More than 1.1 million tourist rental beds in Spain could become unavailable starting this next August if the mandatory registrations in the Spanish National Registry for Tourist and Seasonal Rentals, introduced by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, are not completed. This would require online platforms to remove listings that do not include the Rental Registration Number (NRA, for its acronym in Spanish). These beds represent 87% of the total national short-term rental (STR) offering active in Spain this summer, as of July 15.
Mabrian reached this conclusion after analysing how Spain’s accommodation supply could be impacted by the recently announced agreement between the Ministry and Airbnb, which obliges the platform to remove all listings that do not include the NRA as of August 1, following a 10-business-day grace period after hosts are notified to update their listings accordingly.
Tourist Tax in Spain
Tourism plays a major role in the Spanish economy, but it also puts pressure on public services, housing, and the environment. Several regions use a tourist tax to help cover these costs and support more sustainable tourism. There is no nationwide tourist tax. Instead, each autonomous region sets its own rules. Catalonia and the Balearic Islands already have a tax in place, while others like Valencia are preparing to follow. National law also requires all hosts to register guest details through the SES Hospedajes system.
Spain continues to expand the system of tourist taxes. In 2025 to the list of regions that charge this fee, will join Santiago de Compostela and Toledo, and the Basque Country is preparing to introduce its own tax. Some cities, such as Mogán in Gran Canaria, have already started charging travellers, and in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands the fees are increasing significantly.
Growing discontent among locals with over tourism
Spain’s Barcelona stands as a symbol of resistance to unchecked tourism growth. With 26 million tourists descending upon a city of just 1.6 million residents, the frustration among locals has been growing. It has been overflowing with protests and even water spray on tourists. The city has decided to stop all short-term rentals by 2028 in a bid to curb rising housing crisis for local residents.
A report by the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) highlights the growing strain on popular tourist destinations due to increased travel. The report urges governments and local authorities to adopt long-term planning and address structural challenges like weak infrastructure. A growing number of destinations have introduced tourism taxes in response to pressure, but WTTC warns that these measures don’t always solve the real problems and can put jobs, income, and services at risk. The report finds that if 11 major European cities capped visitor numbers, it could cost $245BN in lost GDP and almost 3MN jobs over three years.
Spanish National Registry for Tourist and Seasonal Rentals
The Spanish National Registry for Tourist and Seasonal Rentals, in effect since July 1, takes precedence over all regional and municipal regulations, meaning that no property may legally operate as tourist accommodation unless it is registered in the national database—even if it holds a regional or municipal license.
Mabrian, part of The Data Appeal Company – Almawave Group, studied Airbnb listings published in mid-July across Spain’s 17 autonomous communities and two autonomous cities, comparing how many STR properties reported a local license and how many had already included the NRA in their descriptions. The results indicate that, as of July 15, only 13% of the total short-term rental units listed and available in Spain had completed the state registration process and updated their listings with the corresponding Unique Identification Number.
“Although STR hosts were informed of the deadlines and the mandatory nature of the National Registry by July 2025, most only began the registration process when it came into force, concentrating a large volume of applications into a very short period,” comments Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communications at Mabrian.
The analysis conducted across all Spanish regions reveals notable differences among autonomous communities. In Andalusia, the region with the largest number of STR accommodations in the country, only 10.2% of total Airbnb listings include the NRA, despite 83% already having regional licenses. In Catalonia, the third-largest region by STR volume, just 8% of listings have obtained the national code, although 75.6% hold local or regional permits.
Similar patterns emerge in the Valencian Community, the Canary Islands, and the Balearic Islands—regions that also have high concentrations of STR properties—where 15.2%, 16.8%, and 12.2% of available listings, respectively, have included the NRA.
An opportunity to foster short-term rental regularisation in Spain
According to Mabrian’s latest data, 67% of STR listings in Spain include a local or regional license number, but only 20% of those have completed the process to obtain the national registration code. In practice, this means that “more than 1.1 million short-term rental beds are currently operating outside of the regulatory framework and could be removed from the market,” warns the Mabrian spokesperson.
“The data show that the registration process is underway, but it is gradual and will take time,” adds Cendra. “In any case, the possibility of losing such a significant share of the tourist accommodation supply, in the middle of the summer season, must be considered not only from a carrying capacity perspective, but also in terms of its potential impact on the traveller experience and on local economies that depend on seasonal tourism.”
One important aspect to highlight is that the national registry is accelerating the formalisation of the STR sector in regions with a higher proportion of listings lacking municipal or regional licenses. For example, in the Madrid region, of the approximately one-third of STR units on Airbnb that report a local or regional license, 57.7% have already obtained the national code. Progress is also notable in other communities such as Galicia, Aragón, Asturias, Cantabria, Navarra, and La Rioja, where the NRA has been added to more than 30% of listings that already had a local license—figures that represent between 50% and 60% of the total STR supply in those regions.
