Buy Today, Earn Tomorrow:Properties with a Tourist Licence
Buying as an Investment?
Why a Licence Already in Place Matters
Buy a property with a registered tourist licence and there’s no application to the town hall and no new registration with the Junta de Andalucía. The licence belongs to the property, so after completion it’s a simple change of ownership on the register.
✓ Start earning straight away – no waiting on town hall approvals✓ No community vote – the 60% rule only applies to new applications✓ Protected from future freezes – moratoriums stop new licences, not existing ones✓ A stronger resale story – licensed properties are increasingly sought after
Licence status should always be confirmed by your lawyer before purchase.
Looking for a Licensed Property?
Tell me what you have in mind, and I’ll send you a shortlist of properties with a tourist licence already in place, including some not yet on the open market.Get in touch with me using the links below.
Let me start with the most important point: the Costa del Sol is still one of the most sought-after places in Europe to live, work, holiday and invest. People are drawn here for the sunshine, the beaches and the golf, but they stay for the quality of life: excellent hospitals and schools, warm hospitality, Málaga International Airport on the doorstep, and a wonderful mix of international and Spanish communities. Holidaymakers keep coming back year after year, and demand for good holiday homes remains strong.
What's evolving is how holiday letting is regulated, and for buyers that's largely good news. Along the way, a property with a tourist licence already in place has become a genuine asset, one that lets you start earning from day one. In this update, I'll take you through the latest changes to the licensing process, what's happening town by town along the coast, the newest figures for the region, and how to find the right licensed property for you.
The big picture: licensed homes are becoming scarcer
The authorities are doing what they set out to do: slowing the number of new licences and clearing out homes that don't meet the standards. The result is that a legal, registered tourist licence has become a genuine asset.Fewer licensed properties, set against strong demand from holidaymakers, is good news for anyone who owns, or buys, a property with a licence already in place.
Growth has almost stopped. According to the Junta's own Registro de Turismo de Andalucía, there were 153,475 registered tourist homes in Andalucía in September 2026. In the year to September 2025, the region added 14,762 (up 10.9%). In the year to September 2026, it added just 3,209 (up only 2.1%), and between August and September the total actually fell.
Non-compliant homes are being cleared out. Since the start of 2024, almost 18,000 tourist homes have been removed from the register – 5,808 in 2024, 6,860 in 2025 and 5,309 so far in 2026 (to 21 October). Around 2,100 of this year's removals were made by the authorities rather than by owners.
New registrations are slower and more closely checked. Earlier this year, the Junta began checking applications far more carefully before adding them to the register. New licences are still being granted, but it is no longer the quick, near-automatic process it once was.
The Costa del Sol is following the same pattern. In Málaga province, official INE figures for May 2026 showed registered tourist homes down 6.6% in a year, with Mijas falling by almost 9%.
Why the crackdown is good news
It's worth remembering what the system is there to do. Registration exists to protect the people who rent our holiday homes, so that every property they book is regulated, registered and meets proper standards for safety and quality. For years, many homes were let without a licence. Clearing those out raises standards across the board, protects the Costa del Sol's reputation with visitors, and is good for tourism and for the region as a whole.
For owners who do things properly, a better-regulated market is a stronger market. Guests can book with confidence, and licensed properties no longer have to compete with unlicensed ones.
The Costa del Sol: a large stock of already-registered homes
Here's the good news for buyers: although new licences are harder to come by, there is already a large pool of registered tourist homes on this coast. As owners decide to sell, many of these already-registered homes will come onto the market. That means buyers have genuine choice of licensed property, without needing to apply for a new licence at all. The key is knowing which ones are truly ready to go, which is where the checklist further down comes in.
The Junta's Registro de Turismo lists around 88,500 tourist homes in Málaga province, more than half of all those registered in Andalucía.
Only about half of them are actively advertised. INE counted 45,176 tourist homes advertised in the province in May 2026.
On our part of the coast, INE counted 6,987 in Marbella and 4,465 in Mijas being advertised in May 2026.
Town by town: what's new
Málaga city – new licences on hold. Málaga stopped new tourist home registrations in August 2025. This summer it went further: from 25 July 2026, new tourist homes, tourist apartments and hotels on residential land are on hold across the city for up to three years. The Andalusian High Court has backed the city's right to cap tourist housing this way, so other councils now have a clear legal route to follow.
Manilva – paused. Manilva has suspended new tourist licences in its stressed areas for three years.
Mijas – still open. You can still apply for new tourist licences in Mijas, including La Cala de Mijas, Mijas Golf and La Cala Golf Resort, and it remains one of the most popular areas on the coast for holiday letting. In March 2026 the town hall commissioned a study of "stressed zones" for tourist housing, from the same firm whose study led Málaga to restrict new tourist homes in 43 neighbourhoods. Nothing has changed yet, but it's one more reason a licence already in place is worth having.
Fuengirola – no change. No new registrations since February 2024 unless the property has its own independent street entrance. If you want to let short-term in Fuengirola, an existing licence is effectively the only way in.
Marbella and Estepona – open, with conditions. Neither has a blanket freeze. Marbella has banned converting commercial premises and ground floors into tourist flats, and in both towns the community of owners and the building's statutes remain the main hurdles.
The courts: community statutes matter more than ever
In April 2026 the Supreme Court confirmed that where a building's statutes expressly ban "hospedería" (lodging), a community can force an owner to stop tourist letting, even if they have been operating for years.
Add that to the 60% community vote required for new applications since April 2025, and the message is clear: in an apartment building, getting a new licence depends on your neighbours and on paperwork that may be decades old. A licence that's already registered, in a building where tourist use is permitted, removes that uncertainty.
The national registry: still gone
As I reported in June, the Supreme Court annulled the national short-term rental registry (NRUA) in May. That hasn't changed. Here in Andalucía, registration with the Junta's Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA) is still compulsory, and platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.com still need a valid registration number to list your property.
Tax: a possible change from 1 December
This one is still moving, so please check with your tax adviser.
The Spanish government has proposed charging 10% IVA on holiday lets of 30 nights or fewer from 1 December 2026 (currently these are exempt unless hotel-style services are provided). A first decree was rejected by Congress on 2 October; a second, Real Decreto-ley 29/2026, was published on 7 October and is due to be voted on by Congress's standing committee on 12 November. The same decree would also allow councils in stressed housing areas to add a surcharge of up to 150% to the IBI of tourist homes. We will report back on this item as information comes to hand.
Why the Costa del Sol is still a brilliant place to invest
None of this changes why people fall in love with this coast, and why I chose to make it home.That's exactly why holidaymakers keep coming, and why a well-located property with a tourist licence already in place is such a strong investment.
The lifestyle – more than 300 days of sunshine a year, beautiful beaches, and some of the best golf in Europe on the doorstep.
Easy to reach – Málaga International Airport connects the coast with cities across Europe and beyond, which keeps holiday demand strong all year round.
Everything you need – excellent private and public hospitals, highly regarded international and Spanish schools, and a wonderful choice of restaurants, shops and leisure.
A real community – a lovely blend of international residents and Spanish neighbours, with warm Andalusian hospitality at its heart.
Why a licence already in place matters
This is the part I most want buyers to take away.
If you buy a property that already has a registered tourist licence, you don't need to apply to the town hall, and you don't need to submit a new Declaración Responsable to the Junta de Andalucía. The licence belongs to the property, not the owner, so after completion it's a simple change of ownership on the register. In practice, that means:For an investment buyer, that's the difference between buying a property that might earn holiday rental income one day and one that can earn it from day one. It might be useful to note for you also that we have some clients who we are assisting through the tourist licence application process as well, so we have our finger on the pulse in this respect.
You can start earning straight away – often you can take over existing bookings or have your first guests within weeks of completion.
No community vote – the 60% approval rule only applies to new applications, not to licences granted before April 2025.
No risk of a future moratorium – if a town introduces a freeze, as Málaga and Manilva have, it stops new existing, compliant licences from being granted.
No waiting on the town hall – application times vary, and in some towns they can run to months.
A stronger resale story – with fewer licences being granted, a licensed property is increasingly sought after when you come to sell.
Before you buy: my checklist
A licence in place is a great start, but it still needs checking properly. Always ask your lawyer to confirm:If you'd like a recommendation for an English-speaking property lawyer, just ask.
The licence is active and correctly registered in the RTA, and matches the property (address, number of guests).
The community statutes don't contain a ban on tourist or commercial use.
The property still meets the current Andalusian standards (air conditioning, energy certificate, insurance, complaints book and so on).
The ownership change is filed with the Junta promptly after completion.
Properties with a tourist licence already in place
We currently have several properties with tourist licences already registered, ready for you to start earning from day one. You'll find them all on our website, or send me a message and I'll send you the full list.
Your dream home under the Spanish sun is now just a click away! Contact Elegant Homes Marbella and make that dream a reality!
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