Renewing a Tourist Licence in 2029 When Your Owners' Association Has Banned Holiday Rentals

If you own a tourist home in the Valencian Community, its entry in the Tourism Register is no longer open-ended. Decree-Law 9/2024, published in the regional gazette (DOGV) on 7 August 2024 and in force since 8 August 2024, made registrations valid for five years and requires a new responsible declaration (declaración responsable) to renew them. For most homes that were already registered, that period ends on 8 August 2029.

The question owners keep asking is what happens if, between getting the licence and renewing it, the owners' association has voted to ban holiday rentals. The short answer: if your home was registered before 8 August 2024 and you are still operating, the law protects you. But there are specific situations in which that protection is lost, and it is worth knowing them before 2029.

When you have to renew

The decree-law added Article 23 bis to Decree 10/2021, which regulates tourist accommodation in the region. The dates depend on when the home was registered. Law 15/2018 was published in the DOGV on 8 June 2018 and came into force on 8 July 2018, which is the date that sets the first cut-off:

The cut-off for the municipal report is Law 15/2018, not Decree 10/2021. That law already required a planning compatibility document to register a tourist home (Article 77.5), and the 2021 decree only developed the requirement. That is why homes registered from 8 July 2018 must provide an updated report when they renew and earlier ones do not. Article 23 bis refers to providing the report "where required", so if your home was registered between 2018 and 2021 in a municipality that was not issuing it at the time, confirm your case with the Tourism Register.

The renewal must be filed within the month before each period ends. For homes registered before the decree-law, the five years run from 8 August 2024 and, counting date to date as Spanish law does for periods in years, end on 8 August 2029. That puts the renewal window between 8 July and 8 August 2029. Because the exact count can vary by a day depending on interpretation, do not leave it to the last day. If the deadline passes without a renewal, the home is removed from the register. All homes also have until 8 August 2029 to meet the Annex III requirements.

What the law says about a ban by the owners' association

An owners' association can ban holiday rentals. Article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Law allows it with the votes of three fifths of the owners who also hold three fifths of the participation shares. In judgments 1232 and 1233/2024 of 3 October 2024, the full chamber of the Supreme Court confirmed that this majority is enough to ban the activity, not just to limit it. Organic Law 1/2025, published in the BOE on 3 January 2025, amended this article with effect from 3 April 2025. Since that date, anyone who wants to start letting a home to tourists also needs the association's express approval (Article 7.3).

But Article 17.12 ends with a key sentence: "These agreements shall not have retroactive effect." A resolution banning the activity does not reach an owner who was already lawfully operating when it was voted. This applies to the ban and also to special fees or the surcharge of up to 20% on common charges that the association can approve with the same majority.

Why renewal should not clash with the ban

For a new registration, Valencian rules require a Land Registry certificate or a certificate from the association's administrator showing that neither the deed of division, the bylaws nor any resolution enforceable against third parties prevents the home from being used for anything other than a habitual residence (Article 23.1(l) of Decree 10/2021). If the association has banned holiday rentals, that certificate would show the ban.

Article 23 bis solves this for existing homes: homes registered before 8 August 2024, when the decree-law came into force, do not have to include that certificate in their renewal declaration. In other words, the 2029 renewal does not ask you to prove that the association agrees. What it does ask for is:

• A favourable, updated municipal planning compatibility report for tourist use, except for registrations from before 8 July 2018, whose renewal is limited to the Annex III requirements.
• A statement that you meet all legal and regulatory requirements in force at the time of renewal.
• The owner's express permission, if the activity is run by someone else or a management company.

Between the non-retroactivity rule in the Horizontal Property Law and the certificate exemption in Valencian rules, renewing a home registered before 8 August 2024 does not depend on what the association voted afterwards.

When you lose that protection

The protection rests on the activity already existing and continuing. In some situations the rules make you start from scratch, with a new declaration and the requirements in force at that time, and then the association's ban does affect you:

• Selling or inheriting the home. Article 23 bis.3 requires the new owner to file a new declaration under the current rules. If the association has banned the activity by then, the Article 23.1(l) certificate cannot be issued in their favour.
• Missing the renewal. If 8 August 2029 passes without it, the home is removed and registering it again counts as a new registration.
• Stopping the rentals. The tourism inspectorate can remove the home if it finds the activity has stopped for more than a year.
• Letting it as a residence or seasonal rental during a declared tourist period. This is another ground for removal under Article 30.
• Not having reported the cadastral reference before 31 December 2024, when it was required.

If your home was registered on or after 8 August 2024, the position is less clear. The certificate exemption does not cover you, because it only applies to homes registered before the decree-law. If the association bans the activity during your first five years, renewal would clash with a requirement the Valencian rules still impose, while the Horizontal Property Law says the ban is not retroactive. We have not found official guidance or case law that settles this. It is sensible to ask a lawyer well before your renewal is due.

The risk that does not depend on your neighbours: the planning report

Even if the association cannot block the renewal, the town council can. Renewal requires an updated planning compatibility report, and many municipalities have changed their planning to limit tourist homes by area, floor or number. If the planning rules in force in 2029 no longer allow tourist use in your building, the report may be unfavourable even if the association has never voted on it. Check early what your municipality's planning rules say for your address.

What about other regions?

The non-retroactivity rule in Article 17.12 is national law and applies across Spain except in Catalonia, which regulates horizontal property in its own Civil Code. What changes from one region to another is whether the tourist licence expires. Besides the Valencian Community, two other regions have already set deadlines:

• Catalonia. Decree-Law 3/2023 was published in the DOGC on 8 November 2023 and came into force on 9 November 2023. It requires tourist homes in the municipalities listed in its annex, including Barcelona, to obtain a planning licence within five years or stop operating, that is, by 9 November 2028. Owners can request a single extension of up to five more years, until 9 November 2033, if they prove the transitional period does not compensate for losing the licence. The request is filed with the town council between 9 November 2027 and the end of the transitional period. The new licence lasts five years and is only renewed if planning rules allow it. The Constitutional Court upheld the decree in judgment 64/2025 of 13 March. Within the owners' association, a ban is governed by Article 553-26 of the Catalan Civil Code, which requires four fifths, and it does not contain a non-retroactivity rule as explicit as the national one.
• Canary Islands. Law 6/2025 of 10 December was published in the regional gazette (BOC) on 12 December 2025 and came into force on 13 December 2025. It gives existing holiday homes five years to keep operating as before, until 13 December 2030. The island council (cabildo) can extend this once, up to ten years from entry into force (13 December 2035), if the request is filed before 13 December 2029 and the owner proves the period does not compensate. The alternative is a declaration of consolidated tourist use, with no time limit, which owners who are also the declaration holders can file until 13 December 2030. In a building under horizontal property they must provide a certificate that neither the bylaws nor any resolution of the association prevents the use. Here a later ban by the neighbours can be an obstacle, and it remains to be seen how it fits with the non-retroactivity rule in Article 17.12.

We have not found a general licence expiry comparable to these three in other regions, but the rules change often. If your property is in another region, check its current tourism regulations.

Key dates

What to prepare before 2029

1. Check the exact date of your entry in the Tourism Register and whether it is before 8 July 2018 or before 8 August 2024.
2. Get the minutes of the meeting that approved the ban and keep evidence that the home was registered and being let before that date: registration, bookings, invoices and guest registration records.
3. Keep the activity going without breaks of more than a year.
4. Review the Annex III requirements and adapt the home before 8 August 2029.
5. Check your municipality's planning rules and request the compatibility report early enough to have it in July 2029.
6. If you plan to sell or give away the home, bear in mind that the new owner will start from scratch.

And guest registration

The responsible declaration includes complying with Royal Decree 933/2021 on guest registration. The reports you have submitted are also a simple way to show that the home was operating before the association voted and has not stopped since. For a refresher on how that obligation works, see our guide to guest registration with SES Hospedajes.

Frequently asked questions

Can the owners' association force me to stop if I already had a licence?

A resolution adopted with the Article 17.12 majority has no retroactive effect. If you were already lawfully operating when it was voted, it should not reach you. It is a different matter if your bylaws already banned any use other than housing before: then there is no new resolution and the analysis changes.

Do I need the association's certificate to renew in 2029?

No, if the home was registered before 8 August 2024. Article 23 bis of Decree 10/2021 exempts those homes from including the Article 23.1(l) certificate in their renewal.

Do I need the municipal report if my licence is from 2019 or 2020?

In principle, yes. The report has been required since Law 15/2018 came into force on 8 July 2018, so only homes registered before that date are exempt. If your town council was not issuing it at the time, confirm your case with the Tourism Register before renewing.

What if I sell the flat with the licence?

The licence does not pass on as it is. The buyer must file a new declaration under the current requirements, including the certificate that the association does not ban the activity.

Can the association charge me higher fees?

It can approve special fees or an increase of up to 20% for tourist homes with the same three-fifths majority, but those resolutions are not retroactive either.

Sources

• Decree-Law 9/2024 of 2 August (Articles 23, 23 bis and 30 of Decree 10/2021 and transitional provisions).
• Law 15/2018 of 7 June on tourism, leisure and hospitality in the Valencian Community.
• Horizontal Property Law 49/1960: Articles 7.3 and 17.12.
• Organic Law 1/2025 of 2 January, fourth final provision.
• Spanish Bar Council: Supreme Court upholds bans with a 3/5 majority (judgments 1232 and 1233/2024).
• Catalan Decree-Law 3/2023 of 7 November on the planning regime for tourist homes.
• Canary Islands Law 6/2025 of 10 December on the sustainable regulation of tourist use of homes.
• Generalitat Valenciana: tourist homes.

Written on 23 October 2026 from the published text of the regulations cited. Deadlines have been calculated date to date from each regulation's entry into force; confirm them with the relevant authority before filing anything. The rules may change before 2029. This is not legal advice: if your case has specific circumstances, ask a lawyer.