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Tourist-rental licences (VUT/VFT) in Andalusia: can you legally let your property?
If short-term letting income is part of your plan, the licence question has to be answered before you buy — not after.
What a VUT/VFT is
A vivienda con fines turísticos (VFT, often called VUT) is a home let to tourists on a habitual, for-profit basis. In Andalusia these are regulated by Decreto 28/2016 and must be declared and registered with the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA), which issues an identifying registration number you must display in every advert.
Why "can I get a licence?" is not always "yes"
Two filters decide it. First, local rules: several Andalusian municipalities now restrict new tourist-rental registrations in saturated central zones. Second, the community of owners: under reformed horizontal-property rules, a community can limit or prohibit tourist letting by qualified majority, and that restriction binds future owners once registered. A property can be physically perfect and still be off-limits for short-term letting.
National and recent changes
A national single-window registration system has been rolling out, adding a unique registration number requirement for platforms. The detail evolves quickly, so the only safe approach is to confirm the position for the specific property, in the current regulatory state, before committing.
What we confirm before you buy
- Whether the municipality restricts new VUT registrations at that address.
- Whether the community statutes already limit or ban tourist letting.
- Whether the property meets the habitability and equipment requirements.
- The tax treatment of the rental income for a non-resident owner.
Tourist-letting demand is strongest in apartment and city locations — Fuengirola, Torremolinos, Málaga, Seville, Granada — where saturation rules bite hardest. Each location guide notes the local status.
This guide is general information, not legal advice for your specific case, and tax and planning rules in Spain change frequently. For advice on a particular property, get in touch for a free consultation.
