Renting out property in Spain as a non-resident: the Alicante and Costa Blanca guide

General information based on official sources listed at the end. It is not legal or tax advice for your case. Always speak to a tax adviser before you file.

Can I rent out my apartment in Spain if I live abroad?

Yes. Living outside Spain does not stop you letting your property. The same rules apply to you as to a Spanish owner. The difference is practical: you are not there to hand over keys, deal with a broken boiler or answer a guest at 8 in the morning.

Some steps can be done remotely. The tourist registration in the Valencia region, for example, is an online responsible declaration (procedure 19207 of the Generalitat). It can only be filed electronically, with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or through a representative.

Before you decide how to rent, answer three questions:

• Which type of rental does your property qualify for?
• Does your town hall allow tourist use in your building and area?
• Who will look after guests, cleaning and repairs while you are away?

Tourist, mid-term or long-term rental: which one fits?

A tourist property must be let as a whole. Renting by the room under a tourist licence is forbidden in the Valencia region and counts as a very serious infringement.

If your property is registered as a tourist rental, you declare the periods it operates (all year, summer, weekends, Easter or other dates). Within those periods you cannot sign a different type of contract without first changing the declared period. If you do, the property is removed from the Register.

If you cannot get a licence, mid-term rental is the legal alternative. We manage it with a written contract and without advertising it as a tourist let. We also manage long-term rentals.

What do you need for a tourist licence in the Valencia region?

What owners call a “tourist licence” is the registration of your property in the Tourism Register of the Comunitat Valenciana. To file it you need:

• A favourable planning compatibility report from the town hall (informe municipal de compatibilidad urbanística). This is the key document. In towns with suspended licences or modified planning, it must be less than 6 months old when you file.
• Express approval from the community of owners, voted by 3/5 of the owners who also represent 3/5 of the shares. Required since 3 April 2025 (Horizontal Property Act, article 17.12). With the same majority, the community can also ban or authorise tourist use for the whole building.
• A single, individual cadastral reference for the property.
• A first or second occupation licence, or an equivalent document.
• Third-party liability insurance or an equivalent guarantee.
• An energy performance certificate.
• The minimum standards of Annex III of the accommodation decree: evacuation plan or instructions, a 24-hour assistance phone line, cooling and heating at least in the living room, first aid kit, internet and TV, wardrobes in every bedroom, washing machine, equipped kitchen, and reception, cleaning, linen change and maintenance services.

Since Decree-law 9/2024, registration lasts 5 years. Properties registered before 8 August 2024 must renew by 8 August 2029. Our tourist licence guide for Alicante explains renewal in detail.

Alicante city: the moratorium and Modification no. 52

Alicante city is not granting new tourist licences. The moratorium has been in force since January 2025 and, according to the City Council, every planning compatibility certificate requested since then has been refused. In February 2026 a court in Alicante dismissed the appeal brought against the moratorium by Aptur, the tourist rental association.

The moratorium will end when the new planning rule, Modification no. 52 of the General Plan, is finally approved. It was initially approved in December 2025. In September 2026 the councillor for planning announced final approval before the end of the year. At the latest, the suspension ends in January 2027.

According to the initially approved text, the new rule will:

• Set a ceiling of 0.187 tourist places per inhabitant, measured by census section and reviewed every year. No new places in “saturated” zones, except 3, 4 and 5-star hotels.
• Ban tourist use on the ground floor of main roads, shopping streets and civic axes.
• Require tourist accommodation in residential buildings to have its own independent, exclusive entrance, without sharing common areas with neighbours.

Tourist rental rules by town on the Costa Blanca (October 2026)

Each town hall decides whether a property is compatible with tourist use, so the rules change from one town to the next. This is what we could check in October 2026. Always confirm with the town hall before you buy or apply.

For Torrevieja, La Mata, Punta Prima and Orihuela Costa, see our Torrevieja property management page.

What are the day-to-day obligations of a tourist rental?

• Registration number in every listing (Airbnb, Booking, your own website), together with the exact location of the property.
• Plaque at the entrance: the Generalitat’s red sign with the registration number.
• Guest registration: guest details must be sent to the Ministry of the Interior through SES.Hospedajes (Royal Decree 933/2021).
• Complaint forms available to guests.
• House rules that the guest accepts before arrival.
• A 24-hour assistance phone line, one of the Annex III minimum standards.
• No key boxes on the street: the Generalitat states that handing over keys through key boxes on the public highway is prohibited.

The Single Rental Register (Registro Único de Arrendamientos) is no longer required. The Spanish Supreme Court annulled it on 21 May 2026 (judgment 620/2026). Only the regional Tourism Register is required.

Operating without registration can be costly: fines in the Valencia region can reach €600,000 for very serious infringements.

How is rental income taxed for non-residents in Spain?

If you are not tax resident in Spain, rental income from your Spanish property is taxed through Non-Resident Income Tax (Impuesto sobre la Renta de No Residentes, IRNR). You declare it on Modelo 210, filed with the Spanish Tax Agency (AEAT). According to the AEAT:

• Residents of the EU, Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein pay 19 %. They may deduct expenses allowed under Spanish income tax law, if they are directly related to the Spanish rental income.
• Residents of any other country pay 24 % on the gross income, with no deduction for expenses.
• UK residents: since income accrued from 1 January 2021, the AEAT applies 24 % and no deduction for expenses.
• The taxable amount includes everything you receive from the guest or tenant, excluding VAT.
• For months when the property is not let, the AEAT applies imputed income, calculated as a percentage of the cadastral value.

When do you file Modelo 210 for rental income?

Rental income is now declared once a year. Order HAC/623/2026 moved the filing window to April: income accrued from the last quarter of 2026 onwards is declared from 1 to 20 April of the following year, whether you file one return per period or a grouped annual return. The AEAT gives these windows:

• Annual return for 2024 and 2025 income: 1 to 20 January of the following year.
• Annual return for 2026 income onwards: 1 to 20 April of the following year.
• Separate returns for income accrued from October 2026: 1 to 20 April of the following year.
• Imputed income for 2026 onwards: 1 April to 31 December of the following year.

Buying an apartment “with a licence”: what to check

If a registered tourist property changes owner (purchases made since 8 August 2024), the new owner must file a change-of-owner declaration with a favourable planning compatibility report. While the Alicante moratorium lasts, that report is not being granted. For inheritances, notifying the change is enough.

Properties registered before 8 August 2024 have until 8 August 2029 to meet the new Annex III standards (such as internet), as long as the owner does not change. Before you buy a flat sold as “with a tourist licence”, check the registration and ask the town hall.

How a management company helps when you live abroad

A tourist rental needs someone on the spot. AlicanteStay acts as your local letting agent in Alicante and on the Costa Blanca:

• Listings on Airbnb, Booking and other portals, with dynamic pricing.
• Guest support from 6:00 to 21:30 every day.
• Guest registration, house rules and check-in organised.
• Cleaning from €35 and laundry from €25, paid by the guest within the booking.
• Maintenance with a quote before any work.
• Owner reports and an owner portal, so you can follow your property from home.

Our fee is 14 % + VAT on what you receive from the platform, excluding cleaning and laundry. There is a 3-month start-up period, then 30 days’ notice. We speak Spanish and English. See holiday rental management in Alicante, our services, pricing and the owner FAQ.

FAQ

Sources

• Generalitat Valenciana, Directorate General for Tourism: FAQ on tourist housing (version of 02/07/2026), in Spanish.
• Generalitat Valenciana: Self-registration of tourist housing (procedure 19207).
• Law 3/2026, of 29 June, of the Generalitat (BOE-A-2026-15683) and Law 5/2026, of 31 July (BOE-A-2026-19331).
• Alicante City Council: approval of the draft Modification no. 52 (10/12/2025).
• El Español: timetable for the new regulation (24/09/2026); El Debate: court upholds the moratorium (27/02/2026).
• AEAT: income from let property (non-residents), Modelo 210 and filing periods, note on the new Modelo 210 deadlines and consequences of Brexit for non-resident tax.
• Town-by-town details and local press links: our tourist licence guide; original source in Spanish: licencia turística en Alicante.