One of the reasons you might want to buy a house in Spain is for a rental investment, for instance during the times you are not staying there yourself or during the hot summer months. It can be a nice way to recoup some of the fixed costs that come with the house.

To rent out a house or flat in Andalusia, you need to go through a number of steps and the house must also meet various requirements.

Applying for an RTA licence

If you want to use a property for short-term rentals (less than 2 months) through commercial rental websites, you need to apply for a licence from the Registro de Turismo de Andalucia (RTA). Booking sites such as airbnb, Booking.com, Holiday Home, VRBO.com and all other major booking sites will only include you on their website if you have a registration number for this purpose. 

If you want to start renting out your house commercially you can make this application yourself  through the Junta de Andalucia but, as everything has to be in Spanish and you also have to answer some specific questions, we recommend that you make this application through a lawyer or your accountant.    

Stated requirements

In principle, an RTA licence is always granted. However, it is possible that another inspection will follow in which it will be checked whether the house meets the right conditions. This inspection will take place by appointment. For instance, the inspector will check whether the following items are present:  
- Smoke detector   
- Fire extinguisher  
- First aid kit  
- Operating instructions of all electronic equipment
- Sufficient ventilation and windows in every room
- Heating and cooling compulsory in urbano (air conditioner or fan) In rural houses this is not compulsory, but is advised. 
- Tourist information, complaints book and emergency phone numbers 
- Owners' Association regulations (if applicable)  

Different licences

There are different licences for being able to rent out a holiday home. For example, there is a difference between 'urbano' (in a village or town) and 'rustico' (campo, in the countryside). These may be different criteria from how the house is registered in the Property Register. In addition, rural licences are again divided into 'Vivienda Turistica' (VTAR) and the more extensive Casa Rural.  

Urbano: Licence of First Occupation mandatory. This requires the above-mentioned items. Otherwise, there are no additional requirements.  

Vivienda turistica: You rent out your entire house to guests without being there yourself. No additional services such as breakfast, drinks or lunch are allowed. You need a specific nameplate to be placed visibly at the road.  

Casa rural: You need this licence for a B&B, hotel, etc. You run this like a business and therefore need to be at least autonomo (self-employed) for it. Sometimes you also need to apply for a business opening licence from the municipality. This is done through an architect who checks for a number of technical requirements. The Casa Rural licence also requires a specific nameplate that must be clearly visible.    

Other conditions for renting out

Besides having the right licence, you are obliged to digitally register all guests (aged 16 and over) staying in the house with the Guardia Civil within 24 hours of arrival. For this, you will need a copy of the guests' identity documents, which you should keep in your possession for a year in case an inspection follows.    

In Andalusia, even as a non-fiscal resident, you are required to file a quarterly tax return (whether or not through an accountant/administration firm) of the income and expenses from the property. You pay 21% tax on the profit.   After Brexit UK residents renting their Spanish property have to pay a flat 24% tax on their income and cannot use their expenses to reduce this tax

Would you like to know more about renting out your holiday home? We would be happy to tell you more about it in the run-up to buying your Spanish dream home.