This is a translation of a useful and comprehensive article by Poly Rodriguez of Puertalmarcom
There is much talk about the new time limit introduced by the new Decree Law 9/2024 of the Generalitat Valenciana. From now on, tourist homes can only be rented for a maximum of 10 days to the same guest or tourist . In this article we clear up many of the questions that owners of tourist homes have and shed light on possible solutions to deal with this limitation.
The 10 days in the new decree on Tourist Housing in the Valencian Community
The new regulation on tourist accommodation in the Valencian Community brings important changes and restrictions that owners must take into account , especially with regard to permitted rental time.
1) Interpretation of the 10 days in the new law of the Valencian Community
The new regulations establish that a tourist home is considered as such if it is rented for a period of less than or equal to 10 consecutive days to the same tenant . This measure aims to limit the intensive use of homes as tourist accommodation, differentiating between what is considered a tourist rental and a seasonal rental – or long-term rental or a habitual residence.
Arbitrary time limit
The Decree has established a maximum of 10 days, arbitrarily and unfoundedly , without giving reasons to justify it. Why not establish a limit of 15 days? Or 30 days? Who said that a tourist home can only be rented for such a short period? On what statistics or expert reports do they base and justify this restriction?
Furthermore, although statistics from platforms such as AirBnB or Booking say that stays in tourist accommodation are short, the truth is that in the summer months of June, July and August, reservations are usually for 15 to 30 days on average.
Arbitrarily limiting the government to a maximum of 10 days is a clear violation of property rights, enshrined in the National Constitution and the Civil Code.
Could it be that Carlos Mazón Guixot , President of the Generalitat, and Nuria Montes de Diego , Regional Minister of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, who signed this amendment to the regulations governing tourist accommodation on behalf of the Regional Government, are influenced by the hotel sector, which is striving to corner all tourist stays of more than 10 days in the Valencian Community?
From August 8, 2024, any person or family who wants to take a vacation of more than 11 days in the Valencian regionn, must inexorably book an authorised hotel or hostel and pay a high price for the rate . They have no other legal option to do so. Do you think this is a reasonable and fair measure?
2) What happens if you rent for more than 10 days?
If a tourist accommodation is rented for more than 10 consecutive days, it would no longer be considered under the tourist accommodation regime under the new law. This means that:
- The lease is classified under another type of contract (seasonal lease).
- The lease is subject to the Urban Leasing Law (LAU) – Law 29/1994, of November 24.
- It is necessary to sign a seasonal rental contract with tourists, with efficient legal clauses to protect the owner)
- The property cannot be advertised on OTA portals (AirBnB, Booking, Rentalia, etc.).
- You will not be able to benefit from the specific conditions of tourism (for example, being able to throw out guests who do not comply with the Rules of coexistence or of the house).
- Guest data cannot be uploaded to the mandatory Traveler Registry (ex-lodges). Now Royal Decree 933/2021.-
- The Civil Guard will not be available for assistance in the event of incidents or problems with guests.
- A reservation of more than 10 consecutive days can only be accepted within the period of time in which the tourist accommodation is outside the tourist availability period .
Seasonal Rentals under the Urban Leasing Law
Seasonal rentals refer to those rental contracts that are made for a specific period of time, generally to satisfy a temporary need of the tenant (such as vacations, temporary work in another city, studies, etc.), and not with the intention of establishing a habitual residence.
Key features of seasonal rentals according to the LAU:
- Duration: Seasonal rentals do not have a minimum or maximum duration limit, and are freely agreed between the parties. What distinguishes them is the intention of temporality.
- Application of the LAU: Although the LAU applies, the regime is more flexible compared to the rental of a habitual residence. For example, mandatory extensions of contracts for habitual residences do not apply.
- Contract: The contract must clearly state that this is a seasonal lease, mentioning the circumstances that justify the temporary nature of the rental (for example, “for a three-month stay for work reasons”).
- Protection: Although it is a temporary rental, the tenant still has legal protection under the LAU in aspects such as the deposit and the formalization of the contract.
The future is even darker
Very strict regulation by the government for short-term rentals is expected soon, prohibiting seasonal rentals for vacation or tourist purposes, and allowing only rentals for study, work, medical treatments, etc. with express indication and documented proof of the reason for the temporary nature.
In conclusion on this point, and in my opinion, holiday rentals for more than 10 days will only be the responsibility of the hotels.
3) Fines for renting a tourist accommodation for more than 10 days
Although the law does not explicitly establish the fine for exceeding 10 days, violation of this limitation would entail the application of one of the minor, serious or very serious infractions (Articles 91 to 93), however, and reading it more in-depth, we could frame this conduct in the provisions of section 5 of article 91 which says ” MINOR Infractions: 5. The execution of contracts for the provision of tourist services, whatever their formal support, not adjusted to the prescriptions established in the applicable norm.”
The owner who violates this provision shall be subject to a warning or a fine of up to 10,000 euros. According to Article 94 : “Penalties: 1. Minor infractions shall be punished with: a) Warning. b) Fine of up to 10,000 euros.”
However, let us leave it to the Jurisprudence to determine, over time, what the sanction for this infringement will be.
4) From when does this 10-day limitation apply to reservations of tourist accommodation?
This limitation is already in effect (for reservations made after August 8, 2024).
Therefore, owners of tourist properties CANNOT accept reservations through the platforms (AirBnB, Booking, Rentalia, etc.) for more than 10 days. We would have to reject them due to the legal impossibility of complying with the holiday rental contract.
Some have tried to force the letter of the law, arguing that the deadline for this limitation would be 5 years from the publication of the regulations in the BOE, however the same legal body establishes, and without a doubt, that this 5-year extension is only for the presentation of the cadastral reference or the adaptation to the new standards of habitability, leaving the discussion settled.
5) Possibility of successive contracts to avoid the 10-day limitation.
Trying to circumvent the 10-day restriction by signing several contracts in succession could be considered a fraud under the law, and punishable by the same regulations or even by the cancellation of the registration number.
The regulations are designed to prevent abuse, and property owners who try to avoid these restrictions by holding back-to-back contracts could face severe penalties if they are found to be using this method to continue operating as a tourist accommodation for more than 10 days.
Furthermore, let us consider the example of a family of 4 people. We could try to make a 10-day reservation in the father’s name, and another 10-day reservation in the mother’s name, but when it comes to having to comply with the Mandatory Traveler Registry ( Royal Decree 933/2021) the lie would be easily verifiable by the Administration . A cross-check of data would be enough to verify that the 4 people in the family have actually stayed in the house for 20 days.
In short, the new regulation imposes a stricter framework for tourist accommodation in the Valencian Community, significantly limits the maximum period of stay and increases the penalties for those who do not comply with the new rules.
6) Deregistration from the Tourist Housing Registry for renting more than 10 days
According to the new Article 78, section 3, of Law 15/2018, of June 7, of the Generalitat, on tourism, leisure and hospitality of the Valencian Community, “The registration in the Tourism Registry of the Valencian Community will be cancelled in the following cases: … when it is found that the accommodation is being used during the period declared as tourist for rent as a home or for a season under the terms established by Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases.”
That is to say, if during the period of time in which we have declared the property as “tourist” (for example from June 1 to September 30), we rent it for more than 10 days with a seasonal contract to some travelers, once the Administration is informed and after processing the appropriate file, in which the interested party will be given a hearing, the registration in the Tourism Registry of the Valencian Community will be cancelled.
Poly’s opinion:
For all the above reasons, my friends, the hosts of Tourist Houses, I must conclude that our sector has been limited to an arbitrary maximum of only 10 days, as the beginning of a systematic plan for definitive eradication , orchestrated by the hotel industry and manipulated by the governments (of any colour) that we voted for. I am very sorry about this reality, but I invite you all to continue fighting for our rights and to claim our worthy tourist house sector every day.
Until next time.
7 comments
This is Valencia shooting themselves in the foot, there looks to be only 1 winner, the hotels. However I’m pretty sure there will actually be no real winner. People that use the platforms do not generally book holidays in hotels, so the holidaymakers numbers will drop. It is also to stop the number of properties being left empty and only used for holiday lettings, in a hope to increase the number of properties for locals to rent. With the law as it is siding with tenants who decide to stop paying rent and squatting, this is never going to happen. The scenarios are that people will stop renting and leave their properties empty, except for the 4 week or so they visit, or the properties will be put up for sale. This won’t help the local inhabitants as they cannot afford to buy them, meaning more properties empty. I considered a long term rental until I looked at the risks. One was a retired GC with a disabled wife and 2 disabled teenagers (male and female), in a 2 bedroomed apartment. Otherwise known as absolutely no way of evicting if they stopped paying.
this law is a whole load of rubbish. Either it is a distraction from something worse or those administering it are crazy. If this is actually passed (its a decree at the moment until the staff come bak from their long holidays)
If it goes ahead it will destroy a whole industry and hotels will not cope – they are already stretched !
We are being plunged into the dark ages.
What cam be done?
I originally thought the seasonal contracts were the answer but now I see these will not be for vacations
You say fight for our rights but where do we write too, who do we write to with our complaints bout this new decree? Who is fighting on behalf of the legal let’s? The illegal let’s will carry on regardless how do you report an illegal let? No one answers…
I suggest writing to the original author of the article, but you would probably need to compile the email in Spanish. Here is the contact link to Puertalmar.com https://www.puertalmar.com/contacto
thank you Loraine, I have commented on this thread and as you suggested – emailed the writer of the article
What an excellent and informative article! This tells us everything we need to know as UK citizens who enjoy spending time in Spain so much that we invested in a buying a property, including a mortgage from a Spanish bank, and spending thousands of euros in UK generated funds improving it, with Spanish goods and services.
We like to rent it part of the time to support the expense of owning the property. We do not make a profit from it. We have the tourist licence, but we don’t use an agent or AirBNB etc..so that we can select carefully who stays there.
I am sure we are not the only property owners in this situation. The practical solutions are either for property owners to stop renting their properties, sell them, or for them to do it unofficially. I agree, the hotel industry will be the main beneficiary of this action. The rest of the Spanish economy will be worse off. There will be fewer UK holiday makers, fewer UK part-time residents, like us, less business in the shops, bars and restaurants, a drop in property value as the market is flooded and a general withdrawal of foreigners that move millions of home revenue into Spain.
Be careful what you wish for, Spain.
i agree completely Steve