This week’s property news update! My name is Christofer Fogelberg, I am a certified Spanish Estate Agent by API and GIPE and have been working on the Costa del Sol since 2003.
As many property buyers are interested in renting out the property short term, as holiday rentals or AirBnBs, it is ever so important for the Real Estate Agent to know which rules apply when advising on which property to buy.
Here are a few key points to know (the last one is NEW, surprising and turns the tables upside down so stick around)
- Andalusia, including Costa del Sol, there are new rules applying since 2024 and the Town Halls have denied hundreds of petitions for new rental licenses. Many municipalities such as Malaga and Fuengirola, have put a cap on the number of rental properties allowed in certain areas.
- NATIONALLY Communities have been able to prohibit short term rental properties since 2019, as long as 60% of the owners vote to prohibit in the AGM. However they could not prohibit owners with existing licenses from continuing.
- 2023 the supreme court of Spain ruled twice (sentences 1643/2023 and 1671/2023) that a tourist rental was to be considered an economic activity. This can be a problem as many communities have a prohibition in the statutes against economic activities such as medical centres, offices etc. And now tourist rentals are per say prohibited.
This week we have come across something new. A community of owners that have a prohibition in the statues are taking legal action against owners that have valid rental licenses since long before the sentence in the supreme court. This is new as the practice until now has been to not allow NEW rental properties but the ones that had valid licenses could continue.
This community has given 3 months for the owners to cancel all bookings and are requesting proof that the rental licenses have been canceled.
We have consulted the lawyers of the GIPE, one of the oldest professional real estate associations in Spain and they say this can be done like this as long as the statues are inscribed in the property register.
Yet another issue with short term rentals that makes the work of an Estate Agent more like the private detective. To have a certified professional estate agent by your side when buying or selling a property is more important than ever.