What does registration for short-term rentals entail?
With this registration system, the Government wants to pursue fraud, protect those who really need seasonal accommodation, put a stop to illegal tourist accommodation and prioritize rentals of regular housing.
In addition, it seeks to be of help to the autonomous communities in this process, many of which have their own rental registries that must be merged with the national one.
What does this royal decree include?
The Royal Decree, in application of the European regulation, establishes a series of obligations and regulations regarding information that apply to short-term accommodation rental services.
It includes both short-term rental services provided by online platforms to hosts who provide short-term accommodation rental services in Spain, regardless of the place of establishment of said platforms, as well as rental services provided by hosts.
The text starts from causality to distinguish seasonal and short-term rentals -which also include rooms, tourist, boat or other property rentals- from ordinary housing rentals.
What is the registration number?
In order to market their rentals on platforms, landlords are required to obtain a registration number, provide the information required for registration or renewal, meet information requests and communicate to the online platforms the number assigned to them by the Property Registry or the Real Estate Registry.
The platforms, for their part, are required to ensure that landlords identify their properties with this number in their applications and that it is visible in the advertisements.
How do you get it?
The procedure to request the registration number will be carried out through the electronic headquarters of the College of Registrars and the number obtained will be valid for 12 months.
The interested party must direct their request to the headquarters of the College of Registrars or the competent Property or Real Estate Registry that contains the specific address.
Likewise, they must detail the type of lease: properties, rooms or partial units intended for short-term non-tourist rental; those intended for tourism or floating boats or other properties that allow short-term accommodation.
A single code per category
Each property, room or boat may only have one code for each previous category.
The Royal Decree establishes that these rentals may not be marketed without the aforementioned valid registration number, nor with a registration number associated with a different category and type of lease.
How to renew it?
The registration number will be valid for 12 months, and may be extended in the event of one or more leases being established on the unit during that period, as long as they are of the same category and type for which the registration was requested.
To request the extension, a list of the leases for each category established during the validity of this registration number must be provided.
In the case of seasonal leases, the reason for the tenant's need for non-permanent housing must also be included in each of said contracts, which can be verified.
Once the requirements for both registration and renewal are met, the registrar will issue the registration number and submit it to the Digital One-Stop Shop.
What happens if the property is withdrawn or the registration is suspended?
In the event that the registration number is withdrawn or suspended by the registrar, the Digital One-Stop Shop will send an order to the platforms to remove any advertisements associated with that number.
