Latest / STR Unpacked / Papel Mojado: The Week Spain's Rental Registry Collapsed
Transcript
- Ben: Good morning and welcome to your short-term rental bulletin on the 13th of July. So Spain's national short-term rental registry is dead. and the fallout landed at the back end of last week. So, quick recap. Since July last year, every short-term let in Spain needed a state registration number, the N R U A, to advertise on Airbnb, Booking.com, but generally to take part in short-term rentals. In May, the Supreme Court annulled that registry, ruling that the state never had the constitutional power to build a national system on top of a regional registries that already existed. Then, on Thursday, the State Gazette published around 40 registration denials and refusals based on neighbor commentary, vetoes, planning apps, all of them relate to a registry that no longer exists. The Spanish press is calling then papal mejado waste paper. Here's what matters for operators. One, illegal is still illegal. The ruling decided who enforces not whether. The housing ministry says that the registry surfaced one hundred and ten thousand non compliant contracts, and chasing them now falls entirely to Spain seventeen autonomous communities. Two, the neighbour veto law survives. Communities of owners can still block tourist flats within three-fifths majority. And three, platforms must still transmit data to the state. But digital window stayed standing. And Madrid is not done. A housing decree announced at the end of June that is not yet approved proposals lifting VAT on tourist lets from ten to To 21%. So Spain didn't deregulate, it fragmented. One national registry has become 17 regional enforcement regimes, and compliant operators need to know which one to answer to. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you tomorrow.