If you want to rent your Costa del Sol property to holiday guests on platforms like Airbnb or Booking.com, you’ll keep hearing one phrase:
Let’s explain what that actually means in Andalusia, how it works on the Costa del Sol, and where a company like SunnyCoast Homes fits into the process.
Quick disclaimer: this is general information, not legal advice. Always check specifics with a lawyer or gestor – especially because the rules are evolving.
In Andalusia, holiday rentals are regulated as viviendas de uso turístico (VUT) – tourist-use dwellings.
The base rules come from:
Decreto 28/2016, de 2 de febrero, which first regulated viviendas con fines turísticos
Decreto 31/2024, de 29 de enero, which updated and tightened that regulation
If you:
Rent a flat or house short-term (usually under 2 months per guest), and
Advertise it on platforms, your own website, agencies, etc.,
then you’re expected to register it as a VUT and comply with the standards.
To register a tourist rental in Andalusia, you normally need:
Legal title
You are the owner, or you have documented permission from the owner to run it as a tourist rental.
Occupancy or first-occupation licence (licencia de ocupación / LPO)
This proves the property is legally habitable under planning law. Town halls can ask for this or an equivalent certificate.
Minimum equipment and services (from the decrees)
Adequate furniture for the property’s capacity
Cooling and heating (with timeframes depending on province/climate)
Bed linen, towels, basic kitchen equipment
Cleaning between stays
Information for guests (rules, emergency numbers, complaint forms, prices)
24/7 contact number
You must provide guests with a phone number available 24 hours in case of issues.
Registration in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía
You submit a “declaración responsable” (responsible declaration) to the tourism registry, usually online, including property and owner details.
You then get an official registration code (VFT/VUT-XX-XXXX) that must appear in all advertising.
The 2024 update didn’t scrap the system – it tightened it.
Among other things, it:
Updated definitions and clarified that VUTs are a tourism accommodation service, not just “renting your home”
Gave municipalities more tools to limit new registrations in saturated areas
Added more detail to quality and equipment rules
Tightened controls to make it harder to register flats that don’t match urban planning (for example, in zones where the town hall has limited tourist homes)
That’s how we ended up with:
Málaga city blocking new tourist registrations in certain neighbourhoods
The Junta de Andalucía cancelling thousands of VUTs that didn’t comply with urban or tourism rules.
On top of the Andalusian rules, Spain has created a state-wide registry for tourist and seasonal rentals.
The idea is that:
Each property gets a national registration number
Platforms (Airbnb, Booking, etc.) must show this number on listings and remove those that don’t have one within a short deadline
This comes from a national royal decree (2024) aimed at improving control and fighting illegal rentals.
In practice, it means:
In the future, if your property isn’t properly registered at both regional and state level, it will be very hard to advertise it on major platforms.
We’re not your lawyer – and we don’t pretend to replace that – but as local managers we:
Help you understand if your property can be registered as a VUT before you buy or convert
Coordinate with your lawyer/gestor and the Registro de Turismo process
Make sure the day-to-day operation (equipment, information, guest handling, complaint forms) actually matches what the law expects
Keep you ahead of changes – especially when town halls like Málaga tighten rules in certain zones
If you want to rent your Costa del Sol property legally and sleep at night, getting the tourist licence part right is step one. We’re here to make sure step two – running it properly – is just as professional.