Sean Woolley, CEO Cloud Nine Spain
Spain currently is the second most visited country in the world by tourists and predictions are that by 2040, it will overtake France and be the number one tourist destination. The country is very reliant on tourism, with 13% of GDP made up by tourism in 2024, and that figure being expected to continue to rise. Spain has had a love affair with tourists since the 1960s and tourism will continue to be the backbone of the economy for many places in the country.
However, there has been some backlash, particularly in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, pushing for greater control over mass tourism. It’s important to stress that here on the Costa del Sol, there is still an overwhelmingly positive view of tourism and that the area is very welcoming to tourists and that Spain is not alone in facing this issue.
This is definitely a global problem, in areas where there are large numbers of people buying for investment and holiday rentals. Around the world this is causing issues, as it limits the housing stock available for local people and pushes up prices, until they are out of reach for people from the local area.
Spain definitely does not hate tourists, and the anti-tourism protests in Spain are more about control, imposing limits and ensuring there are enough properties available to locals. There have already been changes in this direction, with the Junta de Andalucia requiring better regulation and the Supreme Court deeming holiday rentals as businesses, therefore in some cases not allowed within communities or developments. Barcelona is planning to ban Airbnb altogether from 2028, although whether that is really possible is in doubt, with over 10,000 Airbnbs currently in the city.
What’s behind the anti-tourism protests and measures?
One of the main frustrations with over-tourism and one of the drivers for the protests is a lack of infrastructure to cope with the extra demand that tourism puts on the country. There were over 85 million visitors to Spain last year and that puts a lot of pressure on the country’s resources and infrastructure. The aim is to protect their towns and cities from the influx of tourists and fund any changes to the infrastructure that is required.
However, they are not treating all aspects of tourism as the same. From a governmental and regulation point of view, they are predominantly concerned about the unregistered tourism rentals. This is something which has been better regulated for some time. The Junta de Andalucia has a scheme where if you want to rent your property on a short-term basis, you have to have a licence, pay taxes, and abide by the rules. This is there to improve the quality of holiday rental properties and of course collect tax revenues, which weren’t previously being declared.
Another concern with high levels of properties being used as holiday rentals, is that it blocks people who were born and bred in the area from purchasing property, or renting long term. Barcelona is the perfect example of a city which has probably gone too far. There are too many properties that are now registered for tourism, and there’s nowhere for the locals to go and buy. We expect to see percentage limits being put on developments, towns and cities, requiring that the holiday rentals to property stock must stay below a certain limit – perhaps 20% or 30% of the total. That would restore some balance in these communities which are worse effected.
These drivers, coming from fiscal, political or economic agendas, have collided to create this perfect storm and push people out to protest. It has also led to sweeping statements and demands, such as abolishing all the holiday rentals in Barcelona, which I find hard to believe could happen.
You’re talking about 10,000 properties. You’re talking about people’s livelihoods. There are people that own 30 or 40 properties and run a business employing 10 or 20 people. I don’t know if you can ethically, politically or financially just say no and turn off that income stream for so many. I believe that there will be workarounds to enable some to continue, but with limits and better regulation.
What rentals will be allowed?
We’ve heard that some of the communities are saying that they’ll ban Airbnb and not allow rentals for one or two nights. But they will allow a week or more, on the basis of signing a temporary contract.
Here in Andalucia, there was a Supreme Court ruling a few years ago allowing communities to decide for themselves whether they allow tourist rentals or not. To do so, you had to have a clear 60/40 majority. And if you vote on the issue and have the majority, then effectively, you could ban holiday rentals in your community. However, the vast majority of the communities have not taken that extreme measure.
That’s because it’s not a problem with tourism per se. In fact, in my opinion, it’s not necessarily directed at tourism itself or the tourists. It’s just what that influx of people and the housing restrictions of holiday rentals brings. The Spanish want tourism. We need tourism as a nation in Spain, but it’s about just controlling some of the elements and restricting the type of tourist.
When they say the minimum length of stay is seven nights, this discourages disruptive tourists such as hens and stags and lads’ weekends, which can cause problems. By introducing a seven-day minimum stay, they hope to encourage more respectful guests. This is happening with a lot of the developments in Puerto Banus and the Golden Mile on the Costa del Sol.
The other thing that they’ve mentioned on a lot of communities, is charging apartment owners who do rent their properties 20%-30% more in community fees. This is to counteract the extra footfall and pressure on the amenities.
Lastly, we expect to see more communities deciding what percentage of holiday lets they would want in that urbanisation, to ensure the balance remains in favour of residents and homes for private use. We’d expect more to implement a limit of 20% or 30%, to keep things on an even keel and avoid the issues that we’re seeing in Barcelona.
What does the new ruling mean?
The Supreme Court in Madrid recently ruled that if in your community statutes it isn’t permitted to run a business from your property, holiday rentals should also fall into this category. This has led to lots of fears and confusion among community presidents and owners.
I have an investment property on the Golden Mile, and this was recently discussed at a community meeting. There was absolutely no dissent against holiday rentals, about 75% of people said it was fine in a previous vote. However, they were very concerned about the Supreme Court ruling and interpreted that as requiring them to stop allowing it.
But I’ve spoken to various lawyers in Marbella who said the Supreme Court ruling has been misinterpreted and misadvised to the community presidents. According to the lawyers I have spoken to, the Supreme Court was talking about hotel-style commercial activities, with multiple apartments and paid staff members cleaning and servicing the guests. They’re not talking about me or you renting out your two-bed apartment for a week or a year at a time. This is something that needs to be clarified to avoid extreme measures being taken unnecessarily.
What impact will it have on owners or buyers wanting to make income from their properties?
It’s important to look at the news and the changes in a balanced way and know that there will not be a blanket ban on all holiday rental properties, but that there will be more limits, checks and balances put in place.
This impacts our clients, as the majority would like to have the flexibility of having the option of renting to tourists. What we recommend is that if you’re looking at buying here, and that’s one of the things you want to do, is to make sure via your lawyer or via your agent, that you know whether or not it is allowed in the community you are interested in.
We’re noticing that when people have a choice between a development that isn’t allowing them and a development that is…”People buy the one that is.” This is likely to affect property values in those communities that do not allow it.
What I’m advising all clients to do at the moment, if they are at all inclined, or even if they’re not inclined to rent out short-term, is to get a tourist license, because that could be worth 20% at some point in the future.
There’s a current example in Ibiza where identical apartments, one with a tourist licence, one without, are both on the market and there’s a €100,000 difference between the two. So that licence that you get just might be the best €200 or €300 you’ve ever spent! However, changes are afoot to prevent you passing that licence to any new owners if you decide to sell your property. The new owners will have to apply for their own licence, which may be affected if the community bans holiday rentals in the interim.
What’s next?
When you read stories about this in the press, it’s important to be mindful and sift the fact from the headline-grabbing news. Also, be aware of the massive regional variations across Spain and ask an expert in the area where you want to buy what things are like there.
It’s important to know that I’ve not seen any anti-tourist behaviour and I don’t know anyone that’s seen it on the Costa del Sol. This area is very much pro-tourism. Everyone seems to be living harmoniously at the moment, and it’s all good.
Any new legislation is going to get kicked around the courts for a long time – a long, long time. I can’t see there being a resolution to it. I think what’s going to end up happening is that it’ll get kicked back to the communities for them to self-govern, which is the most intelligent thing for them to do.
I think what the development where I own a rental property would probably do is say, we’re going to charge holiday rental owners 20% more for the community fees, and we’re going to limit to seven days plus. I believe that would keep most people happy.
If you’re thinking of buying a property over here, it’s super, super important to get the best advice, to do your due diligence, work with an agent who has been here a while, knows what they’re doing, knows the developments, and speak to a lawyer. Buying armed with knowledge is the very best thing you can do.
