There is no single tourist licence in Spain: each autonomous community regulates its own (VUT, VFT, HUT, ETV…) and the state NRUA registry was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2026. A region-by-region guide with the licence type, the key regulation and the registration process in each one, plus the other obligations — traveller report, tourist tax, taxes — that come on top of the licence.
In short
Spain has no national tourist licence: the power sits with the autonomous communities, and each regulates its own figure — VUT in Madrid and Galicia, VFT in Andalusia, HUT in Catalonia, ETV in the Balearics, vivienda vacacional in the Canary Islands… — with its own registry, requirements and penalties. The short-lived state registry, the NRUA of RD 1312/2024, was annulled by the Supreme Court in 2026, so the authorisation that matters is once again exclusively your region’s.
The typical process has three steps: check that tourist use is compatible with your municipality’s planning rules, file the declaración responsable (or the equivalent procedure) with the regional tourism body, and obtain the registration number you must then display in all your advertising. This guide gives you the map by region, with a link to the in-depth guide for each one.
There is no single tourist licence in Spain
“Tourist licence” is the popular name for legally different figures depending on the region: in most of them it is technically not a licence but a declaración responsable (responsible declaration) followed by enrolment in the regional tourism registry. The practical result is the same — a registration number without which you cannot legally market the property — but the requirements, timings and penalties vary widely between regions, and even between municipalities within the same region.
In 2025 a state layer was added — the Single Rental Registry (NRUA) with its Digital One-Stop Shop — which required an extra number to advertise on platforms. The Supreme Court annulled it in 2026 for invading regional powers: it is no longer required, and fees paid can be reclaimed. The regional authorisations, on the other hand, remain as mandatory as ever.
The typical registration process, step by step
With variations by region, the usual path to authorise a home for tourist use is this:
- ✓Check planning compatibility in your municipality: more and more cities restrict or suspend new registrations by zone (Barcelona and 261 other Catalan municipalities require a planning licence; Málaga has suspended new VFTs across the whole city; in the Valencian Community the municipal compatibility report is mandatory before anything else).
- ✓Gather the material requirements of your regional rule: habitability certificate or equivalent, minimum equipment, and in several regions civil-liability insurance.
- ✓File the declaración responsable (or the applicable procedure) with your region’s tourism body.
- ✓Obtain the enrolment number in the regional registry and display it in all your advertising: listings without a registration number are the most common way unregistered homes get detected.
- ✓Watch the validity: in some regions the authorisation expires or must be renewed (five years in the Valencian Community and the Balearics, for example).
Guide by region: figure, key regulation and quirks
This is the picture for the regions we cover in depth. Each row summarises the legal figure and its headline regulation; the full detail — requirements, process and penalties — is in each region’s linked guide.
| Region | Figure | Key regulation | Relevant quirk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Madrid | VUT (home for tourist use) | Decree 79/2014 | Declaración responsable and CTRTM number; special hospitality plan in the capital |
| Andalusia | VFT (home for tourist purposes) | Decree 28/2016 (amended by Decree 31/2024) | RTA number; recent municipal restrictions in Seville and Málaga |
| Málaga (city) | VFT with municipal moratorium | Decree 28/2016 + municipal agreement | New registrations suspended across the whole city; 43 saturated neighbourhoods |
| Catalonia | HUT (habitatge d’ús turístic) | Decret 75/2020 + Decret llei 3/2023 | Prior planning licence in 262 municipalities; cap of 10 HUTs per 100 residents |
| Balearic Islands | ETV (tourist stay in a home) | Law 8/2012 | Bed-quota moratorium since 2022; consell bed pools; renewal every 5 years |
| Valencian C. | Home for tourist use | Decree-law 9/2024 | Prior municipal planning-compatibility report; expires after 5 years |
| Galicia | VUT | Decree 12/2017 | Declaración responsable before Turismo de Galicia and enrolment in the REAT |
| Canary Islands | Vivienda vacacional | Law 6/2025 | Central role of town councils; 10% buildability cap; 5-year transitional regime |
Orientative summary built from our regional guides, reviewed in 2026. Municipal rules can add restrictions; always check the regulation in force before starting a registration.
Related resources
- Tourist licence in Madrid— VUT, Decree 79/2014, registry and penalties
- Tourist licence in Andalusia— VFT, Decree 28/2016, RTA number and restrictions by province
- Legal guide: Catalonia— HUT licence and why guest reports go to the Mossos d’Esquadra
- Legal guide: Balearic Islands— ETV, the bed-quota moratorium and the ecotasa
- Legal guide: Valencian Community— Compatibility report, registry and 5-year expiry
- Legal guide: Galicia— VUT, declaración responsable and the REAT
- Legal guide: Canary Islands— Law 6/2025 and its transitional regime
- Legal guide: Basque Country— Regional registry (Ertzaintza) and licensing context
What about the other regions?
Every autonomous community requires some form of authorisation and enrolment in its tourism registry to market a home for tourist use; the table covers the regions we have written up in depth so far. If your property is elsewhere, the reliable starting point is your regional government’s official tourism portal and, increasingly, your town council’s rules, which is where the newest restrictions are concentrating.
We will keep extending the regional guides; the underlying pattern — planning compatibility, declaración responsable, registration number, display in advertising — repeats in almost all of them.
The licence is not the only obligation
Getting the tourism authorisation is the first requirement, but not the only one. These obligations are independent of each other, with different administrations and penalties, and it pays to have all of them on the radar from day one:
- ✓Traveller report: report each guest’s data within 24 hours to SES Hospedajes (or to the Mossos and the Ertzaintza in Catalonia and the Basque Country). It is a public-safety obligation under RD 933/2021, independent of the licence.
- ✓Tourist tax: only where one exists (Catalonia and the Balearics today; the Basque Country from 2027). The accommodation collects it and settles it with the administration.
- ✓Taxes: holiday-rental income is taxable (personal or corporate income tax, and in certain cases VAT), whether or not you hold a licence.
- ✓Invoicing: if it applies to you, the VeriFactu calendar arrives in 2027.
Related resources
- The traveller report: what it is and how to file it— The public-safety obligation that comes with every tourist home
- Tourist tax in Spain: a guide by region— Where it exists, how much it is and who settles it
- How to declare Airbnb income in Spain— IRPF, VAT and tax forms in 2026
- VeriFactu for holiday rentals— Who it obliges and from when
What you risk by operating without a licence
Renting without the regional authorisation is a tourism infringement in every region, with fines that reach tens of thousands of euros in the serious brackets — each region’s concrete amounts are in its regional guide. Beyond the fine, platforms remove listings without a valid registration number, and a listing without a number is today the easiest way for inspectors to find you.
The good news: once the home is authorised, the remaining day-to-day compliance — the traveller report for every stay — can be fully automated. BookCheckin files each guest’s data with SES Hospedajes within the legal deadline and keeps the receipt of every submission.