Rental rules that matter to a buyer in 2026
This guide identifies selected checks for someone buying a flat in Spain to let to tourists, arising from rules decided in 2025 and 2026. It does not determine the position of any particular flat.
1. The Supreme Court judgments on the registration decree
Three Supreme Court judgments in 2026 annulled specified provisions of Royal Decree 1312/2024 relating to the Single Rental Registration procedure. The scope of each annulment is set out in the operative part of the relevant judgment and is summarised in the guide “The national rental registry after the 2026 judgments”.
2. The community's prior approval
Since 3 April 2025, Article 7.3 of the Horizontal Property Law has required an owner who wishes to carry out the tourist letting activity covered by Article 5(e) of the Urban Leases Act, under the tourism-sector rules, to obtain the community of owners’ express prior approval in accordance with Article 17.12.
"El propietario de cada vivienda que quiera realizar el ejercicio de la actividad a que se refiere la letra e) del artículo 5 de la Ley 29/1994, de 24 de noviembre, de Arrendamientos Urbanos, en los términos establecidos en la normativa sectorial turística, deberá obtener previamente la aprobación expresa de la comunidad de propietarios, en los términos establecidos en el apartado 12 del artículo diecisiete de esta Ley."How this applies to a particular property requires a review of that property's own documentation. For how the community decides, and for activity that began before 3 April 2025, see the guide "Can a community of owners ban tourist rentals?".
What a buyer should check
Whether the flat’s documentation shows that tourist letting was already being carried out before 3 April 2025 under the applicable tourism rules, on what conditions, and whether that position can be maintained following the purchase; what the community’s statutes and minutes say; and the regional, municipal and planning rules that apply. The answer can differ from one flat to the next.
Fuentes: STS 620/2026, de 19 de mayo (BOE-A-2026-12300); STS de 21 de mayo de 2026 y Auto de 11 de junio de 2026 (BOE-A-2026-13893); STS de 1 de junio de 2026 (BOE-A-2026-15677); Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, arts. 7.3, 17.12 y disposición adicional segunda (BOE-A-1960-10906); Ley Orgánica 1/2025 (BOE-A-2025-76).
Last updated: 2 November 2026.