In May Spain's Supreme Court ruled against a national registry regulating tourist flats, meaning that the way the country controls tourist accommodation will change.
The aim of the registry was to tackle illegal short-term rentals, something widely blamed for the housing crisis in the country, but the ruling stated that Madrid had tried to intervene in issues controlled by the regions.
The central government, the court ruled, "lacks the authority to establish an exhaustive regulation of a national registry that overlaps with regional registries already in existence".
READ ALSO: Spain's mandatory registration of tourist flats rejected by Supreme Court
The ruling was a setback for the ruling Sánchez government in its attempts to tighten rules on tourist rentals. In Spain, platforms like Airbnb are blamed by many in big cities for sending rental costs soaring and reducing the supply of residential properties for locals.
The property market, especially efforts to regulate it, are seen by many in Spain as a major failing of the Sánchez government. Several cities around the country have attempted to regulate tourist rentals, such as Valencia and Barcelona, where the mayor has pledged to phase them out altogether.
Nonetheless, figures from Spain's National Statistics Institute show that in November 2025 there were 329,764 holiday flats across the country, a figure representing a 12.4 per cent decrease compared with the same month the previous year.
The Ministry of Housing maintains that the mechanism has brought to light 100,000 illegal holiday flats and has called on regional governments to take action to close them down, impose fines and channel them into the affordable rental market.
Despite this reduction in the stock of holiday accommodation, demand for holiday accommodation continues to grow in Spain. Overnight stays in non-hotel tourist establishments rose by 5.6 percent in March compared with the same month in 2025, according to data published by the INE.
How will tourist accommodation be regulated in Spain now?
Following the ruling, the regulation of holiday lettings depends mainly on the autonomous communities, local councils and owners’ associations.
Each region maintains its own licensing system, registers and administrative requirements, leading to huge differences between cities.
In some districts, it is not even permitted to replace a holiday let when another ceases trading, whilst in less saturated areas new holiday lets may open provided that the total number of available beds does not increase.
Madrid has opted for a different strategy and restricts new licences in residential buildings in the city centre, as well as requiring separate entrances from the street for certain holiday lets.
Barcelona, for example, one of the hardest hit cities by overtourism, has one of Spain's most restrictive policies.
Regulation also increasingly depends on the residents’ associations themselves, known as la comunidad in Spanish.
READ ALSO: 'La comunidad': What property owners in Spain need to know about homeowners’ associations
Spain's Horizontal Property Act states that, in order to open new holiday flats, a favourable vote from three-fifths of the owners and the building’s participation quotas is required, making local residents the decisive factor in authorising or blocking new holiday homes.
The annulled royal decree creating the register required owners to obtain an official identification number via a form from the Association of Registrars. That code then enabled them to advertise on websites and the well-known platforms that facilitate online bookings.
In short, regulation will now vary from region to region - even city to city - rather than being part of a national plan with one register.
Practically all autonomous communities have some form of restrictions for tourist apartments, with the Valencia region and Catalonia among the strictest.
READ ALSO: Valencia rolls out Spain's 'most restrictive' holiday let limits
Under the reform of the Horizontal Property Act, property owners must also obtain prior approval (a three-fifths majority) from their neighbours to operate a tourist rental.
Comments