Tourist rentals and the community of owners in Spain

Where the rule comes from

Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January amended the LPH with effect from 3 April 2025. The BOE consolidated text records two changes: a new paragraph 3 of article 7 and a rewritten paragraph 12 of article 17, plus a new additional provision for lets already operating.

The activity targeted is the one described in article 5.e of the tenancy law (LAU): the temporary assignment of a furnished, ready-to-use home, marketed through tourist channels or otherwise promoted, for profit, subject to a specific tourist regime under the sector’s rules, lasting no more than 31 days. Ordinary residential leases are not caught by these provisions.

The prior approval (article 7.3 LPH)

The text states that the owner of each dwelling who wants to carry on that activity, in the terms of the tourist-sector regulation, “deberá obtener previamente la aprobación expresa de la comunidad de propietarios”, in the terms of article 17.12. Three points follow from the wording:

• Before starting, not after. Silence of the community is not approval.
• Express. A vote recorded in the minutes of a properly convened meeting is the natural proof.
• Per dwelling. Each owner requests it for their own flat.

If someone carries on the activity without that approval, the community president, on their own initiative or at the request of any owner or occupant, must require them to stop immediately, under warning of legal action. Should the infringer persist, the president can bring a cessation action with the authorisation of an owners’ meeting. The judge may order interim cessation at once and, if the action succeeds, may order definitive cessation, damages and even deprivation of the right to use the flat for up to three years; if the infringer is not the owner, the court may extinguish their rights to the dwelling and order eviction (article 7.2, applied by article 7.3).

The 3/5 majority (article 17.12 LPH)

A resolution that “apruebe, limite, condicione o prohíba” the activity requires the favourable vote of three-fifths of all owners who, in turn, represent three-fifths of the participation shares (cuotas de participación). Two features matter:

1. It is a double majority: counting heads and counting shares. Both must reach 3/5 of the total, not 3/5 of those present.
2. The same majority applies whether or not the agreement modifies the deed of constitution or the statutes. The community may therefore approve, set conditions on, or ban the activity by an ordinary resolution of this kind.

The same article allows the community, by the same majority, to set special expense quotas or to increase the share of common expenses of the flat where the activity takes place, provided the change does not exceed 20% more. The agreements “no tendrán efectos retroactivos”.

Lets already running

Additional provision 2 of the LPH covers an owner who was already carrying on the activity before the entry into force of the Organic Law and had complied with the tourist regulations. They “podrá seguir ejerciendo la actividad con las condiciones y plazos establecidos en la misma”, meaning the conditions and periods of that sectoral rule. The text read does not say how long that protection lasts, and that depends on the regional regulation under which the let was registered. A buyer of such a flat should not assume the permission transfers; ask a lawyer to read the regional registration terms.

Statutes and earlier bans

Statutes can also matter. Andalusia, for example, requires the owner to declare that the title or statutes do not prohibit tourist use before starting; see tourist rental registration. The LPH text read does not say whether a statutory ban adopted before 2025 survives or needs a fresh vote, so check your statutes and the minutes.

What the rule does not do

• It does not create the tourist register, licence or number. Those are regional or municipal.
• It does not govern ordinary residential tenants, whose rights are in tenant rights and lease terms.
• It does not make the community the decision-maker on rent levels, which are for the lease or the stressed-area rules.

For buyers of a flat meant for tourist use

Before signing, read the statutes and the last meeting minutes, ask the administrator whether approval was obtained and by which vote, and check what the regional register says about the flat. Under the same law the seller must certify community debts, a separate point covered elsewhere on this site. A purchase based on a rental-income promise that the community has not approved can end with a cessation order.

For owners who want a ban

Because article 17.12 allows the community to “prohibir” by 3/5, an owners’ association can put the matter on the agenda. The request to include an item on the meeting agenda and the convening rules are in other parts of the LPH, which this guide did not review, so ask the community administrator or a lawyer.

Which professional to consult

A lawyer registered with a Spanish bar association (colegio de abogados) can read the statutes, the minutes and the regional registration together. The community’s administrator (administrador de fincas) manages meetings and minutes. Payotte lists neither; see property lawyers.