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• Spain’s Supreme Court has struck down the national registry created for short-term tourist rental properties listed on platforms such as Airbnb.
• The court ruled that the central government did not have the authority to impose a nationwide registry alongside existing regional systems.
• The registry had required property owners to obtain a registration number before advertising tourist accommodation online.
• Spain has been tightening rules on holiday rentals amid concerns over housing affordability, rising rents and over-tourism in major cities.
• While cancelling the registry, the court upheld the requirement for online rental platforms to continue sharing property data with authorities.
Spain’s Supreme Court has cancelled the national registry introduced for short-term tourist rentals, ruling that the central government exceeded its powers by creating a nationwide framework for holiday accommodation listings. Advertisement
The registry, introduced by Spain’s coalition government in the past year, required owners of tourist rental properties to register their homes and obtain an official identification number before advertising on online platforms such as Airbnb and other short-term rental portals.
Several regional governments challenged the measure, arguing that tourism and housing regulation fall largely under regional administration in Spain. The Supreme Court agreed and said the state could not impose an additional national registry when similar registration systems were already operating at regional levels.
The court also clarified that while European Union rules allow authorities to collect information on short-term rental listings from digital platforms, those regulations do not require countries to create a separate nationwide registry.
Although the national database has been struck down, the ruling maintained the obligation for online rental platforms to provide property listing data to authorities. This means monitoring of tourist accommodation activity in Spain will continue through existing regional systems and digital reporting requirements.
Spain has been trying to tighten control over short-term rentals as housing affordability pressures continue to rise in several cities and tourist-heavy regions. Local governments in places such as Barcelona, Madrid and parts of the Balearic Islands have introduced restrictions on tourist apartments over the past few years due to concerns that large numbers of holiday rentals were reducing the supply of long-term housing for residents.
Authorities in Barcelona had earlier announced plans to gradually phase out thousands of tourist apartment licences by the end of the decade as part of broader housing measures. Spain has also witnessed protests in some tourism-driven cities where residents raised concerns about rising rents, overcrowding and pressure on local infrastructure linked to mass tourism and short-term accommodation growth.
Spain remains the world’s second-most visited country after France, with millions of tourists choosing apartments and holiday homes instead of hotels each year. The rapid growth of online rental platforms has increased pressure on governments across Europe to strengthen rules around licensing, taxation and data transparency in the short-term rental market.
The latest ruling is expected to reopen discussions between Spain’s central administration and regional governments on how tourist rental regulations can be coordinated without overlapping legal powers or creating additional compliance burdens for property owners.
Source Reuters
5th Jun, 2025
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