The date has been set for when European regulations on short-term rentals, including on Airbnb, will come into force in Spain. Spain’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda has issued a statement reminding property owners that European regulations governing short-term rentals will be introduced.
In its statement, the Ministry said the Spanish Government and the EU aim to address the “complex scenario” that has developed from the housing crisis through measures that “curb cases of fraud” and consolidate a “transparent” market. The European Regulation 2024/1028 will come into force on July 1. It establishes that all properties intended for tourist or seasonal use, including those advertised on Airbnb, must have a registration code to operate legally. Accommodations without a number by the beginning of July will not be able to remain active.
The Ministry has made the Single Rental Register – the digital system where property owners must register their units for renting – available to the public to speed up the registration and identification process for properties and facilitate authorities’ supervision, reported the Majorca Daily Bulletin.
The Single Digital Rental Window (Ventanilla Única Digital), meanwhile, will centralise the procedures related to registration and data consultation, promoting efficient and streamlined management. It will act as a digital gateway for information exchange between platforms and the administration.
Applications for a registration number have been available since January 2, the date when the regulations came into force, until July 1, the date when compliance with the regulations becomes effective.
The application, made at the Association of Registrars, must be accompanied by the relevant documentation, including the exact address of the accommodation, whether the rental is a full property or room, the number of people who may use it, and the unique 20-character cadastral reference code, which the Land Registry assigns to each property for tax and utilities services.
Once the registration application has been submitted and validated, the owners of these properties will receive an identification number, which they must publish on the online platforms where they advertise their rental services. Only then will these properties be officially listed.
In the first three months after its launch, Spain’s Single Digital Window registered nearly 8,800 properties. More than 18,000 requests were received and approximately 1,924 requests (11%) were denied due to regulatory issues, according to Spanish Property Insight in April.
