Renting out your property for a tourist activity involves a certain process.
Firstly: What is a “tourist rental business”?
This is the activity where houses and apartments are rented out and offered for vacations (and not for permanent residence) using online platforms such as Airbnb, Homeaway, Booking, etc.
This is a property for which the following conditions exist: – When there is compensation for use.
– When there is immediate availability of the apartment.
– When the “use” or “destination” of the apartment is “tourist”.
– When it is done on a “regular” basis.
“Regularly” means that you are in ONE of the following cases: – When the rental is managed by large tour operators/tour companies.
– When you advertise the property on tourism channels (internet, newspapers, etc.).
– Even if you are not “a business”, you perform some of these services: property maintenance and repair, room service, cleaning of apartments, bathrooms, etc., laundering of private linen or apartment equipment (sheets, towels, etc.), luggage storage, etc.
So when you rent out your property for “residential” purposes, with “medium” or “long-term” tenants renting to “live in”, or for “seasonal tourism”, in these cases your activity will escape these “tourist property” regulations.
Residential rentals” will be governed by the general rental law (or “Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos”).
Consequently, you won’t need to follow these formal registration requirements, but, as explained below, you will need to declare your rental income to Spanish tax authorities.
TOURIST RENTAL LICENSING In order to carry out the tourist rental business, it is necessary to take into account several factors and minimum requirements such as the following:
- Direct ventilation to the outside of each external room (or patio) and some type of window blackout system.
- Sufficiently furnished and equipped with all necessary devices for immediate use.
- Thermal conditioning by means of fixed elements in rooms and premises where :
- May to September: cooling
- October to April: heating
- The flat should be equipped with a first aid kit.
- It should have tourist information about the area, recreational areas of tourist interest, services, transport, city map and tourist guides.
- The house will make complaint and claim forms available to all customers.
- Complete cleaning of the house on arrival and departure of guests.
- A telephone number should be provided to all users so that they can resolve any questions or incidents that arise.
- Manual and instruction sheets for each device.
Finally, all users must have information on the house rules and regulations governing the use of the house’s facilities, units and equipment, as well as on the admission of pets to the house, restrictions for smokers, as well as restricted use areas and EMERGENCY PLAN LICENSING PROCEDURES AND DOCUMENTS.
For the house to be used for tourist purposes, it must have a tourist occupancy permit in accordance with decree 28/22.
BOJA N ° 28 of 11/02/0216.
There are two ways of obtaining the “licencia de ocupación para fines turísticos”: 1.- APARTMENTS THAT ALREADY HAVE A “CERTIFICADO DE HABITACIÓN” (also known as a “Licencia de Ocupacion”) AND THAT WERE BUILT “BEFORE 1988”.
In these cases, the same “certificate of occupancy” is valid for obtaining the “tourism license”.
2 – APARTMENTS THAT DO NOT HAVE THE “ROOM CERTIFICATE” and were built after 1988.
In these cases, authorization for occupancy for tourist purposes must be requested from the General Register of the Town Hall Planning Department.
Documents required:
- Application form: 1 copy and 1 original with cadastral reference.
- Photocopy of DNI, NIE or CIF.
- Proof of new representation in the case of a legal person.
- Proof of payment of the relevant tax.
In this case, it will also be necessary to present the technical documentation, which is… :
- Certificate, descriptive and graphic, drawn up and signed by a competent technician, which must contain :
- Date of completion of the work.
- Description of the condition of the building and its facilities.
- Cadastral and land registry identification of the property.
- Declaration form of the responsible technician or other document issued by the official college, in accordance with model document 14 of the town hall’s urban planning management.
Once the occupancy license for tourist rentals in Andalusia has been obtained, registration with the Andalusian Tourism Registry is compulsory, in order to be able to provide the accommodation service for tourist rentals, with all this, a document called “Responsible Declaration” must be presented to the regional government responsible for tourism, the contents of this document will be:
- Data corresponding to the identification of the house :
- Cadastral reference
- Capacity based on occupancy permit
- Owner’s contact details and address for notifications.
- Identification of the person who will carry out the activity and the title that qualifies them.
