A new system aimed at bringing illegal holiday rentals out of the shadows has just gone live in Spain, but most properties on the market are still flying under the radar.
From now on, all short-term tourist lets and seasonal rentals in Spain – including room rentals – must display an official registration number to be listed on digital platforms. But as the law comes into force, the figures reveal a significant enforcement gap: only 196,941 properties have obtained a registration number, while the latest count from the National Statistics Institute (INE) puts the total number of holiday rentals at around 370,000.
That means between 46% and 58% of listings could now be illegal – at least in the eyes of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, which is behind the reform. According to the Ministry, digital platforms must now remove any listing that lacks a valid registration code.
A platform crackdown begins
Airbnb, the biggest player in the market, has confirmed it will block the publication of any new listing that doesn’t include the required ID. Both platforms and hosts risk sanctions under Spain’s consumer protection laws, while a dedicated fines regime is still pending in parliament.
The national registry was launched on 2 January and assigns a unique number to each property offered as a short-stay or seasonal rental. The key distinction between the two is the length of stay. So far, 215,438 applications have been filed, but only 94,209 numbers have been definitively activated. Another 102,732 are still provisional, pending a 15-day verification window. The rest – 18,497 applications – have been revoked.
Most applications (over 134,000) were submitted in the final month before the 1 July deadline, and each registration number is valid for 12 months, renewable if new rental contracts are signed during that time.
Where are most properties located?
As expected, Spain’s tourism hotspots dominate the registry. Four regions – Andalusia, the Canary Islands, Catalonia, and the Valencian Community – account for 82% of definitively active tourist rental registrations and nearly 70% of provisional ones.
- In Andalusia, most of the 49,397 registrations are in Málaga (27,936).
- In the Canaries, Gran Canaria leads with 16,719, followed by Tenerife with 13,341.
- In Catalonia, Barcelona (9,521), Tarragona (6,659), and Girona (9,521) dominate among the region’s 27,818 total registrations.
- The Valencian Community saw 21,929 total registrations, with Alicante alone accounting for 14,515.
Rural accommodation gets a pass
Not all rentals are covered. Rural lodgings – subject to separate regional regulations and typically offering additional services like breakfast – are exempt from this national registry, as they’re treated more like hotel stays than short-term lets.
Enforcement responsibility shifts to platforms
Once a property has its code, it’s up to the platforms to verify and display it. The Housing Ministry says it will now begin issuing formal notices requiring platforms to delist any ad without a valid number, or where the number has been revoked or flagged as incorrect by the College of Registrars, which oversees the system.
The new registry, required under EU regulation, is intended to improve transparency and tackle fraud in the holiday rental sector. Whether it achieves that depends on how strictly the rules are enforced in the coming months—and how willing the platforms are to clean house.
Guide: Spain’s new short-term rental registry and Ventanilla Única Digital
