Much has been said about renting a property to tourists in Spain and much more has been kept quite because of fear and perhaps because the new legislation has not been fully understood.
I thought that the best way to clear out the uncertainties around this subject was to obtain the information from the horse’s mouth so I have obtained the latest information from the official page of the Valencian Regional Authorities on the subject but rather than start reciting here a long list of laws and regulations I have obtained the most common questions asked to the Valencian Authorities and translate them directly here. Here you can see the original version of those questions and answered.
First thing first,,,,.
Just a couple of regulations that you should know about.
The Decree 30/1993 of the Valencian Consell approved the first Regulation on Apartments, Tourism, Villas, Chalets, Bungalows and similar, which gave birth to a modality of tourist accommodation different from that to hotel establishments and tourist camps.
More than fifteen years later, the Decree 92/2009, of July 3, of the Consell, approved a new regulation regulating on tourist housing and of the management companies, or physical persons, dedicated to the letting of their homes to tourist, in the Valencian Region however this decree has been modified by three subsequent Decrees: 206/2010, of 3 December; 22/2012, of January 27; and 75/2015, of May 15.
Question answered by the Valencian authorities on touristic homes.
- I plan to rent one or more properties that I own in the Valencia Region to tourists. What do I have to do?
Obtain the corresponding registration number for the dwelling (s) in the General Register of Tourism Companies, Establishments and Professions of the Valencian Community (hereinafter The Registrar), by submitting a “responsible declaration”.
- Does the registration process for a single dwelling differ from that of several?
People may process registrations, modifications of up to four tourist homes using the new electronic platform of the Autonomous Government, click here to read it.
Unless these homes have a capacity greater than 16 bed places or are on undeveloped land (agricultural land or “Rustic Land” as it was known many years ago), in which case the process will have to be done through the official digital platform which is shown here, or by the old face-to-face procedure by going to an official Valencian office.
If you manage more than five properties and wish to register them you must register as a management company: in that case all the regulations, procedures and responsible declaration is available from the latter process may exceptionally, be done in person (face to face), you can find more information about it here.
- Can you register any home? What requirements do I have to meet?
The house must have an “occupation license” or occupancy certificate and must be sufficiently furnished and equipped with the necessary appliances and equipment for immediate occupation, and in perfect sanitary conditions. The mandatory requirements according to the category can be found in Annex I of Decree 92/2009, of July 3, of the Valencian Authorities and can be found in the following link.
If the property is located on undeveloped land, an urban planning procedure must be previously processed (Declaration of Community Interest or exceptionally exempted from it). The procedure to follow depends on the specific characteristics of the house and its location, so you must request information at the Town Hall where the tourist home is located.
- OK, what is the cost for this registration process?
The cost from Tourism Office is € 0, except for the cost of acquiring a copy of the “claim sheets” that you must have in a visible place in your home and the cost of making the official badge that have to be shown on the property.
- Where can the so called “claim sheets” be obtained?
The holders of establishments, companies and/or professionals can acquire them in the Territorial Services of Commerce and Consumption, (Servicios Territoriales de Comercio y Consumo) previous payment of the rates the sheets of claims; The payment for the “claim sheets can be obtained at the following link.
If you need the mandatory sign indicating the existence of the claim forms, you can access here, down loaded it and print it directly (link: ) .
Should I advertise the registration number?
Yes, both the registration number assigned to each dwelling and its category must be included in all types of advertising that you may carried out. If it is a management company that manages different dwellings in the same building, it is sufficient to publicize the registration number of the management company and must have a duly updated list where each advertised dwelling is identified with its registration number.
All you wanted to know about renting your Spanish home to tourists and are dead scared to ask | Final part |
Following last article on the current legislations on touristic accommodation in the Valencian Region, we opted for providing a number of questions and answered obtain directly from the Valencian Authorities rather than analysing the actual legislation on the subject, so we continue in this article with that strategy so here are the rest of questions.
Can I rent a tourist house room by room?
The regulation of the Valencian Community does not contemplate the possibility of letting room by room, but the entire accommodation unit and moreover, the owner cannot live in the same accommodation.
Can I sign a contract based on the Urban Lease Law (seasonal lease)?
Article 5 e) of Law 29/1994, of 24 November, on Urban Leases, excludes from its application the temporary cessation of homes marketed or promoted in any tourist channels.
Should I keep a register of travellers?
This may come to a surprise to you but in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of the Interior, you must complete a passenger entry section, made according to an official model, and send it to the corresponding Police Station or Civil Guard Post, depending on the location of the location. living place. This regulation was established in the Order 1922/2003 of July 3 on book-registration and entry reports of travellers in tourist accommodation.
Can I process it by digital means?
Yes, it can be processed by digital means. For this you must have a Spanish digital certificate issued by the ACCV or have an electronic ID and have installed the appropriate software installed in your computer. You can access the catalogue of public services on the Internet of the Valencian Regional portal: or access directly to the “Procedimiento Telemático”. This process is a bit complicated nonetheless I urge you to obtain you digital certificate if you are going to reside in Spain as all bureaucratic process are being digitized and sooner than later everything will have to be done via internet. The above certificate allows you to sign and encrypt securely email messages, when you want to communicate with the local, regional and national authorities allowing you to use your electronic signature you can also encrypt documents of all types and maintain correspondence with the authorities from home.
Some examples of this use are the Electronic Office of the Tax Office, the Electronic Office for the Social Security, the Electronic Office for the Cadastre, the Regional Electronic Office, etc.
There are other questions that will pop up in your procedure to rent your home as “touristic accommodation”, for instance:
What are the tourist requirements that “tourist housing” must meet before its first rental?
Classify your home in one of the first steps to embark on. Your property can be classified as “superior”, “first” or “standard” categories according to the provisions of the Annex to Decree 92/2009, of July 3. You can read it here. in which approves the Regulation of Tourist Accommodation and Management Companies of the Valencian Community. To do this, you must take a look to the Annex of the regulations and select the category that corresponds to the characteristics of your home, which you must communicate in the “responsible statement” (Declaración Responsible). In this Annex there is a long list of requirements that you have to say whether your home complies or not. For instance; do you have parking? Lift? Thermal or acoustic insulation? Nº of bedrooms, living rooms, swimming pool, common gardens ?, etc. You just fill in yes or no and the list will award you one category or another.
And finally, here below is a list of other requirements that you must not forget:
- The property has to be maintained in perfect state of habitability, in accordance with its category and description made to the tourist administration.
- The property must be maintained and serviced to the standard, requirements and qualities which determined their classification and category.
- Suitable conditions for conservation, cleaning and provision of services from the day set for their occupation, with supplies and facilities in accordance with its category.
- You must display in a visible way at its entrance, either inside or outside the corresponding identification of its tourist housing status and registration number, described in Order 2/2010, of March 29, of the Ministry of Tourism, which establishes the distinctive corresponding to the companies and tourist establishments of the Valencian Community. In other words, your property becomes a hotel and should be kept as such.
- In case that the housing you want to rent has also the status of rural, then you must also comply with the provisions of article 32 of Decree 184/2014, of October 31, regulating rural tourist accommodation in the interior of the Valencian Community. In which case the accommodation capacity must not exceed 16 beds per apartment.
- That the building with this category responds to the architectural characteristics of the area, which will be accredited by a certificate issued by an architect.
- That the furniture, equipment and ornamentation respond to the autochthonous singularity of the area where they are located.
- That the locality where it is located is less than 5,000 inhabitants. They may only be located in towns with a greater number of inhabitants when the establishment is located in a village, on undeveloped land or in a place dependent on the municipality and has obtained the declaration of “community of interest” or, have a special exemption certificate in accordance with the current urban legislation.
