From July 2025, all landlords who rent out a property on a daily or weekly basis will have to register on a new national database. The government is further increasing regulations on holiday rentals with the creation of the Register for Short-Term Rentals.
Royal Decree 1312/2024, approved in December, increases control over the property market, in compliance with European Regulation (EU) 2024/1028. The stated purpose is to improve ‘transparency’ in holiday rentals — those typically arranged through platforms such as Airbnb or Booking — but the consequences could be very different.
More responsibilities for landlords
Landlords who wish to rent out their properties must:
• Obtain an official identification number for each property.
• Register it in the Land Registry or the Register of Movable Property, as appropriate.
• Use the ‘Ventanilla Única Digital’ exclusively to update their status.
• Renew the registration annually and keep the information up to date.
Failure to comply with any of these requirements may result in penalties and the inability to list the property on digital platforms.
What does this new register involve?
The Register of Short-Term Rentals requires anyone offering a property—whether a house, room or even a boat—for short-term rental to formally register it and obtain a unique national registration number. Without this number, the property cannot be advertised on any digital platform.
The competent authority for registration will be the Land Registry, where the use of the property as a short-term rental will be recorded. In the case of movable property (such as boats or other items), the Movable Property Registry will be used.
This type of rental, normally considered seasonal under the Spanish Law, was already subject to a lot of regional rules and restrictions. Now, there is an extra level of control at the national level.
What is needed to do the application?
If you want to legally rent out your property for days or weeks, you need to meet a lot of requirements and get your property registered in the Land Registry to obtain a national registration number. You need this number to advertise your property on digital platforms.
Here are the main documents and conditions you need to meet:
• Digital certificate: essential for carrying out this process online. The landlord of the property must identify electronically with a valid certificate (DNIe, Cl@ve Firma, FNMT, etc.).
• Cadastral reference: each property must be clearly identified, so it will be necessary to provide its cadastral reference, which can be found on the IBI receipt.
• Tourist licence or declaration of responsibility: depending on the region where the property is located, it will be necessary to provide a tourist licence or proof of submission of a declaration of responsibility.
The new “Ventanilla Única Digital”
The regulations also set up a national digital platform — the ‘Ventanilla Única Digital’ for Rentals — through which landlords and platforms must report all rental information:
• Registration and deregistration of rented properties.
• Information about the landlord and the use of the property.
• Annual renewals.
• Changes in the use or location of the rented property.
In order to carry out this communication, it is essential that the landlord of the property has a digital certificate.
When does it apply?
Although the royal decree was approved on 2 January 2025, all these obligations will only become fully applicable from July 2025.
A critical conclusion: more regulation is not the solution
The housing problem in Spain will not be solved by punishing landlords, imposing registers, platforms or new bureaucratic requirements. The real problem is the lack of housing supply, caused by years of urban planning obstacles, slow administration and excessive regulation on new housing construction.
If we want to fight the rental price, the solution is to make it easier to build, liberalise land use, speed up licensing and allow developers and landlords to offer housing with legal certainty. In addition, private property must be actively protected, eradicating the illegal occupation, which remains unaddressed in many parts of the country.
In the meantime, every new decree like this only serves to attack small landlords, imposes strict regulations and opens the door to the black market. It is time to stop applying quick fixes and start building real solutions.
