Narrow pool with sun loungers and a parasol in a villa garden on the Costa del Sol

Short-term rental management on the Costa del Sol

Our family property management company on the Costa del Sol takes care of everything, from the licence to paying out your rental income.

Powiedz nam, czego szukasz
Sofa with colourful cushions on a terrace with bougainvillea

Rules first

Short-term rental is not possible for every property

Holiday rentals must be permitted by Andalusia, the municipality and the community of owners. Since April 2025, a new short-term rental in a building must first be approved by three fifths of the owners. That is why we always start by checking whether renting is possible at your address at all.

If it is possible, we handle everything with our own team and our own cleaners: the licence with your lawyer, the listings, pricing, every guest, cleaning after each departure, the police registration of guests required in Spain and, once a month, a statement with the money paid into your Spanish account. We charge a commission on each booking, and if nothing is booked, we charge nothing at all.

Step one

First we check whether you are allowed to rent the property out

Buying a property does not in itself give you the right to rent it to tourists. The rules of Andalusia, the municipality and the community of owners must all allow it.

  1. ANDALUSIARegional registrationYES
  2. MUNICIPALITYThe town’s own restrictionsYES
  3. COMMUNITYThree-fifths voteYES

SHORT-TERM RENTAL IS POSSIBLE

Only then do we talk about running it

A single no anywhere in the chain means no. Two identical apartments in the same urbanisation can get different answers.
Who decidesWhat they setWhat we do about it
AndalusiaThe regional rules for vivienda de uso turístico and the registration itself. Without it you cannot legally advertise a short-term rental, and the number from the Andalusian RTA register must appear in every listing. The national NRUA registration number, which platforms required from 1 July 2025, was annulled by the Supreme Court in a judgment of 19 May 2026 (BOE 8 June 2026) and is no longer required.Your lawyer files it together with us. Before that we check whether the property can be registered at all, because applying for a licence for a property that cannot get one means throwing away money and weeks of work.
MunicipalityTowns set their own limits, and several of them have tightened the rules for new short-term rentals in their busiest neighbourhoods. The answer differs from town to town and sometimes from one neighbourhood to the next, and these are the rules that change most often.We check the rules for your specific address before anything is spent on photography or preparation. A rule that applies in the next town, or applied last year, is not an answer.
Community of ownersSince 3 April 2025, starting a new short-term rental requires the express consent of a three-fifths majority of owners. Situations that existed before then may be treated differently, which is a question for your lawyer, not for us.For a resale property we read the community statutes and the minutes of meetings, and your lawyer verifies them. For a property bought from a developer we ask in advance whether the community rules allow rentals.

If you are buying with the intention of renting the property out, we do not treat the selling agency’s answer or a line in the listing as confirmation. Before the reservation deposit is paid, we check it again for that specific property, and this check is part of buying with us, not something you order separately.

Rules

What applies to tourist rentals in Andalusia today

Status as of 16 October 2026. The rules change often and differ from one municipality to the next, so for every specific address we check the current status again and date it.

RegulationWhat it sets outStatus as of 16 October 2026
Decreto 28/2016 as amended by Decreto 31/2024 (Andalusia)A whole apartment may take no more than 15 guests, or no more than 6 when rented by the room. No more than 4 people may sleep in one room. Each guest must have at least 14 m² of built area. More than 5 guests require 2 bathrooms, more than 8 guests require 3. Renting to the same person for more than two consecutive months is no longer a tourist rental.In force
Decreto-ley 1/2025 (Andalusia)In planning terms, tourist use of an apartment is a separate type of use. Before registration in the Andalusian RTA register you need a municipal licence or a declaration of change of use (declaración responsable de cambio de uso), depending on what the municipality requires. Municipalities may suspend the acceptance of new tourist apartments for up to 3 years. A registration can be cancelled if the declaration contains a material falsehood. You then cannot apply for a new registration for one year.In force since 4 March 2025
LO 1/2025, Spanish law on communities of owners (Ley 49/1960, arts. 7.3 and 17.12)A new tourist rental in a building needs the prior express consent of three-fifths of the owners, who must also hold three-fifths of the shares. By the same majority the community can restrict or ban tourist rentals and raise the contribution of tourist apartments to the common costs by up to 20%. These decisions do not apply retroactively.In force since 3 April 2025
RD 1312/2024, national NRUA registerFrom 1 July 2025 it introduced a national registration number for short-term and seasonal rentals, which platforms required before publishing a listing. The Supreme Court annulled the provisions on the register in a judgment of 19 May 2026, because registers of tourist accommodation are a matter for the autonomous communities. All that remains is the platforms’ obligation to pass data to the state under EU Regulation 2024/1028.Annulled (BOE 8 June 2026), the national number is not required. The RTA number remains mandatory.
RD 933/2021, guest reporting (SES.Hospedajes)Every guest must be reported to the police within 24 hours at the latest, and records must be kept for 3 years. The obligation lies with the host, not the platform.In force, the NRUA judgment does not affect it
Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 (national)Renting out a furnished apartment in which a single tenant stays for no more than 30 nights will no longer be exempt from VAT and will be taxed at 10%. VAT is paid by the landlord, not the platform. A seasonal let must last more than 31 days, usually no more than 12 months, and the contract must state a demonstrable reason for the temporary stay.Published in the BOE on 7 October 2026. The seasonal let rules apply from 8 October 2026, VAT from 1 December 2026. The decree must be ratified by the Permanent Committee of Congress (Diputación Permanente) within 30 days of publication, and as of 16 October 2026 it has not been.

A licence does not transfer by itself when a property is sold. The RTA registration belongs to the holder, and the new owner must notify the change of holder electronically and attach a current land registry extract (nota simple). If you are buying an apartment for which the seller states a licence, we check in the register that the registration is valid and has not been cancelled.

MunicipalityNew tourist apartmentsWhat applies
Málaga (city)SuspendedSince January 2025 no new tourist apartment can be registered in 43 neighbourhoods where tourist apartments make up more than 8% of all homes. Since 23 August 2025 registration of new tourist apartments has been suspended across the whole city, for up to 3 years or until an amendment to the planning scheme is approved, if that comes sooner. In July 2026 the city approved a further three-year suspension of licences for hotels, hostels and tourist apartments on land zoned for housing. Tourist apartments that are already registered continue to operate.
ManilvaRestricted in part of the municipalityAccording to reports from December 2025, the municipality restricted new tourist apartments in its seafront zones for 3 years. We check the exact scope for a specific address with the municipal planning department.
Marbella, Estepona, Casares, BenahavísNo general suspensionAs of September 2026 we found no general suspension of new tourist apartments in these municipalities. Compliance with the planning scheme and the municipality’s consent are, however, assessed separately for each address.

Taxes

What taxes an owner from another EU country pays

A brief overview for owners who are tax resident in the EU, status as of 16 October 2026. Your tax adviser files the returns for you, and we send them the figures every month.

TaxHow much and on whatWhen and how
Non-resident income tax (IRNR)19% of net income. Proven costs connected with the rental are deducted from rental income, for example IBI property tax, community fees, insurance, repairs, property management and depreciation, in proportion to the days rented.Form Modelo 210. For income from 2026 onwards it is filed from 1 to 20 April of the following year.
Tax on deemed income for days without rental19% of 1.1% of the cadastral value (where cadastral values have been revised), otherwise of 2%, in proportion to the days on which you do not rent out the apartment or live in it yourself.Modelo 210. For 2025 by 31 December 2026, for 2026 from 1 April to 31 December 2027.
VAT (IVA)Today short-term rental is exempt from VAT as long as you do not provide guests with hotel-type services during their stay, such as regular cleaning or a change of linen. From 1 December 2026 a stay by a single tenant of up to 30 nights is taxed at 10% under RDL 29/2026, if parliament ratifies it.Registration with the tax office (Modelo 036) and regular VAT returns (Modelo 303). An owner resident in the EU does not need a tax representative. VAT paid on rental costs, for example on property management or repairs, can be deducted to the extent the law allows.
Tourist taxDoes not exist in Andalusia.Nothing to file.

Price

The check costs you nothing, you only pay for property management

Checking whether you may rent the property out costs you nothing, whatever you decide afterwards. Rental management is a paid service, paid out of the rental income.

No fee, whether you use us or notPaid service, a commission on each booking
Send us the address and we will tell you whether short-term rental is legally possible there at all.We handle the registration with your lawyer, create the listing, set the prices and bring the property to market.
If you are buying with us, we check that renting is legal before the reservation deposit is paid, as part of the purchase.After that we manage the calendar, keep the registration up to date and deal with the community as the operator, not as a buyer.
We tell you which properties and which towns are out of the question if the property is meant to earn.We adjust the nightly rate every week according to what is actually happening in the market that season.
We tell you openly when a property will not rent well, including a property we could otherwise sell you.We look after every guest from the first enquiry to the review, and our own cleaners prepare the property between stays.
If the answer is no, you get the reasons and it costs you nothing.Once a month you receive a statement with the money paid into your Spanish account and all costs itemised in the same document.

One thing does not change either way. If you turn down the rental service, the no-fee part does not get any worse. Contacts, answers and everyday help after the handover of keys continue exactly as before.

Scope of service

What running a short-term rental involves

A short-term rental is not passive income but a small hospitality business. Someone has to answer a guest at eleven at night, report every arrival to the police and have the apartment cleaned within four hours of check-out. We take all of this off your hands.

WhatHow it is chargedWhat it means in practice
Listings and channelsIn the commissionProfessional photographs, the listing text and the property on Airbnb, Booking.com and other portals are managed through a single channel manager, so one system runs all the calendars and the property cannot be double-booked. We also bring in our own direct guests, on whom no platform commission is paid at all.
PricingIn the commissionPrices are set by season, day of the week and what is actually selling in a given month, and are adjusted as the calendar fills. A fixed nightly price is the most common reason a property earns less than the one next door.
Every guest, from enquiry to reviewIn the commissionEnquiries, bookings, arrival instructions, a problem at midnight, departure, disputes and reviews. In whatever language the guest writes in, which is often not English.
Arrival and accessIn the commissionWe handle arrivals on site, including guests who land at one in the morning. We manage keys, codes and access, so you do not have to arrange them from abroad. The standard solution is a key box at the property, or a smart lock with self check-in. Neither option changes the amount you pay us.
Police registration of guestsIn the commissionSpain requires every guest to be registered for every stay, and this obligation lies with the host, not the platform. Registration is made in the SES.HOSPEDAJES system of the Spanish Ministry of the Interior, and we submit it digitally at check-in for every guest on every booking.
Preparation between staysIn the commissionWe use our own cleaners, not an outside agency, and keep to the same standard every time. We change the bed linen and photograph the property at checkout, so its condition after the guests leave is a documented fact, not a matter of guesswork.
Monthly statement and payoutIn the commissionOne document a month: what came in from each booking, what went out and why, our commission and the amount that reaches your Spanish account. You also get access to a portal with the calendar and bookings, so you can see what is confirmed, what is coming up and which dates are still available.
Cleaning feePaid by the guestEvery booking includes a cleaning fee, just like every listing you have ever booked yourself. It is charged to the guest, not deducted from your income, and we keep it after deducting the cost of laundering towels and bed linen.
Minor repairs during the rentalPaid from income at costA broken blind, a faulty boiler or a replacement kettle. It is paid out of the property’s income and appears on the statement with the relevant invoice. We add no mark-up and take nothing from the tradesperson for arranging the job.
A tradesperson for a larger jobTheir invoice, paid from incomeWe find the tradesperson for you and oversee the work. Their invoice is theirs, it is paid out of the property’s income and appears on your statement as a separate line.
Tourist licence and registrationYour lawyer, one-offYour lawyer files it and prepares it together with us. It is a cost you pay once, before the first guest arrives.
Tax on rental incomeYour tax adviserWe are not tax advisers, and this page is not tax advice. Every month we give your adviser the figures in the format they ask for. What can be deducted, and the applicable rate, depend on your tax residence.
InsuranceRecommendedA policy taken out for your own home is not a policy for a property with paying guests, and telling the insurer truthfully how the property is used is not optional. A specialist will arrange it.

Operations run on the same tools we use for every property: Hostaway for the calendar and channels, Breezeway for scheduling cleaning, Touch Stay for the guest guide and Chekin for police registration.

It is unusual to publish this, and we do it on purpose: everything can be checked, and that is what separates a company that actually runs rentals from one that simply passes your enquiries on to someone else to handle.

Statements

How your rental income reaches you

Owners ask about the money last, yet it is what they worry about most. So we show you the whole path from the guest’s payment to the payout into your account. Once you know the order of the steps, you can easily check every statement.

  1. 01Guest paysNightly rate + cleaning fee
  2. 02Platform commissionSet by Airbnb or Booking, not by us
  3. 03Property costsRepairs and materials, at cost
  4. 04Our commissionDeducted from the balance
  5. 05Your payoutTo your Spanish account, once a month

A diagram of the order, not the proportions. We deliberately give no specific amounts on this page.

StepWhat happens at that point
01 The guest books and paysThe guest pays the nightly rate plus the cleaning fee, either to the platform or directly to us. At this point the platform deducts its own commission. The amount is set by Airbnb or Booking, not by us, and it appears on your statement as a separate line.
02 The stay takes place and the property is preparedCheck-in, the stay itself, check-out, then cleaning and laundry. The cleaning fee the guest paid covers this and never touches your income. Laundry is also paid from this fee.
03 Property costs are deductedA repair, a replacement, consumables or an access visit someone had to make. Every item is listed separately and backed by an invoice. We add nothing to the tradesperson’s price and take nothing from them for arranging the job.
04 Our commission is deducted from the balanceIt is a share of the rental income, so in a month without bookings you pay nothing. Taking the commission after the property’s own costs, not before them, is what keeps our interests aligned with yours.
05 The rest goes to your Spanish accountEvery month, to an account in your name in Spain. For this you need a Spanish account, and if you do not have one yet, we can point you to the page explaining how to open one.
06 You receive the statement with the paymentOne document: every booking, every cost, the commission and the amount paid out. It is also the document your tax adviser needs, which is another reason it is itemised rather than summarised.

What you pay for

The cost of property management

You pay just one commission, which we agree before we start working together. Until the property earns, you pay nothing. We charge no set-up fee, monthly retainer, advertising or photography fees.

ItemHow it is chargedWhat it means
Our commissionA share of each bookingIt is deducted from rental income after the property’s own costs. We confirm the commission for your property in writing before you decide anything, because a property that needs more work costs more to run.
Getting startedNo feeProfessional photographs, the listing text, pricing set-up and publishing the property on the platforms are included in the commission. We do not ask you for money until the property has earned something.
A month without bookingsYou pay nothingThe commission is only a share of rental income, so an empty month costs you nothing. You can end the arrangement at any time, and confirmed bookings will be honoured when you leave.
Property management alongside the rentalIncluded in the commissionIf the property earns through us, management is already covered by the rental commission and we charge no separate management fee.
Cleaning between staysPaid by the guestIt is charged to the guest as a cleaning fee on each booking, so it is not deducted from your income. Laundry of towels and bed linen is also paid from this fee.
TradespeopleTheir invoice, paid from rental incomeWe find the tradesperson for you and oversee the work. Their invoice is paid from rental income and appears on your statement as a separate line. We add nothing to their price.
Tourist licenceYour lawyer’s fee, one-offYour lawyer arranges it in cooperation with us, and it is paid once before the first guest arrives. It is the lawyer’s fee, not ours, and depends on the property.
Platform commissionSet by the platformAirbnb and Booking deduct their own percentage before transferring the money to us. We do not set it and take no share of it. It appears on your statement as a separate line, and it does not apply to a direct guest.

You get the exact figures in writing

We confirm the commission and any other items for your specific property in writing before you decide anything. Nowhere on this page, in any form, will you find a figure for how much your property could earn either. No occupancy rate, no average nightly price, no yield.

Owners’ questions

What owners ask before entrusting us with their apartment

We hear these questions all the time, and none of them is unnecessary. This is your home, where strangers will sleep while you are two thousand kilometres away.

QuestionAnswer
Strangers in my homeEvery guest is identified and registered with the police before entering the property, which is a legal requirement, not a service we invented. We screen bookings and turn down any request that looks more like a party than a holiday. We would rather lose a weekend than our good relations with the neighbours.
What if they damage something?Three different tools cover this. A booking through a platform is covered by that platform’s own host guarantee or damage protection. For a booking that comes to us directly, a deposit is taken before arrival and returned after the property has been checked. Above both sits your own insurance policy, which must be arranged for a property with paying guests. We photograph the property after every changeover, so there is a record of the condition it was in when the guest arrived and when they left.
Will it turn into a job?It is a job. Our job. You are not in contact with guests, you do not set prices in the calendar, you do not chase cleaners and you do not register anyone with anyone. What reaches you is a monthly statement and the occasional decision that costs money.
I will lose the use of my own homeNo. Before the season you block the dates you want and use the property yourself. The usual pattern is the opposite of what people expect: owners come in the shoulder months and at Christmas, when the coast is more pleasant anyway, and let the property earn during the summer weeks they would probably not have used.
Jasny salon z jadalnią i widokiem na taras z palmami

Your own stays

When you want to come yourself

First you choose your own dates, and we build the guest calendar around them. The only exception is a booking a guest has already confirmed. We will not cancel that for your stay, just as no hotel would.

It is worth being honest about this trade-off, because the whole decision rests on it. The weeks when the property earns most are the weeks when you would most like to be here.

An owner who wants August every year and also wants the property to cover its costs is asking for two different things. Owners who come several times a year and use the shoulder months tend to be very happy with this arrangement.

And you arrive at a property that is genuinely ready, which is an often underrated advantage. It is cleaned to the standard a paying guest expects, the bedding is fresh, and anything that stopped working in March was repaired in March.

Other options

When short-term rental is not possible

Sometimes the community of owners says no, the municipality stops accepting new registrations, or the property simply does not meet the conditions for holiday rentals. That is not the end, just a different plan, and we will talk it through with you.

OptionWhat it meansTrade-off
Long-term rentalIf the building does not allow short-term rental, you can usually still let the property long term, just not through Airbnb or Booking. The monthly income is lower but much more stable, and instead of forty guests you have one tenant.The property is occupied, so you cannot use it yourself.
Mid-term rental for a few monthsMonthly winter lets are a real market on this coast, because Northern Europeans come here for the winter once the summer visitors have left.Somewhere in between: better income than a long-term let, and the property is available in the months when you actually want to use it.
We can arrange either on requestWe offer both options on request, not as a standard product. If we take on the rental, we advertise the property on Idealista and pay for the photography ourselves.We charge no entry fee and nothing for publishing the listing. A property that stays empty is of no value to either side.
Wait and check againThe community can vote again, and the municipality can change its rules in either direction.If today’s answer is no, it is worth knowing what would have to change for it to become yes. We can tell you that, rather than just guessing.

Long-term residential lets are governed by the Urban Leases Act (Ley 29/1994, LAU). If you let as an individual, the tenant has the right to stay for at least 5 years, or 7 years where the landlord is a company. A shorter term in the contract changes nothing. The tenant may leave after 6 months with 30 days’ notice.

The deposit is one month’s rent, and any additional guarantee may be no more than two months’ rent, so no more than three in total. The landlord pays the costs of arranging the let. A tenant who does not pay or will not leave can only be evicted by a court, never by the landlord.

From 8 October 2026, under RDL 29/2026, a seasonal let of several weeks or months must last more than 31 days, usually no more than 12 months, and the contract must state a genuine and demonstrable reason for the temporary stay, such as work or study.

A contract without a stated reason is treated as an ordinary residential let with a minimum term of 5 years. In Andalusia, renting to the same person for more than two consecutive months is not a tourist rental and does not need registration in the RTA register, but the building’s statutes may prohibit it.

Due diligence

What we check before you pay for anything

We do the check before we photograph the property, apply for a licence or you pay for anything. It takes days, not weeks. At the end you get a clear yes or no, with an explanation of what needs to be arranged or what stands in the way.

What we checkWhy it decides the answerWhat you get
Occupancy and habitability documentsA property cannot be registered for tourist use without documents confirming that it is legally fit to live in. With an older resale property they are sometimes missing altogether.Confirmed from the documents, with any missing items listed. Anything missing is dealt with by your lawyer, not by us.
Whether a registration can exist at this addressApplying for a licence for a property that cannot get one costs weeks of time and a lawyer’s fee, and ends where it started.Checked in the register before anything is filed.
Layout, beds and regulatory requirementsTourist accommodation must meet minimum requirements, and the number of guests you can legally take affects the property’s earnings more than the nightly price.Capacity set out in writing, with the conditions for increasing it.
The municipality’s own restrictionsSeveral municipalities have tightened the rules for new tourist rentals, and decisions are made town by town, sometimes even district by district. The Andalusian register will not accept a registration where the municipality has restricted rentals.The current status for your exact address, dated, so you know when it was checked.
Whether the rules are under reviewA rule that is about to change matters as much as one that already has. It decides whether to invest in preparation now or wait three months.What is known and what is not, stated clearly, not dressed up as certainty.
Community statutesA ban can be written into the statutes, and nobody selling the property may ever mention it. It is the same document your lawyer reads before the purchase.We read them and quote the relevant clauses to you.
Minutes of meetingsThe decisive three-fifths vote may already have taken place, or may be on the agenda of a meeting nobody has told you about.We read everything back to the oldest available records and flag anything relevant.
The community’s real attitudeA building where renting is legal but the neighbours are hostile is a building where every guest means a complaint. This is a judgement, not a document.An honest assessment, including when it is the reason we would say no.
Guest registration and operating obligationsEvery guest must be registered for every stay, and this obligation lies with the host. It is the thing owners who rent privately most often do not know about.Set up before the first booking and handled digitally at every check-in.
Access, keys and guest entryAn urbanisation with a gatehouse and a code the community will not give you, or a building where the concierge turns away tourist guests, makes a good property impossible to operate.Checked in practice, not assumed.
Whether we can get there in timeA guest leaving at ten and the next check-in at three in the afternoon means four hours for a full clean and a change of bed linen. If our team cannot reliably be there, the property falls outside what we take on.A clear yes or no based on where the property actually is.
What the property needs before the first guestBeds, bed linen, a kitchen fit for six people rather than two, blackout for the bedrooms and an air-conditioning service. A property furnished for its owner is rarely furnished for guests.A list separating what is essential from what can be done later.

Process

How it begins

These steps come after the handover of the keys. If you bought with us, we already checked the rental options before your reservation.

  1. Suitability check

    No fee, a few days

    You tell us the address and what you want to do with the property. We check all three levels and give you a written answer with the reasons. We do not charge for it, whether you go ahead or not, and it is the step that decides everything that follows.

  2. We inspect the property in person

    Before listing

    We do not take on a property we have not seen. The visit is where the real answer shows: how the property will look in photographs, how many people can sleep there comfortably, not just technically, what is missing and how quickly our team can get in and out during a changeover.

  3. Permits with your lawyer

    Weeks

    Your lawyer files the registration and we prepare it together. At the same time we tell you what the property needs before the first guest, split into essential changes and those that can wait until the end of the first season.

  4. Photographs, listing and pricing

    A few days

    Professional photographs, a listing written for each channel, a pricing calendar built for the season in which the listing goes live, and the property active on the platforms through a single calendar. All of this is part of the commission, and we invoice you for none of it.

  5. First guest and first statement

    From this point on

    Bookings come in, we prepare the property for the next guests in between, and a month later you receive your first statement and first payout. After that we get in touch when something needs deciding, and otherwise once a month.

Comparison

Rent it out yourself or with us?

Compare the same property in the same season. You will see what renting it out on your own from abroad really involves and what we take off your hands.

Yourself or through another agencyWith Lucky Sol
Who checked that you may rent it outUsually nobody. The selling agency said yes, or the listing said a licence was available, but neither is a document.We did, at all three levels, before any money was spent. We do not treat the selling agency’s answer as confirmation.
Who answers the guest at eleven at nightYou, from another time zone, in whatever language the guest writes in, about a boiler you have never seen.We do, in the guest’s language, and you find out about it from the statement.
Who cleans between staysA cleaning agency you have never met, booked by message, whose failure to turn up you learn about from the next guest.Our own cleaners, employed by us, on a schedule we run.
Who registers guests with the policeYou, for every stay, although most private hosts do not know about this obligation.Handled digitally at every arrival as part of the service.
Who pays for a broken boiler in AugustYou, by transfer from abroad, after finding a plumber who replies in a language you do not speak.Paid from income at actual cost, itemised in the statement, with someone on site while the work is done.
What happens in a month without bookingsYou pay nothing, and the listing stays up.You pay nothing. The commission is a share of income, so no income means no commission.
What it costs when it is bookedThe platform commission plus your own time, which is a cost nobody counts.Our commission on the booking plus the platform’s own commission, and no platform commission on our direct guests.
The language everything happens inSpanish with the town hall, the community and the tradesperson. English with the guests.You only talk to us, and we deal with everyone else.

From our experience

Why we said no

An apartment in Estepona suited the client’s budget and plans and was already reserved. But the outcome was decided by a meeting of the community of owners that nobody had mentioned before.

  1. The chosen apartment

    The apartment in Estepona fitted the budget and suited the way the client wanted to use it. He was counting on renting it out short term. The reservation was signed and the deposit sent.

  2. The meeting the listing did not mention

    During our checks, together with the lawyer, we found that the community of owners had called a meeting for shortly after the reservation. On the agenda was a vote on short-term rentals. The listing said not a word about it, even though the whole purchase depended on exactly that.

  3. The vote first

    We told the client that a paid reservation is no reason to go ahead at any cost. So we waited to see how the meeting turned out before taking the next step.

  4. Deposit returned

    The owners did not approve the short-term rental the client had been counting on. We advised him to withdraw from the purchase, and he did. He got his reservation deposit back. So he did not buy an apartment that would not have served him, and he did not lose any money either.

Dwa leżaki na plaży z widokiem na morze, Costa del Sol

Honestly

What we will not promise you and when renting out makes no sense

We do not guarantee occupancy or income, and no honest manager should. Anyone who gives you a specific figure before they have seen the property and before the first season has run is promising something they cannot know.

Renting is the only real risk in the whole purchase. We have seen buyers who built their entire budget on rental income and then found that their community of owners had voted to ban short-term rentals. If renting is the reason you are buying, check it before you pay the reservation deposit, whether you do so with us or with someone else.

We provide this service only in the area from Manilva to Marbella: Manilva, Casares, Estepona, Benahavís and Marbella. Outside these five areas we say no. A manager who cannot have cleaners at the door on changeover day is just a phone number, not a real operation. For the same reason, we take on only a limited number of properties.

There is also a situation in which you should not do it. If your only trip each year is in the first two weeks of August, renting will take exactly the weeks you want to use. If the property is in a place with little life out of season, it may be let for ten weeks and stand empty for forty-two.

And if you would simply rather not have someone else sleeping in your bed, that is an entirely legitimate answer, and there is a cheaper service for you: someone looks after the property, but nobody lives in it.

Common questions

Common questions about short-term apartment rentals

What is your commission, and do you charge anything else?

The commission is a share of each booking, deducted from rental income after the property’s own costs. You pay nothing to get started, and there is no monthly fee, listing fee or photography fee. We confirm the commission for your property in writing before you decide anything. Your statement will also show the platform’s own commission and the property’s own costs, such as a tradesperson’s invoice. We find the tradesperson for you and oversee the work.

When and how do I get paid?

Every month, to an account in your name in Spain, together with a statement showing every booking, every cost and the commission. For this you need a Spanish bank account. If you do not have one yet, it is a separate and simple task.

Who registers guests with the police?

We do, digitally, at every arrival. Spain requires it for every guest on every stay, and the obligation lies with the host, not with Airbnb or Booking. It is one of the two things private landlords most often do not know. The other is that the property must be registered before it can be advertised at all.

Can I use the property myself?

Yes. You block the dates you want before the season and use the property. The only restriction is that a confirmed booking cannot be cancelled to make room for yourself, which is the same rule as in any hotel. Most owners who are happy with this arrangement come in the shoulder months and at Christmas, and let the property earn over the summer.

What happens if something breaks during a guest’s stay?

We deal with it. Minor repairs are done the same day out of income and appear on your statement with the relevant invoice. For anything more expensive we tell you the price in advance and send you a message, unless it is causing immediate damage. In that case we stop the damage first and only then call you. You are not the person a guest should be writing to about a broken boiler.

Do you guarantee a minimum income or a minimum number of nights?

No, and no honest manager should. Results depend on the market, the property, its reviews and its pricing. What we will do is tell you before we start working together whether we think the property will rent well, including when the answer is no. We would rather lose a property from our portfolio than take one on that would leave its owner disappointed.

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How long does it take from the first call to the first guest?

The suitability assessment takes a few days. The licence and registration through your lawyer take the longest, weeks rather than days. Once the property is ready, photography, creating the listings and setting prices take a few days. The timeline is usually decided not by paperwork but by whether the property is furnished and equipped for guests.

Do I pay tax in Spain on rental income?

Yes, and the taxation differs between the periods when the property is rented out and the periods when you use it yourself or it stands empty. Allowable costs can be deducted from rental income if the legal conditions are met, and the calculation depends on your tax residence and how the property is used. We are not tax advisers and do not pretend to be. We give you the monthly figures your adviser needs, in the format they ask for.

How much tax will I pay on rental income as an EU non-resident?

19% of net income. You can deduct proven costs connected with the rental from rental income, for example IBI property tax, community fees, insurance, repairs, property management and depreciation, in proportion to the days rented. It is declared on form Modelo 210, for income from 2026 onwards always from 1 to 20 April of the following year. For the days when you do not rent out the apartment, tax on deemed income is payable.

Will I pay VAT on short-term rentals from December 2026?

If parliament ratifies the decree, yes. Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 of 6 October 2026 introduces 10% VAT from 1 December 2026 on renting out a furnished apartment in which a single tenant stays for no more than 30 nights. This also applies to owners living in other EU countries. VAT is paid by the landlord, not by Airbnb or Booking. The decree must be ratified by the Permanent Committee of Congress (Diputación Permanente) within 30 days of publication, and as of 16 October 2026 it has not been. If it is not ratified, it lapses and no VAT will be payable from December.

Do I still need the national NRUA registration number?

No. The national register under RD 1312/2024 applied from 1 July 2025, but the Supreme Court annulled it in a judgment of 19 May 2026 (published in the BOE on 8 June 2026). What remains mandatory is the Andalusian registration number from the RTA, which must appear in every listing, and reporting every guest through SES.Hospedajes.

Does the tourist licence pass to me when I buy an apartment?

Not automatically. The registration in the Andalusian RTA register belongs to the holder. The new owner must notify the change of holder electronically and attach a current land registry extract (nota simple). Before you buy an apartment with a licence, we check in the register that the registration is valid and has not been cancelled.

How many guests may I accommodate in the apartment?

Under Andalusia’s Decreto 28/2016 as amended, no more than 15 guests in the whole apartment and no more than 4 people in one room. Each guest must have at least 14 m² of built area. More than 5 guests require 2 bathrooms, more than 8 guests require 3. We set out the exact capacity of your apartment in writing during our checks.

Can I still start a tourist rental in Málaga?

A new tourist apartment cannot be registered in the city of Málaga. Since 23 August 2025 registration of new tourist apartments has been suspended across the whole city, for up to three years or until an amendment to the planning scheme is approved. In the 43 neighbourhoods with the highest share of tourist apartments it was already impossible from January 2025. Apartments that are already registered continue to operate. The alternative is renting to the same person for more than two months, provided the building’s statutes do not prohibit it.

How long is a long-term lease?

Under Ley 29/1994 (LAU), at least 5 years if the landlord is an individual and 7 years if it is a company. The tenant may leave after 6 months with 30 days’ notice. The deposit is one month’s rent, and any additional guarantee may be no more than two months’ rent. A tenant who does not pay can only be evicted by a court.

I have rented the property out myself before. What happens to my listing and my reviews?

We take over the calendar rather than starting again. We honour confirmed bookings on your existing terms and, where possible, keep the existing listing so that its review history is not lost. A listing with two years of reviews earns more than a new listing without a single one. Tell us before you sign anything, because a handover in mid-season has to be planned around the bookings that already exist.

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