Journal
Spain's Tourist Rental Community Approval Rule: What Costa Blanca Apartment Buyers Must Know After 3 April 2025
By Elia Living ·
Spain's New Tourist Rental Community Vote: What the July 2026 Registry Ruling Means for Costa Blanca Buyers
Buying an apartment on the Costa Blanca with holiday letting in mind? Since 3 April 2025, there is a critical step many buyers overlook — and a property registry ruling published in the official BOE in July 2026 has underlined exactly how rigorously it is enforced.
Under Organic Law 1/2025, which came into force on 3 April 2025, any owner in a Spanish horizontal property building — meaning any flat or apartment in a shared complex — who wishes to use their property for short-term tourist rentals must first obtain explicit, formal approval from the community of owners. The obligation is set out in Article 7.3 of the Horizontal Property Law (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, Ley 49/1960, as amended). This is a genuine shift in the rules, and the courts are backing it up in practice.
What "Express Approval" Actually Means
A mention of "apartamento turístico" in your title deed — or a community that has historically tolerated tourist lets — is not enough. The DGSJFP Resolution of 19 February 2026 (BOE-A-2026-14949, published 9 July 2026) made this unambiguous. A property registrar in Valencia had refused to assign a tourist rental registration number to a flat whose tourist licence was issued on 22 October 2025. The applicant argued that the property's historical designation as a tourist apartment in its title deeds should suffice. The Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública — the body whose rulings bind all Spanish property registrars — disagreed and upheld the refusal.
Express approval means a formal agenda item, voted on at a general community meeting, recorded in the official minutes. The threshold is demanding: a three-fifths majority of all owners, representing three-fifths of the community's total ownership quotas. This is a true supermajority of the whole building — not a simple majority of whoever attends on the night.
The 3 April 2025 Threshold — and Who Is Grandfathered
The reform drew a clear line. Properties that were already legally operating as tourist rentals before 3 April 2025 are protected by the grandfathering clause in Additional Provision 2 of Organic Law 1/2025. If you held a valid tourist licence and were actively renting before that date, you do not need retrospective community approval; your existing operation is protected.
The obligation applies to anyone applying for a new tourist licence from 3 April 2025 onwards. That is the group who must now navigate a community vote before proceeding.
| Situation | Community approval needed? |
|---|---|
| Tourist rental operating legally before 3 April 2025 | No — grandfathered |
| New tourist licence applied for on or after 3 April 2025 | Yes — mandatory |
| Villa or townhouse on its own plot (not LPH) | No — LPH does not apply |
Can a Community Block Tourist Rentals Entirely?
Yes — and buyers must check for this before exchange. The same three-fifths threshold can be used to pass a resolution restricting or outright prohibiting tourist rentals in the building. If your prospective community has already done this, obtaining a new tourist licence becomes effectively impossible, regardless of regional or national rules.
Crucially, a community prohibition does not appear on any public register. You must specifically request the community's minutes and statutes during the purchase due-diligence process.
The 20% Community Surcharge
Article 17.12 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal also gives communities a financial tool: they may impose an additional fee of up to 20% on top of standard community charges for units used as tourist rentals. The rationale is straightforward — tourist let apartments generate higher footfall through lifts, pools, gardens and communal corridors. If you plan to run a busy rental property in a managed complex, factor this into your yield calculations.
What This Means When Buying in Jávea, Moraira or Dénia
For buyers considering an apartment anywhere on the Costa Blanca North, the community approval question is now a first-tier due-diligence item — as important as confirming the tourist licence itself. There are three scenarios to establish before signing:
- An existing community approval is in place. The cleanest outcome. Verify what conditions, if any, are attached to it.
- The community has not yet voted. You will need to propose the matter at an AGM or EGM and secure that three-fifths supermajority. In communities with a strong letting culture — common in Jávea's Arenal and Dénia's Las Marinas — this is very achievable, but the timeline needs managing.
- The community has passed a prohibition. Tourist letting is blocked in that building. If rental income is part of your purchasing rationale, look elsewhere.
Villas and townhouses on their own plot are outside the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal and therefore do not require community approval. The rule is specific to apartments within shared buildings.
The Valencian Community Registration System
The Costa Blanca sits within the Comunitat Valenciana, which runs its own Vivienda Turística (VT) licensing system administered by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana. For any VT licence application submitted from 3 April 2025 onwards, evidence of community approval forms part of the process. The July 2026 DGSJFP resolution confirmed that property registrars will enforce this at the point of registration — you cannot bypass it by citing historical property descriptions or title-deed designations.
If you are in the market for a lettable apartment on the Costa Blanca and want certainty on the community approval status before committing, Elia Living's buyer's-agent service includes a community statutes and minutes check as a standard step — so there are no surprises once you are at the notary.
Frequently asked questions
Q: I have been renting my Jávea apartment to tourists since 2024. Do I need to go back to my community for approval? No. The grandfathering clause in Additional Provision 2 of Organic Law 1/2025 protects tourist rental operations that were legally running before 3 April 2025. You may continue under your existing licence without seeking retrospective community approval.
Q: What exactly does "express community approval" require? A formal vote at a general community meeting — either the annual AGM or an extraordinary meeting — with the resolution recorded in the official minutes. It must be approved by at least three-fifths of all owners and three-fifths of the total participation quotas of the building. Informal agreements or a property description in your deeds do not qualify.
Q: Can a community of owners prohibit tourist rentals entirely? Yes. The same three-fifths majority can be used to pass a binding resolution restricting or banning tourist rentals in the building. This prohibition will not show up in a standard title-deed search — you need to request and review the community minutes to find it.
Q: I am buying an apartment in a coastal complex. What should I specifically check? Ask your buyer's agent to obtain the community statutes and the last three years of meeting minutes. Confirm whether tourist rentals are permitted, prohibited, or simply not yet decided. If no resolution exists, gauge how many units already have tourist licences — a community with a strong letting majority is far more likely to vote in favour.
Q: Can my community charge me extra because I let to tourists? Yes. Under Article 17.12 of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, communities may impose an additional charge of up to 20% of the standard community fee on units used for tourist rentals. Factor this into your rental yield calculation when assessing a purchase.
Q: Does this affect obtaining a Valencian VT tourist licence? Yes. The Valencian Vivienda Turística licensing system, administered by Turisme Comunitat Valenciana, requires compliance with the LPH community approval rule for all applications made on or after 3 April 2025. Simply having your property described as a tourist apartment in the title deeds — as the July 2026 DGSJFP ruling confirmed — is not sufficient.