Regulations news: Madrid will regulate tourist apartments as a tertiary activity

  • The new Government will undertake regulations based on objective criteria and recognizable parameters, without arbitrary or discretionary character
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  • For the Mayor, "it is obvious that [holiday rentals are] a very important source of income for the owners", so it will be regulated as tertiary use
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  • The properties of the centre that are rented for more than 90 days must apply for a tertiary use license

The Government of the new Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida will renew the municipal regulations for tourist apartments that will replace those regulations imposed by the former Mayor, Manuela Carmena, to regulate these homes as a tertiary activity, since they represent a very important income for the owners. 

Rental regulations

As previously reported Madrid approved in March to limit the rental of tourist apartments to 90 days, and other restrictions which would impact on 95% of holiday rental owners in the capital.

The mayor of the capital has announced in an interview with Efe his intention to modify the current norm, which in his opinion is a prohibition under arbitrary criteria” that the Justice will revoke after the appeal filed by the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) The ongoing battle of tourist accommodation regulations in Madrid will therefore be decided in court.

The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) suspended the moratorium curbing the issuing of new licensing for tourist rental properties in residential building, adopted on 1st February 2018, by the Madrid City Council

The Government of PP and Citizens in the capital will undertake "regulations based on objective criteria and under parameters that are recognizable, not arbitrary or discretionary."

The new team of the Madrid City Council will modify the current tourist rental regulations, currently under appeal by the CNMC and the Spanish Federation of Holiday Rental Associations (Fevitur).

The mayor has stressed that the regulations will go through the recognition of housing for tourist use - viviendas de uso turístico (VUT) - as a tertiary use and not as a free activity or as a collaborative economy, since it is obvious that it is a very important source of income for the owners."

Asked about whether it would be favourable to establish restrictions in numbers in neighbourhoods with greater saturation as previously outlined in the Madrid Tourist Zones, the mayor has replied that he agrees to analyse all conflicting interests and take measures that are not restrictive of free competition, but that also preserve a certain city ​​model that I think is important.

Capital and Community

The tourist rentals in the capital are currently regulated by a special plan, approved in July 2018, which reflects that rentals in residential or mixed (residential and commercial) buildings in the city centre that are rented for more than 90 days a year must apply for a license for tertiary use, and are considered a commercial activity.

Unlike in the City of Madrid, the Community of Madrid has also approved this year a new decree on tourist apartments, which is considered a holiday rental property viviendas de uso turístico (VUT) - from the first day of rental, and not after 90 days, as per Madrid city regulations.