This is a website for buyers, owners, and sellers of property in Spain, offering reliable information and resources to help you get things done with confidence. It is run by Mark Stücklin, author of the Spanish Property Doctor Column in The Sunday Times (2005-2008), and the book ‘Need to Know: Buying Property in Spain’ published by Collins.
Homeowners in Andalusia who wish to rent their properties to tourists have just three weeks to register with the authorities, but few have done so.
Andalusia recently introduced a decree with new regulations for holiday-rentals, requiring, amongst other things, that owners register with the tourism authorities to avoid heavy fines. You can read all about it here: ANDALUSIA: Holiday rental regulations in new Decree explained in detail.
The local press reports that, with just three weeks to go before the registration deadline, a mere 3,000 owners have inscribed their homes in the holiday-rentals registry, complying with all the requirements. The inscription period began in February.
But according to estimates by the tourism office of the Junta (regional government) some 80,000 homes are available as holiday rentals during the year. So it looks like a tiny fraction of owners have bothered to register, at least at this late date. Owners who do not register with the authorities and continue to rent to tourists risk fines of up to €150,000.
“Inscription is open,” says Francisco Javier Fernández, councillor of tourism and sport for the Junta de Andalucía, quoted in the Spanish press. “The Administration will continue informing and managing registrations, although we can see that the process is proving to be slow. We continue making it a priority that owners know they are obliged to get inscribed in the registry if they went offer their homes as tourist rentals.”
Why have so few bothered to register? Perhaps there will be a last minute rush, but it’s hard to imagine it making much difference when the number is so low compared to the overall supply of holiday rentals. Perhaps the vast majority have decided not to bother with tourist rentals in future, given the hassle of complying with the law. That’s hard to believe given the economic crisis still going strong in the region. Every euro of income counts. Or perhaps many will ignore the new decree. That’s been the traditional response to many of Spain’s heavy handed laws.
faygord says:
The piece doesn’t seem to differentiate between urban rental and rural. Does the Spanish estimate of available units?
Only URBAN properties liable to register within the time limit you refer to. Rural properties governed by different regs which cam into force some years ago.
It is tricky to find out which areas are defined as urban and which rural. Have the authorities issued any informatyion on the areas they are applying the new rules to?
Barbara Ingenbleek, Euro Economics says:
I think that one of the problems is that owners do not have their paperwork up to date – especially the occupancy licence.