Property News

Legal Victory in Andalusia for Holiday Rental Owners

Holiday rental licenses transfer with the property

At the end of August 2025, after a long process of appeals, the General-Directorate for Legal Security and Public Faith ruled that the sale of a property does not negate the short term rental (STR) license.

That means that if you want to buy or sell a property and it earns income from Airbnb or another similar platform, its license will transmit. That provides value stability to properties and is a huge sigh of relief for tens of thousands of property owners.

Previously the rule, as enforced by the land registry, had been that the license was no longer valid as it was assigned to a legal person, not the property.

However, lawyers for a complainant in Malaga argued that the license was not awarded based upon the qualifications or qualities of the applicant. It is awarded based upon those of the property, meaning it is the property and not the person who is licensed.

In other words, unless the conditions of the property have changed, such that it places the property outside of the requirements of the law, the license remains valid. That also means that even if a community of owners in a building or an urbanization vote to prohibit STR, they cannot take away the licenses of those already registered.

Jacob Salama, writing in a post on LinkedIn, noted that this was a major victory for the following reasons:

“Because it ensures the continuity of the right to operate tourist housing, protects real estate investment and reinforces the legal certainty of owners. With this doctrine, simple administrative delay is prevented from preventing legal tourist rental and the true nature of the license is recognized: an attribute of the property that increases its value and stability.”

That means that a new owner can continue with STR activity and is only required to inform the ministry of the change of ownership. But this is informational and cannot be used to hinder rental activity, all other things being equal. The new owners must also abide by any previous agreements with the community of owners from the previous owners.

While this is the current legal status, it is possible that the land registry could appeal to civil court, but given the weight of case law, including Supreme Court decisions going back decades, this seems unlikely.

This is excellent news for investors and owners of vacation homes.

By Adam Neale | Property News | October 21st, 2025