Which licence you need in 2026 to list a Spanish property on Airbnb and Booking

In short

• Since the Supreme Court ruling of 19 May 2026, the national registration number (NRUA) is no longer required to advertise.
• What you need is your property's entry in your region's tourism register. That number is the one that goes in your listing.
• If your flat is in a building with an owners' association and you are starting now, you also need its approval by a three-fifths majority.
• Before you invest, check whether the town hall caps holiday lets in your neighbourhood.
• Every guest must be registered through SES.Hospedajes (or the regional police systems in Catalonia and the Basque Country).

A year ago this guide would have opened with the NRUA, the number issued by the Land Registry without which Airbnb and Booking took your listing down. That number has now dropped out of the picture, and many owners have taken it to mean no permit is needed at all. That is not the case.

In Spain, holiday lets are regulated mainly by the regions (the comunidades autónomas), and their rules are untouched. Here, in order, is everything you will be asked for to list your property legally in 2026.

What happened to the NRUA

Royal Decree 1312/2024 created a national register and, from 1 July 2025, required every short-term rental listing to show a national registration number. On 19 May 2026 the Supreme Court struck that register down in ruling 620/2026, finding that central government had no power to create it¹.

As a result, you no longer need to apply for or display the national number, and platforms cannot remove your listing for lacking it. We cover the details in what the Supreme Court ruling on the NRUA changes.

1. Registration with your regional tourism authority

This is the core requirement. In almost every region the process is a declaración responsable, a sworn statement that your property meets the requirements. Once filed, the property is entered in the regional tourism register and given its own number. That number is what the platforms ask for, and it must appear in any advertising for your property.

Each region names the licence differently and sets its own technical requirements. These are the main markets:

Andalusia renamed the category from "vivienda con fines turísticos" to "vivienda de uso turístico" in Decree 31/2024. Older registrations with the VFT prefix remain valid^2,8.

Some regions also require the number to be shown inside the property. In Catalonia it must be visible indoors; in the Valencia region and the Canary Islands you need a plaque or badge with the number; in the Balearics, a pictogram with the letters ETV^3,5,6,7. Check your region's rules before you consider the job done.

2. Approval from your owners' association

Since 3 April 2025, if your flat is in a building under horizontal property rules (a comunidad de propietarios) and you want to start letting it to tourists, you need the association's prior, express approval. The vote must be backed by three fifths of the owners who also hold three fifths of the ownership shares (article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act, as amended by Organic Law 1/2025)^9,10.

Ask your building's administrator for a copy of the statutes as well. If they already prohibit business activities in the flats, approval will be much harder to get.

3. Your town hall's limits

Even with the region and your neighbours on board, local planning rules can stop you. More and more Spanish cities cap new holiday lets by neighbourhood. Two examples:

Before you buy or renovate a flat with holiday letting in mind, ask the town hall's planning department whether your street accepts new registrations. It is the cheapest check you will ever make.

4. Guest registration

Since 2 December 2024, Royal Decree 933/2021 has required hosts to send each guest's details to the Ministry of the Interior through SES.Hospedajes within 24 hours of arrival¹³. Catalonia and the Basque Country use their regional police systems instead. This obligation has nothing to do with the NRUA and remains fully in force.

Where to add your number on Airbnb and Booking

The number to show is your regional registration number, written exactly as it appears on your registration document.

1. Airbnb

   Open your listing and find the registration number field in the listing details. Airbnb describes it this way in its help pages for the Spanish regions¹⁴.

   Some of those pages still mention the national number. Since the ruling, the regional one is enough.

2. Booking.com

   In the extranet, open your property details and fill in the licence or registration number in the legal information section.

3. Your website, social media and other portals

   The duty to show the number covers all advertising, not just the big platforms. Add it to your own website and any other listings too.

Checklist before you publish

• Your town hall's planning rules allow holiday lets in your area.
• You have your owners' association's three-fifths approval, if you are starting after 3 April 2025.
• The property meets your region's technical requirements (occupancy certificate, furnishing, heating or air conditioning, complaint forms and so on).
• You have filed the declaration and received your regional registration number.
• The number appears on Airbnb, Booking and any other advertising, and inside the property if your region requires it.
• You have a way to register every guest on SES.Hospedajes within 24 hours.

With everything in order, the next step is making your listing compete. See how to optimise your Airbnb listing.

Frequently asked questions

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Sources

1. General Council of the Judiciary (CGPJ), press release of 21 May 2026. El Tribunal Supremo anula el Registro Único de arrendamientos de corta duración (in Spanish).
2. BOJA. Decree 31/2024 of 29 January amending provisions on viviendas de uso turístico (in Spanish).
3. Generalitat de Catalunya, Canal Empresa. Frequently asked questions on tourist-use dwellings (HUT) (in Catalan).
4. Comunidad de Madrid. Declaration to start a vivienda de uso turístico (in Spanish).
5. Gómez-Acebo & Pombo. Main changes introduced by Decree-Law 9/2024 of the Consell (in Spanish).
6. BOE. Law 6/2017 amending the Balearic Tourism Law 8/2012 (in Spanish).
7. Government of the Canary Islands. Viviendas vacacionales (in Spanish).
8. Licencia Turística Andalucía. From VFT to VUT: how to adapt your holiday-let registration after Decree 31/2024.
9. BOE. Law 49/1960 on Horizontal Property, article 17.12 (in Spanish).
10. Noticias Jurídicas. Reform of the Horizontal Property Act by Organic Law 1/2025 (in Spanish).
11. Seville City Council planning department. Limitación de viviendas de uso turístico (in Spanish).
12. Hosteltur. Barcelona can remove 10,000 tourist flats with the Constitutional Court's backing (in Spanish).
13. Chekin. Guest registration: SES.Hospedajes guide (in Spanish).
14. Airbnb Help Centre. Rules for hosts in Cantabria (an example of the region-by-region pages).

This article is for information only and is not legal advice. Requirements change often, so always confirm those of your region and town hall. Reviewed on 25 September 2026.