Landlord’s new guest report to the VUDA in Spain

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22 January 2026, 9:00

Whilst everyone, myself included, was distracted preparing for the 2025 end-of-year festivities (Hogmanay in Scotland), the Spanish government was busy, sneakily publishing a new law in Spain’s Official Law Gazette (BOE) on the last day of the year that concerns all landlords of short-term properties in Spain, creating new reporting obligations.

As readers will remember, we had reported that the Spanish government is waging an ongoing war against tourist rentals, continuously passing new legislation which makes it more expensive, cumbersome, and adds yet more red tape to what should be something nice and easy. The ultimate (non-declared) goal is to tire landlords and make them throw in the towel so they do not rent out their properties in Spain, which is what the government wants but cannot openly say.

All of this is against the backdrop of Spain undergoing a severe housing shortage, caused by the Spanish government’s relentless interventionism in all markets, driven by its political ideology bias, which pervades everything, and which stifles supply and continuously drives property and rental prices up. The government systematically fails to address the root cause (i.e. housing shortage). The incumbent administration, rather, opts for adopting misguided housing policies, increasing or even going as far as creating new taxes to curb the housing demand, which is ludicrous. As explained in previous articles, these measures at best act as a temporary band-aid, and at worst backfire, further compounding and exacerbating Spain’s severe housing problem, which has now become the country’s number one problem, even surpassing illegal immigration and record levels of youth unemployment.

Moreover, the government lays the blame on foreigners whom they label as “property speculators.” This crisis could easily be addressed by building, or allowing developers and private individuals to build, more houses. But sure, it’s always easier to have foreigners as a scapegoat; after all, they cannot vote in national elections, so blaming them has no political cost associated (win-win). The fact is that tourist rentals account for under 1% of all property rentals nationwide. But hey, never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Existing landlord obligations

Last year, Spain created the new VUDA registry for short-term rentals. Long story short is that all landlords who rent out short-term have to register and apply for a new NRA code.

The new law, from last December, creates new reporting obligations in addition to all the existing ones collated below:

Landlords *already* having attained a Tourism Licence, issued by their regional tourism authority, which is already a feat all in of itself, following new laws purposely devised to make the procedure even more cumbersome

Community of owners' permission for holiday rentals, following a new law from April last year: Community of owners to approve new Tourist Licences
Landlords filing an annual tax return, with a full breakdown, which taxes their rental income.
Non-resident landlords filing an annual tax return, which taxes their imputed income tax (not to be confused with the point above).
Reporting to the Guardia Civil all guests aged 18, or over.
Attaining an NRA code from the VUDA

New obligation to file an annual report to the VUDA every January

The new law forces short-term landlords (both holiday and seasonal rentals) to submit an annual report to the VUDA with a full breakdown of bookings, dates of entry and exit of the guests, number of guests, etc. This report must be filed by February of the following year. So now, in 2026, landlords must file it retrospectively and report all their 2025 guests.

Consequences of non-compliance (failure to submit the VUDA report on time)

Your NRA code will be revoked (which gives way to all the below bullet points)
You will no longer be able to rent out legally in Spain
This opens you up for the huge fines and penalties that autonomous regions in Spain levy, ranging from 3,000 euros to 1mn euros in Catalonia
Your listings will be removed by property platforms
Suspension of your ability to legally rent online going forward

Conclusion

Honestly, you could make it up. All these added layers of red tape, which overlap one another, are making Sisyphus look like a wimp by comparison.

I think it is dawning on more and more people what they are up against.

It is blatant to anyone who works in the industry that the Spanish government is purposely and continuously adding new layers of red tape to exasperate landlords and make them give up on their intent of letting their Spanish properties. It feels almost like being in an obstacle race.

Since 2023, hundreds of thousands of landlords have withdrawn their properties from the rental market as a result of the Spanish government’s misguided housing policies (in Barcelona city alone, 55,000 properties were withdrawn last year), especially after enacting Spain's New Rental Act, in 2023, which proved detrimental (understatement), as predicted by all property experts.

And to the surprise of no one - other than Spain’s government - the result is that a sharp drop in rental supply, in the face of increasing housing demand (Spain’s population jumped by over 4 million people in under a decade), translates to higher rental prices. Surprise! I know, shocking. If only someone had foreseen all of this, oh wait.

Fortunately for you, our team at law firm LNA will be delighted to assist you and handhold you throughout the ordeal for a very reasonable fee. LNA removes all the associated stress and anxiety that these new measures generate in landlords, making it nice and easy, as it should be! Give us a call.

“Politics: the art of creating new problems where none existed.”

Related tax and legal services LNA offers:

At LNA, our friendly team can assist you in buying (or selling) your property anywhere in Spain. We can also get you any residence visa in Spain. Give us a call!

At Larrain Nesbitt Abogados (LNA) we have over 23 years of experience specialising in property conveyance and taxation all over Spain. We also assist clients with immigration & residency visas, and inheritance procedures (probate). You can contact us by email at info@larrainnesbitt.com, by telephone on our UK line (+44) 0754 3838 218, or Spanish line (+34) 952 19 22 88, or by completing our contact form.

Please note the information provided in this article is of general interest only and is not to be construed or intended as substitute for professional legal advice. This article may be posted freely in websites or other social media so long as the author is duly credited. Plagiarising, whether in whole or in part, this article without crediting the author may result in criminal prosecution. Ní neart go cur le chéile. VOV.