This page has been created to assist you with understanding the regulations with which you, as a Host, are to comply. misterb&b is not a legal adviser. We do not contend that the information provided here are exhaustive, correct, nor current. It is your duty to know and abide by the laws.
Tourist rentals (estancias turísticas en viviendas) in the Balearic Islands are regulated by Ley 8/2012 de Turismo de Islas Baleares and Decreto 20/2015, as modified by Ley 6/2017 and Decreto Ley 3/2017. We highly recommend that you read these laws.
Please note future regulation that develops Ley de Turismo, or the PIATs, may establish further requirements, conditions, limits and contents.
For more information on short-term rentals in the Balearic Islands, visit this page on the Balearics Islands Government official website.
Impuesto sobre estancias turísticas
Also called Impuesto del Turismo Sostenible, introduced by Ley 2/2016, de 30 de marzo on any tourist stays on the Balearic Islands.
- According to the type of rentals and the season of the year: rates vary from €0.25 - € 2.00 by night.
- You must collect it from your Guests and remit to the Agencia Tributaria Illes Balears online.
- More information is available here on the Agencia Tributaria Illes Balears official website.
Hosts conditions
To be rented as estancias turísticas en viviendas, your accommodation:
- Must have been your primary residence for a period of 5-years prior to renting (one year is defined as having lived at a place you live for at least 183 days per calendar year).
- Must be rented for no more than 30 days each stay.
- Must be located in qualified zones where the type of estancias turísticas en viviendas you wish to rent is permitted (see paragraph zonificación).
- Must be located out of suelo rústico protegido (unless PIAT / PIT set an exception in specific zones) or not part of price-controlled housing.
Please note you are required to maintain a civil liability insurance for Guests, as for the community of owners if your vivienda is located in a edificio plurifamiliar submitted to the régimen de propiedad horizontal.
Types of viviendas
Ley 8/2012 de Turismo (Capítulo IV) regulates the empresas comercializadoras de estancias turísticas en viviendas:
- Defined as the temporary transfer, by a natural or legal person, of the right to use the vivienda in its entirety for period not exceeding 30 days.
- Therefore Ley 8/2012 does not apply to alquiler de habitaciones (rental of bedrooms) as it may be regulated later by specific regulations.
Different conditions exist for renting your residence to tourists, according to its building typology. You may rent a vivienda unifamiliar (single-family home) as long as it:
- Must be a vivienda unifamiliar aislada (1 dwelling per plot with no adjoined properties), pareada (single-family dwellings on a single plot subject to a horizontal property regime or single-family dwellings on separate plots separated by a party wall), or entre medianera (if it is the only dwelling on the plot).
- Must welcome no more Guests than the maximum capacity established in cedula de habitabilidad (12 occupants maximum).
- Must have 6 bedrooms maximum and 1 bathroom for every 4 potential occupants.
Ley 6/2017 (as clarified by Decreto-Ley 3/2017) has introduced the possibility to rent apartments located in edificios plurifamiliares (multi-family residential)
- If located in a qualified zone for the tourist rental of vivienda in edificios plurifamiliares (see below for zonificación).
- Must welcome no more Guests than the maximum capacity established in cedula de habitabilidad (12 occupants maximum).
- Must have 1 bathroom for every 4 potential occupants.
Ley 6/2017 - Article 50 added a new modality of renting estancias turísticas en viviendas : “alquiler de vivienda principal”
- Allows you to rent a part of your vivienda while staying during Guest’s presence.
- No more than 60 days per calendar year
- Must be in the zones qualified for such modality (see below for zonificación).
- Must be your primary residence and you must be the natural owner of the vivienda which must be your primary residence.
- You must state explicitly such modality in your DRIAT and listing.
- You must comply with all the requirements for estancias turísticas en viviendas and respect the maximum living capacity of your vivienda as established by the cédula de habitabilidad.
Declaración responsable de inicio de actividad turística (DRIAT)
Before operating your vivienda de uso turistico, you must submit a DRIAT
- The supporting documentation and submission process : for Mallorca click here, for Ibiza click here, for Menorca click here, Formentera click here.
- You can complete the process online on the registro electrónico of the Balearic Islands government.
- Note that Ley 6/2017 has established a one-year moratorium on new DRIATs (see below)
Accepted DRIATs automatically register your vivienda in the Registro insular de empresas, actividades y establecimientos turísticos.
- You must add the registration number on your listing.
- How-to: on the “my listings” drop-down menu, click to “manage my listings”, then on the relevant listing and on the “Legal requirements” tab and fill up the “License/registration number” field.
- Note that we may remove any listings without adequate registration number.
In completing the zoning process (see below), the Consells of each islands and the Ayuntamiento de Palma will determine the maximum number of residential accommodations that can be converted into tourist rentals. Therefore new DRIATs may be accepted in the limit of the remaining availability.
Moratorium and zonificación.
Ley 6/2017 has introduced a one-year moratorium (starting August 1, 2017) on new DRIATs submission
- You cannot register your property for tourist rentals during this period.
- You are not affected by this prohibition if you have already registered before the moratorium (however your rental must respect the new standards of Ley 6/2017).
During the period of the moratorium, Consells of each islands and the Ayuntamiento de Palma will update the current land-use zoning of the islands:
- Authorities will determine the zones in which they will authorize estancias turísticas en viviendas according to their types.
- If your Consell or the Ayuntamiento de Palma has not updated zoning by July 31, 2018, only viviendas unifamiliares aisladas, entre medianeras or pareadas can be rented to tourists.
- You can check the land-use zoning by consulting relevant planes de intervención en ámbitos turísticos (PIAT) and the planes territoriales insulares (PTI) of your island.
- Note that new urban planning conditions specifically related to the development of the tourist rentals may be imposed any time, both legally and through the use of regional, urban or environmental planning instruments.
In its project of zoning update (May 2018), the Ayuntamiento de Palma has declared they will update zoning by including the whole city in a unique zone in which tourist rentals in vivienda plurifamiliar (apartments) would be forbidden.
Community of owners (comunidad de propietarios)
If you rent a vivienda unifamiliar pareada or an accommodation in edificio plurifamiliar submitted to the régimen de propiedad horizontal:
- Check tourist rental activity is not forbidden under the constitutive acts or statutes of the comunidad de propietarios.
- You must inform your Guests of the internal rules of your building and utilisation of the common facilities and ensure they agree to this by having them sign off understanding these terms.
- You remain responsible in the event that your Guest breaches any of the rules determined by of the community of owners: you must ensure that the Guest leaves within 24 hours in case of any severe breaches.
- You must possess a civil liability insurance for property damage and bodily injury suffered by the community of owners.
Maintaining compliance - Other requirements
Ley 8/2012 de Turismo (in particular its Articles 19 and 50) details the touristic services you must provide. Please also check other applicable local, regional or State laws.
- Ensure periodic cleaning of the accommodation and cleaning og house linen for each new Guest stay.
- Provide a 24-hour telephone assistance to the Guests (and the community of owners in edificios plurifamiliares).
- You cannot discriminate your Guests on origins, skin colors, sex, religions or opinions.
- Respect all sustainability and accessibility regulations applicable to your property.
- Respect energy certification minimum standards: F (for buildings built before 31/12/2007) or D (for buildings built on or after 1/1/2008), a period of 3 years is given to conform.
Note that the regulations that develop Ley de Turismo, or the PIATs, may establish further requirements, conditions, limits and contents.
Spanish security law
Every Spanish Hosts must report details about every Guests (under 16 years old ) to the Police
- You must collect the following Guest data
- Transmit it at your local Police station or online (through this portal or this one)
- Note that you are required to keep your Guests details for 3 years.
- More information here on the Spanish Ministry of the Interior website