service

Murcia Region

The Tourist rental licence process in Murcia is faster than in Valencia, and you only have one step.

80€ + VAT =96.80€ For the Licence application in Murcia

How long does it take?

It takes around 1-2 months to reply. They do inspections on 80% of the houses.

Andalucia Region

If we do it with our Digital Certificate, you will have the Licence number in 24h.

50€ + VAT =60.50€ For the Licence application in Andalucía

How much is the tourist tax in Spain?

In this tax, there are two different ways to pay it.

Rental tax as a Resident

If you are Spanish Resident you have to declare your rental incomes yearly with your Anual Resident tax declaration.

Rental tax as a Non-Resident

If you are non-resident in Spain and you want to rent out your property, you must pay taxes. This tax is called Rental Tax and must to be paid every quarter (20th of Janu­ary, April, July and Oc­to­ber), but only the quarte that you receive incomes.

This declaration must be submitted in the Tax office in Spain.

There are some advantages to declaring the rental tax.

1. Obviously, you Will be renting legally and can ad­vert­ise to get bookings safely and without risk.
2. You can deduct some of the expenses that you have in the property.

For non-residents of Spain residents in other EU countries (plus Norway and Iceland, and for the time being the UK) this type of income is valued at 19%. Residents in non-EU countries pay 24%.

Tourist Licence for Region

Andalucia

The decree concerning tourist accommodation in Andalucia obliges all tourist dwellings to submit a responsible declaration to the Regional Ministry of Tourism.

• Tourist accommodation in Andalucia is considered to be those houses with a capacity of fewer than 15 beds and with less than 5 beds per room. Properties that are rented for two months or more in a row to the same person are not tourist properties but are residential rentals.

Application form for the tourist licence in Andalucia

Application form for the tourist licence in Andalucia

Aragón

If you have your holiday rental in that area, you will need to submit the model holiday accommodation declaration form. Fines can range from €600 to €90,000 in the worst case.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence

Asturias

Holiday rentals for tourist use must be registered in the Asturias Register of Tourist Companies and Activities by completing the Responsible Declaration and placing a visible plaque outside the rental property.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence

Castilla la Mancha

In this area, dwellings for tourist use are defined as flats that are marketed or promoted in tourist supply channels to be temporarily and totally ceded to third parties, regularly, for tourist accommodation and in exchange for a financial consideration.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence

Castilla y León

Regularity is considered to exist when accommodation is provided on one or more occasions within the same calendar year for a period of time that, taken together, exceeds one month. The maximum length of stay of the same tourist is two consecutive months.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence Castilla y León

Cataluña

The responsible declaration for dwellings for tourist use must be submitted to the local council where the dwellings are located, so each council may establish its own forms and demand different requirements. It is recommended to contact the local councils to consult the procedure in each case.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence Cataluña

Extremadura

To rent flats they must be in a block of flats in which all the flats are for tourist accommodation.

More information

Galicia

The owner must verify that his property meets the requirements set out in the regional decree. A fee must be paid to obtain the requested licence.

More information

La Rioja

To rent the property you must rent it completely, it is not possible to rent only a part of the house and it is not possible to rent it by rooms.

More information

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence

Murcia

The community of Murcia the process is very fast, it takes about 1 – 2 months.

Here they inspect the property once the licence is granted, to verify that it is in good condition to obtain the licence.

You must have civil responsibility insurance and a fire extinguisher in the property.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence in Murcia

Comunidad Valenciana

In the Valencian Community, before obtaining the tourist licence number, you must register your property and obtain the compatibility report, which is issued by the local councils.

You must also have a habitation certificate, to prove that the property is habitable.

Once you have the compatibility certificate, you can present the declaration to apply for the tourist licence number.

Document to fill in to apply for the Licence Comunidad Valenciana

IMPORTANT: it is important to keep up to date with the latest news on how to obtain this licence, we try to keep this article up to date, but the law on tourist licences can change at any time.

If your property is located in an autonomous community where the licence has not yet been officially requested, do not hesitate to inform yourself about the progress of the regulations.

Even if it is not compulsory in your city, I recommend you to acquire it to avoid long waits when it becomes compulsory.