Advice on letting holiday homes

All you wanted to know about renting your Spanish home to tourists but were scared to ask (Final part).

In last week’s article on the current legislation regarding tourist accommodation in the Valencia region, I provided a number of questions and answers obtained directly from the Valencian authorities rather than analysing the actual legislation on the subject. This week we will continue with that strategy, so here are the remainder of the questions.

Can I let a tourist house room by room?

The regulation of the Valencian region does not contemplate the possibility of letting room by room, only the entire accommodation unit and moreover, the owner cannot live in the same accommodation.

Can I sign a contract based on the Urban Lease Law (seasonal lease)?

Article 5 e) of Law 29/1994, of November 24, on Urban Leases, excludes the temporary cession of homes marketed or promoted in any tourist channels.

Should I keep a register of travellers?

This may come as a surprise, but in accordance with the regulations of the Ministry of the Interior, you must complete a visitor entry form, based on an official model, and send it to the corresponding police or Guardia Civil station, depending on the location of the residence.

This regulation was established in the Order 1922/2003 of July 3 on registration books and entry reports of travellers in tourist accommodation.

Can I process it digitally?

Yes, it can be processed by digital means. For this you must have a Spanish digital certificate issued by the ACCV or an electronic ID and have the appropriate software installed in your computer.

You can access the catalogue of public services through the Valencia regional internet portal: or directly from the ‘Procedimiento Telemático’.

This process is a bit complicated, nonetheless I urge you to obtain a digital certificate if you are going to reside in Spain as all bureaucratic processes are being digitalised and sooner or later everything will have to be done via internet.

The above certificate allows you to securely sign and encrypt email messages, when you want to communicate with the local, regional and national authorities.

This allows you to use your electronic signature and also encrypt documents of all types and maintain correspondence with the authorities from home.

Some examples of this are the electronic office of the tax office, the electronic office for the social security, the electronic office for the cadastre, the regional electronic office, etc

here are other questions that will pop up in the procedure for renting your home as ‘tourist accommodation’, for instance:

What are the requirements that ‘tourist housing’ must meet before its first rental?

Classifying your home is one of the first steps to embark on. Your property can be classified as being in either the ‘superior’, ‘first’ or ‘standard’ category according to the provisions of the Annex to Decree 92/2009, of July 3, (link here: http://www.turisme.gva.es/opencms/open cms/turisme/es/files/pdf/ tramitacion/empresa_turisti ca/Decreto_92_2009.pdf), which approves the regulation of tourist accommodation and management companies of the Valencian community.

To do this you must take a look to the Annex of the regulations and select the category that corresponds to the characteristics of your home, which you must communicate in the ‘responsible statement’ (Declaración Responsible). In this Annex there is a long list of requirements that you have to state whether your home complies to or not.

For instance; do you have parking? A lift? Thermal or acoustic insulation? Number of bedrooms, living rooms, swimming pool, common gardens?, etc. You just answer yes or no to the questions and the list will award you one category or another.

And finally, below is a list of other requirements that you must not forget.

The property has to be maintained in a perfect state of habitability, in accordance with its category and description made to the tourist administration.

The property must be maintained and serviced to the standard, requirements and qualities which deter- mined its classification and category.

Suitable conditions for conservation, cleaning and provision of services from the day of occupation, with supplies and facilities in accordance with the category.

At the entrance, either inside or outside, you must display in a visible way the corresponding tourist housing status identification and registration number, described in Order 2/2010, of March 29, of the Ministry of Tourism, which establishes the laws corresponding to companies and tourist establishments of the Valencian region.

In other words, your property becomes a hotel and should be kept as such.

In the case that the housing you want to rent also has rural status, then you must also comply with the provisions of article 32 of Decree 184/2014, of October 31, regulating rural tourist accommodation in the interior of the Valencia com- munity. In which case the accommodation capacity must not exceed 16 beds per apartment.

Plus, buildings with this category must reflect the architectural characteristics of the area, which will be accredited by a certificate issued by an architect.

Also the furniture, equipment and ornamentation must reflect the autochthonous singularity of the area where the property is located.

The locality where it is located has less than 5,000 inhabitants. It may only be situated in a place with a greater number of inhabitants when the establishment is located in a village, on undeveloped land or in a place dependent on the municipality and has obtained the declaration of ‘community of interest’ or, has a special exemption certificate in accordance with current urban legislation.