The crackdown on tourist flats is continuing with pace across Andalucia, particularly in areas popular with holidaymakers.
This week, the Junta de Andalucia announced a new digital system that will automatically reject new tourist rental registrations in areas where local urban planning laws prohibit them, including Malaga city.
It marks a shift from the previous process, where anyone could operate a rental property simply by submitting a ‘responsible declaration’, self-certifying compliance with legal and zoning requirements.
Until now, that declaration allowed property owners to start renting immediately – even if their property violated local rules. Enforcement was left to the administration, often resulting in lengthy appeals during which the rentals continued to operate.
Now, in cities with specific limits or moratoriums, including Malaga and parts of Sevilla, the system will block registrations from the outset. That includes areas with formal caps on the number of rentals or temporary bans due to saturation.
‘This gives residents more legal protection and reduces the administrative burden,’ said officials from the Junta.
‘Instead of chasing illegal listings months later, we’ll stop them from entering the system in the first place.’
The ‘Titan’ task force: Digital patrols and field inspections
The regional government also launched a new enforcement unit this week named Grupo Titan.
Their mission is to aggressively inspect the tourist sector and track down unlicensed rentals.
With only seven inspectors currently overseeing over 44,000 properties in Malaga province, the extra manpower is overdue.
The team will also patrol digital platforms like Airbnb using cyber-surveillance tools to identify illegal listings and potential tax fraud.
Officials say once 270 new officers are hired over the next four years, each of the eight provinces could have its own dedicated unit.
While the crackdown is broadly welcomed, tourism industry leaders are urging balanced enforcement.
‘We fully support action against illegal rentals,” said Juan Cubo, president of the Andalusian Tourist Housing Association, to Malaga Hoy, ‘but the focus must stay on those operating outside the law – not those who are already following it.’
Cubo also called for closer cooperation between authorities and the legal sector to ensure a fair, competitive, and safe tourism model.
National government joins the fight: 8,000 listings delisted
At the national level, the Spanish government has enforced a requirement for all tourist rentals to be listed in a central registry. Properties that fail to do so won’t get an ID code, meaning they can’t be legally listed on major platforms like Booking.com or Airbnb.
Earlier this year, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez announced that over 8,000 illegal listings in Malaga province were being removed from these sites. Malaga city alone saw 1,471 non-compliant rentals taken down.
Read more Spain property news at the Spanish Eye.
