A large share of buyers here intend to let the property when they are not using it. That plan is still perfectly viable, but the rules changed materially in 2025 and a property that could be licensed two years ago cannot always be licensed today. This is now a question to settle before you offer, not after you complete.
Two numbers, not one
You need a registration with the Junta de Andalucía's tourism registry, which gives you an NRA — Número de Registro Andaluz — that must appear in every advertisement. Separately, any property listed on a transactional platform such as Airbnb or Booking now also needs an NRUA, the single national rental registration number.
Municipal permission comes first
This is the change that catches people. Until March 2025 you could register a property by filing a declaración responsable and that was broadly that. Now municipal permission comes first — the town hall before the region. Get that order wrong and you lose months.
And the criteria are local. Málaga city has introduced zoning that limits new registrations in the historic centre and other saturated districts. Marbella, Estepona and Benahavís each apply their own reading. What is straightforward in one municipality is refused in the next.
Your neighbours have a vote
If the property is in a building or complex with a community of owners, tourist use needs the community's explicit approval — a three-fifths majority. Plenty of communities on this coast have already voted to prohibit it. The minutes of the last few general meetings will tell you, and we read them before you buy.
The cost of getting it wrong
Letting without registration is an administrative infraction. Fines run from around €2.000 for a minor breach to €150.000 for a serious one. It is not a risk worth carrying on an asset of this size.
How we handle it
If rental income is part of your case for buying, tell us at the first conversation. We check the municipality, the community statutes and the recent minutes before you view — and if a property cannot be licensed, we say so rather than letting you find out at the notary.
Correct as of 7 August 2026. Municipal rules on this coast are changing quickly; verify the current position for the specific address with a Spanish lawyer.