What is considered to be a Home for Touristic Use in Andalucía?

What is considered to be a Home for Touristic Use in Andalucía?

Let’s start with the definition of article 5, section e) of the current Urban Leases Act as mentioned in a previous published article on our blog. Which houses will be considered as Homes for Touristic Use? We can confirm that Spanish properties that are usually offered as holiday accommodation one or more times a year for touristic purposes will be considered as such. The specification of the usual nature and touristic purposes is related to the fact that you advertise your home in any form or in any media as a holiday or vacational rental including on the Internet or other technologies and if the house is promoted through tourism channels such as travel agencies, under the condition that these services are rendered one or more times within the same year for a total period of more than one month.

Nevertheless, the following properties are not included:  

a) Houses that are leased for holiday or touristic use but without any economic fee.

b) Houses that are leased for a period of more than 3 months to the same person.

c) Rural holiday homes. These will be governed by the provisions of article 47 and 48 of the Law for Tourism in Andalucia.

d) Three or more houses on name of the same owner in the same building or complex or in adjacent buildings or complexes will be governed by the regulation for holiday apartments run as a business and offering touristic services.

e) Owners who have 3 or more houses in the same or adjacent buildings will be considered and governed by the provisions of the holiday apartments regulation.

Private holiday homes will include as follows:

a) Full holiday homes, in case they are leased to be used as a whole.

b) Accommodation on a room-by-room basis:  those who rent out rooms. The owner may also live in the house. If you offer this type of accommodation in an urban area, you may use the title: Bed & Breakfast.

2. The maximum occupancy is limited to the one stated in the licence of first occupancy and to a maximum of 15 guests.

These are the requirements and minimum common services that need to be complied with:

a) Spanish Private holiday homes must have a certificate of occupancy and comply at all times with general technical and quality standards for housing.

b) All rooms should have direct ventilation to outside or towards patios and the windows need to have some kind of awnings.

c) Homes must be adequately furnished and have all the appliances and utensils necessary for its immediate use in accordance with the number of guests, and it must be in a perfect state of maintenance and hygiene.

d) The accommodation must be fitted with air conditioning in the living area and bedrooms and if you are renting out your property between October and April, it must also be fitted with heating that maintains a temperature of 19 degrees.

e) Homes must have a medical kit and fire safety apparatus. .

f) You must provide the guests with tourist information on the area, local attractions, restaurants, bars, shops, supermarkets, closest parking spaces, medical services in the area, public transport, city map, tourist information on the city and a list of ‘what’s on’.

g) You need to have a book of complaints for the guests at an adequate place within the home.

h) You must offer a changeover cleaning service in between each guest occupation.

i) Bed linen, kitchenware and appliances in general, in accordance with the maximum number of guests and a replacement set.

j) A housing maintenance and assistance service must be guaranteed. Users must be provided with a telephone number that enables queries and incidents to be attended to immediately.

k) Instruction manuals of appliances and other devices must be available for the correct use by your guests.

l) Your property must offer a free Internet service.

m) In case you rent out rooms, you must inform your guests of the internal rules for the use of installations, rooms and devices in the building, and/or the existence of pets, restrictions for smokers and restricted access areas.

Get familiarised with the new decree and calculate your possibilities and the viability to adapt your house as a holiday home. Do not hesitate to contact our specialist lawyers at Arcos & Lamers Asociados for any enquiry of question you might have on this topic or any other topic, or concerning contracts or disputes arising from this kind of issues.