Spain declares WAR on tourist rentals!

Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt, June, 30. 2025

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By Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt
30th of June 2025

Unless you have been living under a rock over the last month, you likely already know that Spain declared war against holiday rentals, specifically illegal ones. The Spanish government launched an aggressive crackdown on tourist rentals (short-term lets).

Unbeknownst to most landlords, a war is being waged against them by Spain's government. The reason behind the latest witch hunt is that property and rental prices have spiralled out of control in Spain, reaching all-time highs. Most natives can no longer access housing or rentals at affordable prices (Spanish wages have barely increased over the last decade whilst inflation remains unchecked leading to a generalised loss of purchasing power). These disenfranchised voters form the core of the voters of the current government, so it has been forced to do something about the situation given the growing discontent under the sweltering heat.

The government is shifting the blame on foreigners (always useful scapegoats as they cannot vote), and tourists in particular, for the general increase in prices. The reality of course is quite different; tourist accommodations account for under 1% of properties. But hey, don't let the truth spoil a good headline!

Today’s press reports that the government denounced over 3,500 properties in Madrid alone,. These properties were being offered as tourist accommodations. They lacked a Tourism Licence or the new rental registry code, or both.

This example is only for Madrid; in every region of Spain thousands of properties are being reported by the government for large fines as I write these lines. The government uses an army of individuals who trawl online property portals and report them to regional authorities, who then fine them (as this is a devolved competency).

One – of many – consequences this crackdown on short-term lets will have is to dramatically increase the price of tourist lets. This is because thousands of landlords, who do not currently comply with the new tourist laws, will be forced to pull their properties off the market under threat of massive fines. We already saw this happening with Spain's Housing Act of 2023 regarding long-term lets, which led to over 250,000 properties being pulled away from the market triggering a sharp spike in rental prices. As an example of this misguided housing policy, only in Barcelona, over 55,000 properties were removed as long-term rentals since the 2023 law. Now the government is repeating the same mistake but with tourist rentals, spreading a huge increase in rental prices, from long-term rentals over to short-term rentals. Honestly, you couldn't make it up. It's as if they were doing it on purpose to drive people off the edge. Actions have (dire) consequences, and politicians are playing with people's lives.

As published in our last blog (Spain’s new short-term rental registry explained) short-term rentals (and seasonal lets) MUST register with the new government short-term registry on or before the 1^st of July 2025 to avoid huge fines.

Failure to comply leads to massive fines.

As admonished in several articles, the Spanish government's number one priority has become housing and rentals, specifically targeting unlicenced tourism accommodations.

To avoid large regional fines, we strongly advise you attain a Tourism Licence and also a rental code. Depending on each region, as they are devolved competencies, if you do not register the fines are up to €500,000.

LNA offers a hassle-free service where we get you the new rental code (NRA) in 8 working days (you must already have a Tourism Licence). We offer holiday home landlords this service:

Apply for an NRA rental code (short-term lets/holiday homes)

Who needs to register?

Tourist rentals (holiday homes)
Seasonal lets

If you offer a property in Spain using property platforms which enable online bookings and payments (such as AirBnb, Booking, Vrbo, etc), you must register. Idealista is not one of them.

Excluded properties

Long-term rentals (defined as 12 months plus)
Properties offered through Idealista or similar sites (which do not accept online bookings and payments)

By what date do I need to have this unique rental code?

By the 1^st of July 2025.

Legal consequences of not registering your property

If you publish ads offering a holiday home, or a seasonal let, without using this new rental code, you will be subject to one, or more, of the following:

Fines and sanctions. Depending on the regulation of each autonomous community, you can be slapped with a fine of up to €500,000.
Your listings will be removed by platforms
Suspension of your ability to legally rent online going forward

Drop us an email, or even better, give us a call, and one of our friendly staff will get the ball rolling, ensuring you are law-compliant and avoid large fines.

At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) we have over 22 years of experience specializing in taxation, and property conveyance. We also assist clients with immigration & residency visas, and inheritance procedures (probate). You can contact us by e-mail at info@larrainnesbitt.com, by telephone on our UK line (+44) 0754 3838 218 or Spanish line (+34) 952 19 22 88, or by completing our contact form.

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