Tourist license on the Costa del Sol: what does an investor need to check before buying an apartment?

Buying an apartment on the Costa del Sol with rental in mind no longer ends today with the choice of address, view, and finishing standard. Following regulatory changes in Andalusia, an investor must verify whether the property can legally operate as a vivienda de uso turístico, i.e., a VUT. In older materials and on the secondary market, the abbreviation VFT still frequently appears because the previous name was vivienda con fines turísticos. For the buyer, however, more important than the abbreviation itself is whether the property has the correct registration path, whether the municipality restricts new entries, whether the community blocks the activity, and whether the technical documentation contains risks that would close the path to renting.

The biggest mistake an investor can make is to assume that an "Airbnb-ready apartment" is a market category in its own right. In practice, this is merely an investment hypothesis. It must be confirmed with documents: registration or the possibility of registration in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía, compliance with local urban planning, the community bylaws (statutes), meeting minutes, Nota Simple, Catastro data, and documents confirming the legal use of the premises. Only then can ROI, CAPEX, and an exit scenario be modeled.

This article does not promise universal profitability. It organizes the verification process. For a Polish investor, this is the difference between an asset that can be legally commercialized and an apartment that looks good in a presentation but requires switching to a different rental model or costly adaptation after purchase.

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New Legal Framework in Andalusia: What Did Decree 31/2024 Change?

Decentralization of Control and the Role of Municipalities

Decree 31/2024 changed the logic of evaluating tourist apartments in Andalusia. It is no longer just a regional procedure for notifying the property to the registry. The official BOJA text indicates that viviendas de uso turístico are also subject to urban planning requirements and the jurisdiction of local authorities. Municipalities can introduce restrictions regarding the number of tourist apartments in a building, sector, area, period, neighborhood, or zone, provided they base them on clear and published criteria. For an investor, this means one thing: the purchasing decision must move from the level of "Costa del Sol" to the level of a specific address.

This is best seen in Malaga. The city has begun to treat tourist rentals as hospedaje (accommodation) rather than ordinary residential use. Municipal Urbanismo published Instrucción 1/2024, which emphasizes the requirement of compliance with urban planning. In practice, in selected cases, independent entrances, separate installations, or location in a zone where the saturation of tourist apartments exceeds a set threshold may matter. Simultaneously, city announcements indicated a ban on new entries in 43 districts where the share of tourist apartments exceeded 8% of the housing stock.

This does not mean that the entire Costa del Sol operates the same way. Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola, Benalmádena, or Mijas may have a different pace of change and different administrative priorities. The mistake is transferring conclusions from one city to another. Two apartments a dozen or so kilometers apart can have completely different risk profiles, even though both are sold as investment properties.

It is also worth organizing the role of the Licencia de Primera Ocupación (LPO). In older practices, the LPO was often treated as a starting condition for tourist rentals. Following the changes, however, broader confirmation of urban planning compliance and the absence of prohibitions arising from community documents are crucial. The LPO still holds great importance in due diligence, especially for older buildings, adapted premises, and properties with modifications. However, it should not be treated as the sole ticket to a VUT.

For the investor, the consequences are concrete. An apartment in a restricted zone may still have value as a second home or for seasonal rentals, but it may not meet the cash flow assumptions of daily rentals. An apartment with an existing RTA number requires checking whether the entry is up to date, what its scope is, who the operating entity is, and whether a change of ownership will trigger an obligation for updates or re-verification. An apartment without a current path to compliance should be analyzed as an asset with a suspensive condition, rather than a ready-made investment product.

The most important conclusion is that after Decree 31/2024, the profitability of tourist rentals is a function of three levels of regulation. The first is the Junta de Andalucía and the RTA registry. The second is the municipality and its urban planning. The third is the community of owners, along with its statutes and resolutions. Only after passing through these three filters can one discuss price, occupancy, and the operator's strategy.

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How to Check the Tourist License Before Signing the Reservation Agreement?

Verification of the RTA Number and Registry Status

The first step is not asking whether "it can be rented." The first step is demanding documents and numbers. The seller or agent should provide the exact RTA number, formerly often visible as VFT, and for new entries as VUT. The number must match the address, scope of activity, and property details. If an advertisement shows only a general promise of rental, with no number, no rental history, and no operator documents, it should be treated as sales material, not proof.

Verification should proceed in several steps. First, check the entry in the official buscador de establecimientos y servicios turísticos maintained by the Junta de Andalucía. Second, compare the registry data with the property documents: address, cadastral reference, area, number of sleeping places, and the method of making the property available. Third, determine whether the entry covers the entire apartment or room rentals, as the decree treats these groups differently. Fourth, check who the titular de la explotación is—the person or entity responsible for providing the service.

The RTA number alone does not conclude the analysis. The investor must ask whether a change of ownership will require reporting data modifications, whether the current operator has a contract that can be taken over, and whether the previous owner actually operated the business during the period declared in the registry. This is important because Spanish regulations and administrative practice increasingly distinguish between a genuinely operating property and one registered "just in case."

The second block of questions concerns the municipality. In Malaga, one must check whether the property is in a restricted or moratorium zone, whether it meets municipal urban planning requirements, and whether potential access to the property and installations will pose a problem. In Marbella and other Costa del Sol municipalities, current positions from local Urbanismo must be obtained, as regional regulations give municipalities room for their own restrictions. A real estate agent may know market practice, but should not replace the administration's answers.

The third block concerns the Declaración Responsable. This is a statement submitted electronically in which the operating entity declares compliance with requirements. For the buyer, it is crucial to understand that this is not just a form. It is responsibility for the compliance of data, documents, and actual conditions. If an inspection reveals that the property does not meet requirements, the entry can be challenged or canceled. Therefore, a lawyer should check not only the fact that the declaration was submitted, but also whether the declared parameters match the documentation.

The fourth block is the economics of risk. The cost of legal, technical, and tax audits is usually small compared to the damage that incorrect property classification can cause. If an investor pays a price based on the assumption of daily rentals, but after purchase can only operate in a seasonal or long-term model, the entire ROI model changes. CAPEX is different, occupancy is different, operator commissions are different, taxes are different, and resale liquidity is different.

Therefore, before signing a reservation agreement, it is worth gathering a minimum: the current RTA number or written confirmation of the path to obtain a VUT, Nota Simple, cadastral reference, LPO or equivalent document, community statute, recent meeting minutes, information on community fees, rental history, contract with the operator, tax settlement status, and local urban planning information. If the seller refuses to hand over these materials before the arras (deposit securing the transaction), the investor should slow down the process.

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Can the Community (Comunidad) Block Tourist Rentals?

Neighbors' Powers in Light of the Horizontal Property Act

The residential community is one of the most important investment filters when purchasing an apartment for tourist rental. In Poland, investors often perceive the community as an administrative element responsible for building maintenance. In Spain, for tourist rentals, its significance is broader. The statutes, constitutive title, resolutions, and meeting minutes can determine whether a property has a real investment function.

The Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, or the Spanish Horizontal Property Act, provides for a qualified majority mechanism. Article 17.12 allows the community to approve, restrict, condition, or prohibit tourist rental activity by a majority of three-fifths of all owners, simultaneously representing three-fifths of the shares. The same majority can adopt special fees or increase the share of common costs for a property conducting such activity, provided the increase does not exceed 20%. Importantly, such decisions are not retroactive.

From the investor's perspective, this means asking several precise questions. Do the community statutes contain a prohibition on tourist activity? Do they contain formulations such as uso exclusivo residencial (exclusive residential use), which a lawyer should evaluate in the context of the specific community? Have recent minutes included complaints about guests, lockboxes, noise, overcrowding of common areas, or proposals to vote on restricting VUTs? Is the community considering raising fees for tourist-rented properties?

An agent's verbal assurance that "the neighbors don't cause problems" is not enough. The investor should request a certificate from the community's secretary or administrator, current estatutos de la comunidad, and actas from recent meetings. If the property is already rented, it must be checked whether the community is in dispute with the owner or operator. Conflict is not always visible in the advertisement, but is often seen in the minutes: through mentions of complaints, draft resolutions, changes to pool regulations, security, elevators, or access control.

Raising fees by a maximum of 20% may not kill profitability, but it should enter the financial model. If annual community fees are a few thousand euros, the additional cost reduces the net result. If higher cleaning costs, textile replacements, platform commissions, guest services, and non-resident income tax are added, the difference between gross income and real cash flow can be significant.

The community also affects resale value. An apartment with transparent rules, acceptance of tourist activity, and orderly documentation will be clearer for the next investor. A property in a building with escalating conflict may require a discount, even if it generates income today. Therefore, the community audit should be performed before signing the arras, not after reservation.

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How to Read Technical Documentation: Nota Simple and LPO?

Legal Foundations of a Safe Purchase

Nota Simple is the basic document from the Spanish property registry. It shows the owner, property description, encumbrances, mortgages, easements, restrictions, and other entries that may matter during a purchase. For a tourist rental investor, the Nota Simple is not only confirmation of ownership. It is the starting point to check whether the property is described as an apartment, commercial premises, adapted space, or an element with an atypical status.

If the Nota Simple features local comercial, almacén, oficina, or a description inconsistent with actual use, the investor must halt the analysis. Not every space that looks like an apartment is a residential property in a legal or urban planning sense. Ground-floor adaptations, enclosed terraces, added rooms, or divided units may work in a sales presentation, but create a problem for a VUT. Tourist rentals require document compliance with actual conditions.

The LPO, or Licencia de Primera Ocupación, confirms the authorization of a building or premises for use after construction work is completed. In older transactions on the Costa del Sol, the lack of an LPO used to be one of the most important risk signals. It remains so during due diligence, especially when the property is from the secondary market, has been remodeled, or has a history of unauthorized construction. However, precision must be maintained: after Decree 31/2024, the LPO alone is not sufficient proof that a property can operate as a VUT. Simultaneously, urban planning compatibility, municipal requirements, and the community's situation must be confirmed.

Catastro complements this picture. It shows, among other things, the cadastral reference, area, and registration purpose. If Catastro indicates a different area than the offer, a layout different from reality, or the lack of a designated unit covered by the declaration, the risk of rejection or challenge of the application arises. In Andalusia, surface requirements are calculated in relation to sleeping places, so square footage is not a minor detail. It can limit the number of guests and thus revenue.

In practice, a lawyer should compare four images of the same property: Nota Simple, Catastro, LPO or equivalent document, and the physical condition from an inspection. If the living room has been converted into an additional bedroom, the terrace glassed in, the unit divided into two modules, or a utility room used as a bedroom, it must be checked whether this change is legal and whether it affects the maximum capacity. A mismatch between documents and actual conditions is one of the most frequent causes of problems in tourist rentals.

A separate topic is installations, ventilation, air conditioning, heating, and accessibility. An apartment may be well finished but fail to meet tourist requirements. Hotel standards from a guest's perspective are not the same as administrative standards. The investor should therefore separate aesthetics, engineering, and law. Only their combined compliance allows for a real rental path.

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Three Rental Strategies: Vacation, Seasonal, or Long-Term?

Comparative Analysis of Business Models on the Costa del Sol

Tourist, seasonal, and long-term rentals are three different models, not three variants of the same decision. Each has a different profile of risk, taxes, operating costs, and impact on the owner's use of the apartment. For an investor buying on the Costa del Sol, the most important thing is not to pay a price based on the VUT model if the real backup plan is a seasonal or long-term rental.

Tourist rentals, i.e., VUT or formerly VFT, can yield the highest gross revenue in high season. At the same time, they carry the highest operating costs. Platform commissions, cleaning, linen replacement, guest contact, check-in, traveler reporting, heavier wear and tear on common areas, breakdowns, and control risks all add up. If the property is in a building with a conflicting community or in a city with restrictions, gross income is not enough for a decision. The net result after CAPEX and taxes must be calculated.

Seasonal rentals, often described as 1-11 months, can be a sensible Plan B. In practice, however, this is not about the magic number of 11 months. Spanish LAU distinguishes residential rentals from rentals for other purposes, including seasonal ones. Classification is determined by a real, temporary reason for stay: work, studies, a project, medical treatment, a winter stay, or a professional contract. If a seasonal contract conceals permanent residence, it can become a legal risk. A properly prepared seasonal model therefore requires documenting the reason for the stay and an appropriate contract.

Long-term rentals provide greater income stability but limit the owner's flexibility. The owner cannot practically use the apartment freely in peak season, and housing regulations protect the tenant differently than a tourist guest. This model may make sense for an investor wanting to lower operational and regulatory risk, but should not be presented as a substitute for tourist rentals without recalculating the purchase price.

Comparison of rental models in simplified investor logic:

From a tax perspective, a non-resident investor must check whether income is classified as income from immovable capital or business activity. For standard property rentals without hotel services, the IRNR applies. Official Agencia Tributaria guidelines indicate general rates of 19% for residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein, and 24% for other taxpayers. In practice, one must also check which costs can be deducted and whether the ownership structure alters the settlement.

In an investment model, universal ROI brackets should not be entered without confirmation from operator data. A safer method is to calculate three scenarios: baseline, conservative, and regulatory. The regulatory scenario should answer the question of what happens to the investment if the municipality blocks new licenses, the homeowners association raises fees, or the apartment fails a technical inspection. If only the optimistic scenario justifies the purchase price, the transaction requires negotiation or abandonment.

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Tourist License vs. Technical Standard of the Apartment: Hidden Costs

Decree 31/2024 Requirements in Practice

Technical requirements for VUTs are more specific than many sales offers suggest. Decree 31/2024 and Junta de Andalucía materials indicate, among other things, minimum usable floor area, occupancy limits, the number of bathrooms for larger capacities, kitchen equipment, linen condition, ventilation, air conditioning or heating, and information obligations toward guests. For an investor, this is a list of potential CAPEX rather than a post-purchase operational detail.

Example: an apartment might look good in photos, but have too little area in the Catastro for the capacity assumed by the financial model. It might have one bathroom for a planned number of guests that requires two. It might have air conditioning only in the living room, while the requirements include real comfort in the bedrooms. It might have an aesthetic kitchen, but without the equipment specified by regulations. Each of these elements translates into cost, timeline, and inspection risk.

In Malaga, an additional filter can be urban planning. If a tourist apartment is to be treated as hospedaje, independent access, evacuation, and utility installation elements may matter. This cannot be fixed by simply replacing furniture. In a residential building, the lack of technical capability to separate an entrance or utilities can permanently restrict tourist use. Therefore, a technical analysis should be performed together with a legal one, not after it.

Accessibility and fire safety are also not abstract concepts. In older buildings, elevators, corridors, passage widths, doors, electrical installations, and ventilation may not meet the current expectations of the administration or operator. Some requirements may stem from local regulations, and others from the practice of the insurer or operator. The investor should check not only whether a third-party liability policy exists, but also whether it covers the actual rental model, operator liability, guest damages, and damages to the homeowners association.

It is also worth distinguishing a premium standard from a compliance standard. Marble, a view, and good interior design do not solve the problem of a missing legal room, non-compliant square footage, or a conflict with the local spatial plan. Sometimes a cheaper apartment, visually more modest but formally in order, is a better investment asset than an apartment with a beautiful presentation and an unclear legal status.

Hidden costs must be entered into the budget before making a price offer. These include a legal audit, urban planning opinion, installation adjustments, furnishings, potential architectural work, document updates, operator management, higher community fees, taxes, and periods without revenue. If the seller uses occupancy history from before regulatory changes, it must be treated with caution. Results from previous years do not necessarily reflect operating conditions in 2026.

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Red Flags: When to Walk Away from a Transaction?

Safety Checklist Before Paying the Arras

The arras (deposit) gives the transaction momentum, but it also shifts some of the risk onto the buyer. Therefore, before paying the deposit, the investor should have a clear list of conditions precedent. If the purchase depends on the possibility of tourist rental, the reservation agreement should include documents and deadlines for their delivery, rather than just a general assurance that the apartment "is suitable for rental."

The first red flag is the lack of an RTA number in the listing, rental history, or operator documents. If the property is sold as a tourist property, but no one can show the registration entry, declaration, management agreement, settlements, or guest regulations, the investor is analyzing a promise, not an asset. The lack of a number does not always mean a license cannot be obtained. However, it does mean the price should not account for ready-to-go short-term rental cash flow.

The second red flag is resistance to homeowners association documents. The seller may not like disclosing minutes, but the investor needs the bylaws, resolutions, and information about disputes. If complaints are mounting in the building, a resolution limiting VUTs is planned, or the administrator signals a conflict, the risk should be factored into the price. An association that tolerates rentals today may vote to restrict them in a few months.

The third red flag is an apartment without coherent technical documentation. This applies particularly to converted apartments, ground-floor units, enclosed terraces, additional bedrooms, and properties in older buildings. If the Nota Simple, Catastro, LPO, and actual layout do not describe the same property, a lawyer should assess whether this can be fixed. If not, the investor should not finance someone else's unauthorized construction history.

The fourth red flag is a location in a saturated zone or in a city with rapidly changing policies regarding VUTs. Malaga has shown how quickly local urban planning can become the main investment filter. In such a situation, it is not enough to check the current listing. One must ask Urbanismo about the address, the building, and the possibility of conducting the business.

The fifth red flag is an ROI model based on gross revenue. If the seller only shows daily rates and occupancy, but without taxes, platform commissions, operator costs, cleaning, repairs, CAPEX, community fees, and vacancy periods, the result is not an investment model. It is promotional material. Professional analysis should show the VUT, seasonal, and long-term variants, as well as the impact of each on resale value.

Before paying the arras, it is worth asking a lawyer specific questions: does the property have a current RTA registration, does it require a new declaration, has the association expressed or must it express consent, do the bylaws contain a ban, is the municipality restricting new registrations, are the LPO and Catastro consistent, were there any unauthorized modifications, does the occupancy number match the square footage, does an operator exist, and is their contract transferable? A lack of clear answers does not always end the transaction, but it should always halt the automatic pace of purchase.

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PlanoGroup: Years of Investment Selection on the Costa del Sol

Expertise in Separating Lifestyle from a Profitable Business

The Costa del Sol market attracts investors because it combines the utility of a second home with rental potential. This combination is real, but it requires discipline. An apartment that looks good during a few-day stay is not always a good rental asset. The investor should separate the emotion of the location from the documents that will determine the cash flow.

PlanoGroup has been working for 17 years with clients buying premium and investment properties abroad, including on the Costa del Sol. In practice, this means selecting projects not only by view, architecture, and common area standards, but also by "rental health." This term encompasses the possibility of legal commercialization, association approval, the municipality's stance, operator costs, taxes, rental history, and the exit scenario.

In the investment process, combining several competencies is important. A lawyer checks the title, Nota Simple, homeowners association, LPO or equivalent document, and urban planning risk. A tax advisor evaluates the IRNR, deductions, tax residency, and ownership structure. A rental operator analyzes seasonality, the target group, management costs, and building restrictions. An investment advisor ties these elements together with the purchase price and financing plan.

For an investor from Poland, it is particularly important not to treat tourist rentals as an extra that "will be sorted out later." In regions such as Marbella, Estepona, Fuengirola, or Malaga, differences between buildings are significant. In one project, short-term rentals may be consistent with the building's function, in another the association will strive for restrictions, and in a third, urban planning will prove to be the problem. Selection should therefore begin with eliminating risks, not with admiring the presentation.

PlanoGroup can support the investor in three areas. The first is shortlisting properties that make sense in the chosen rental model. The second is coordinating due diligence with lawyers, tax advisors, and operators. The third is post-purchase management, which includes preparing the property, documentation, and the operating model with guests or seasonal tenants. Only such a process allows one to assess whether an apartment has an investment function or primarily a lifestyle one.

It is also worth remembering diversification. The Costa del Sol can be part of a portfolio alongside other markets, such as Oman or Montenegro, but each market has its own regulations and demand logic. Investor maturity lies in comparing risk, taxes, liquidity, and management, rather than searching for a single universal direction.

If you are planning to purchase an apartment on the Costa del Sol with tourist rentals in mind, it is worth starting with a licensing audit before signing a reservation agreement. PlanoGroup can help verify RTA/VUT status, association documents, compliance with local Urbanismo rules, and the impact of these elements on the ROI model.

A well-prepared purchase is not based on the declaration that a property "works on Booking." It is based on documents, scenarios, and a clear decision on whether the property is to operate as a tourist, seasonal, or long-term rental, or as a second home with limited commercialization. Such an analysis protects capital better than a quick reservation under market pressure.

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FAQ

Can every apartment on the Costa del Sol be rented out to tourists?

No. Regional and municipal regulations, property documents, and association rules must be checked before signing a reservation.

What is a VUT or VFT?

VFT is an older abbreviation for vivida con fines turísticos, and VUT is the newer term for vivienda de uso turístico. In Andalusia, the name change stems from updated regulations. For an investor, it is more important than the abbreviation whether the property has the correct entry in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía, matches the address and cadastral reference, and whether the activity is permitted by the municipality and the association.

Are the association's bylaws more important than information from a broker?

Yes, when assessing risk, association documents carry more weight than a sales declaration. The broker may know the market, but the bylaws, resolutions, and meeting minutes show formal restrictions and the sentiment within the building. Before purchasing, it is worth asking for the estatutos de la comunidad, actas, and a certificate from the association's administrator or secretary.

Does a tourist license increase the price of an apartment?

It can increase liquidity and investor interest, but it does not work automatically. Its significance depends on the address, building, municipality, association, rental history, and management costs. A license without technical compliance or in a building with conflict may be less valuable than a property without a license, but with a clear seasonal strategy and a lower purchase price.

What documents should be checked before purchasing for rental purposes?

The minimum includes the Nota Simple, Catastro, LPO or equivalent document, association bylaws, resolutions and meeting minutes, the RTA/VUT number or confirmation of the application path, local urban planning information, operator agreement, rental history, cost settlements, and tax analysis. Documents should be verified before paying the arras, because after the deposit, the buyer's negotiating position is weaker.