The year 2025 has marked a decisive regulatory shift in the legal framework applicable to tourist and short-term rentals in Spain. With the entry into force of two key legal instruments — Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January on measures concerning the efficiency of the Public Justice Service (“LO 1/2025”), and Royal Decree 1312/2024 of 23 December, which regulates the procedure of the Single Rental Registry and establishes the Digital Single Window for Rentals for the collection and exchange of data related to short-term accommodation rental services (“Royal Decree 1312/2024”) — both community control over the touristic use of dwellings and the administrative regime governing such use via digital platforms, whether for tourism or temporary rental purposes, are redefined.
LO 1/2025 has substantially amended Law 46/1960 of 21 July on Horizontal Property (“LPH”), introducing mechanisms to enable homeowners’ associations to effectively intervene in the proliferation of tourist apartments within residential buildings. This amendment, which entered into force on 3 April 2025, has had a direct impact on the balance between the individual rights of property holders and the collective interest of the community.
Under this new framework, it is established that no property owner may assign their dwelling to touristic use without the express authorisation of the general assembly of owners. This requirement, of an imperative nature, implies that mere compliance with regional or local sectoral regulations is no longer sufficient: prior control by the community is imposed, which must be manifested clearly and affirmatively. Additionally, the community is empowered, by resolution adopted by a qualified majority of three-fifths of all owners representing three-fifths of the ownership shares, to limit, condition, or prohibit such use, as well as to establish surcharges of up to twenty percent on common expenses for units designated for tourist rental.
Nevertheless, the LPH itself provides for a transitional regime applicable to pre-existing tourist rentals. Pursuant to its Sole Transitional Provision, property owners who, prior to 3 April 2025, were already lawfully engaged in such activity in accordance with sectoral tourism regulations may continue to do so under the conditions and within the timeframes established by such regulations. Consequently, these operations are not immediately subject to the new requirement for community authorisation, although they remain subject to future decisions validly adopted by the community.
In parallel, Royal Decree 1312/2024 has established the Single Registry of Seasonal Rentals, along with the Digital Single Window for Rentals, creating a mandatory national system for the registration of all short-term accommodation units offered on digital platforms. This regulation is grounded in Regulation (EU) 2023/1804 on the collection and exchange of data regarding short-term rental services, making Spain the first Member State to develop a comprehensive operational model for its implementation.
As from 1 July 2025, any unit intended for tourist or short-term rental must be registered, with the unique registration number being an essential prerequisite for advertising such a unit on digital platforms. This number will be automatically generated once the application is completed, and its use will be mandatory and exclusive to the registered unit.
The registration number is not subject to periodic renewal; however, the lessor must submit, every twelve months, an informational report indicating, in anonymised form, the details of the rentals and the purpose justifying the nature of the assignment. Furthermore, the lessor will be obliged to update the registry information whenever relevant changes occur in the rented unit, as well as to respond to requests from the competent public authorities.
Failure to comply with any of the above-mentioned obligations by the lessor, or the detection of fraudulent use of the number or impersonation, may result in the cancellation of the registration, the consequent removal of the advertisement from digital platforms by administrative order, and notification to the competent authorities.
In conclusion, the new regulation on tourist apartments establishes a stricter legal framework that requires the owner to obtain the express authorisation of the community and to register the unit with the national registry. Failure to comply with either of these requirements renders the activity legally inoperable, thus consolidating a model based on neighbourhood control and administrative oversight.