Spain | 87% of Short-Term Rentals at Risk of Being Shut Down

Major disruption is expected in Spain’s short-term tourist rental market due to the enforcement of the new National Registry of Tourist and Seasonal Housing (Registro Nacional de Viviendas de Uso Turístico y de Temporada), which came into effect on July 1. According to data from Mabrian, only 13% of Airbnb-listed short-term rentals have completed the required registration and added the mandatory unique registration number (NRA) to their listing descriptions.

The deadline is tight: starting August 1, platforms like Airbnb must remove all listings that fail to comply with the new regulation. This means that nearly 9 out of 10 properties—over 1.1 million beds—are at risk of being delisted, right at the peak of the summer tourism season.

Platforms Under Pressure
The obligation to verify the legality of listings via the new national registry stems from an agreement between Spain’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda and Airbnb. The agreement grants hosts a 10-working-day grace period after being notified to add their NRA. After that, the platform is legally required to remove any non-compliant listing.

This new rule overrides existing local and regional licensing laws, meaning that even if a property has a local permit, it cannot legally operate without registration in the national system.

Regional Disparities and Low Compliance
Mabrian analyzed Airbnb listings across all 17 autonomous communities and 2 autonomous cities (Ceuta and Melilla), comparing the number of properties with local permits to those already registered nationally.

The results reveal major regional inequalities:

Andalusia (with the most STR properties in Spain): only 10.2% have an NRA, despite 83% having a local license.

Catalonia: just 8% have registered nationally, even though 75.6% have local or regional permits.

Valencia, Canary Islands, and Balearic Islands: NRA compliance ranges from 12.2% to 16.8%.

Similar patterns appear in other high-demand tourist regions where national registration is still lagging behind, despite strong local licensing.

The Exceptions Leading the Way
Some regions are progressing more smoothly. In Madrid, although only one-third of listings report a local license, 57.7% are already registered nationally. Notable progress is also seen in Galicia, Aragon, Asturias, Cantabria, Navarre, and La Rioja, where over 30% of licensed properties have completed national registration.

Gradual Compliance with High Risk
Although hosts were informed early on about the new requirements, most only began the process after the law took effect, causing a backlog of applications and delays.

“The data shows that the process is underway but gradual and will take time,” says Carlos Cendra, Partner and Marketing & Communications Director at Mabrian.
“Still, the potential loss of such a large portion of tourist accommodation, right in the middle of summer, must be taken seriously—not just in terms of capacity, but also the travel experience and the local economies that depend on seasonal tourism.”

An Opportunity for Institutional Reform
According to the latest available figures, 67% of STR listings in Spain include a local or regional license number. However, only 20% of these have completed national registration. This means more than 1.1 million beds are currently operating outside the new legal framework—representing the biggest challenge to sustainable and regulated short-term rentals in Spain.

Despite the difficulty, the initiative presents an opportunity: to establish unified rules for all stakeholders, promote greater transparency, fair competition, and better management of tourism's impact on local communities.