The number of active tourist accommodations in Spain has fallen sharply. According to the latest data from the Spanish Statistics Institute (INE), there were 329,764 holiday flats nationwide in November 2025 – 12.4% fewer than a year earlier (376,463) and 13.6% fewer than in May (381,837), just before the short-term rental register came into force.
Based on the INE’s historical series, which began during the pandemic, the current total is the lowest since February 2023. Compared with the peak recorded in August 2024 – when more than 403,200 units were registered – the decline amounts to 18.2%.
In November 2025, tourist flats accounted for 1.24% of Spain’s total housing stock, down from 1.43% in May 2025 and 1.41% in November 2024.
As for capacity, the total number of beds stood at 1.62 million in November 2025, down from 1.89 million a year earlier, a 14% decrease. The average number of beds per property also fell, to 4.93, down from 5.04 in the previous release.
Málaga, the leading province
By autonomous community, Andalusia led the ranking with 91,757 tourist flats, bucking the national downward trend by recording a year-on-year increase of 1.2%.
The Canary Islands, the Valencian Community and Catalonia followed, with 49,676 (-3%), 48,411 (-25%) and 46,915 (-11%) units, respectively. Close behind – all with fewer than 20,000 holiday homes – were the Balearic Islands (19,398; -19.8%), Galicia (15,236; -22.5%) and Madrid (15,309; -26%).
At the provincial level, Málaga remained firmly at the top with more than 48,200 units. It was followed at some distance by Alicante (almost 30,000), Las Palmas (27,336) and Santa Cruz de Tenerife (22,340). Other provinces among the 20 largest markets included the Balearic Islands, Barcelona, Girona, Tarragona, A Coruña, Pontevedra, Asturias, Madrid, Cádiz, Seville, Granada and Murcia. The remaining provinces had fewer than 3,000 tourist flats as of the end of November 2025.
How the register is affecting short-term rentals
Spain’s new short-term rental register is now in force and has been mandatory since 1 July 2025 for properties intended for tourist, temporary and room rentals.
This identifier is intended to enable authorities to monitor and oversee this type of short-term rental activity. There is no fixed deadline for landlords to apply for the code; however, until it has been obtained, the property cannot be listed on digital platforms that process financial transactions.
According to the College of Registrars, the body responsible for issuing the number, 299,754 properties had obtained the Short-term Rental Number (NRUA) by early January, while a further 16,581 held a provisional code. In addition, 84,250 applications had been revoked, representing a rejection rate of 21%.
The vast majority of applications submitted so far relate to tourist accommodation (289,754, accounting for 72% of the total). The second largest category is short-term rentals (58,902, or 14.7%), followed by room rentals (12.9%), which include both tourist (22,031) and non-tourist (29,675) lets.
The most common reasons for an application being revoked include not having the required tourist licence or the mandatory three-fifths majority approval from the homeowners’ association, or the fact that the property is officially protected housing, which may only be used as a primary residence. Other grounds for rejection include applications submitted by non-owners or errors in the property’s registration details.
Where registrars request additional documentation, the main issues tend to be failing to provide a tourist licence or formal declaration of compliance, or uncertainty over whether the relevant homeowners’ association has authorised the use of the property for tourist letting.
It should be noted that applications for the registration number must be submitted with the relevant documentation, including the property's cadastral reference and full address, the rental model (entire dwelling or by rooms), the maximum number of occupants and proof of compliance with the requirements laid down by each autonomous community to operate this type of activity.
The College of Registrars reports that it has received numerous appeals in recent months against refusals to grant the short-term rental registration number, although in most cases the original decisions have been upheld.
For its part, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU) has welcomed the fact that the number of tourist flats in Spain has fallen by more than 52,000 units over the past six months. It attributes the decline to the introduction of the short-term rental register and to the reform of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH), in force since last spring, which allows homeowners’ associations to veto this type of use.
According to MIVAU, the figures demonstrate that “the Short-Term Rental Register and the reform of the LPH help to safeguard the social function of housing and tackle the illegality under which a large number of such properties currently operate, driving up prices excessively, forcing many families out of their neighbourhoods and contributing to gentrification and the loss of local identity.”
However, experts reject the idea that removing tourist flats from the market will bring rents down. Economists, lawyers and property specialists speaking at a conference held in late January at Barcelona’s Círculo Ecuestre argued that the reality differs from the prevailing political narrative: holiday rentals represent only a small share of the market, and the key to containing prices lies not in tighter restrictions, but in increasing supply.
Tourism isn’t the problem – Spain just isn’t building enough homes
For Spanish economist Gonzalo Bernardos, the debate over tourist flats in Barcelona has been based on a fundamental misunderstanding. “The story has wiped out the facts,” he told a packed audience at the Círculo Ecuestre, where he discussed the real impact of banning short-term rentals. In his view, politicians and activists have picked an easy target, while ignoring the deeper issue: a chronic housing shortage.
