Whether you can register a tourist rental on the Costa del Sol now depends on which municipality the property stands in. Málaga city has been closed to new registrations since August 2025. Mijas and Estepona remain open. Fuengirola is restricted and has asked the regional registry to cancel roughly 600 registrations. The municipal boundary, not the development, decides.
A buyer intending to let short-term could once treat the licence as a formality to be settled after completion. The regime is now set council by council, and the gap between the most permissive and the most restrictive on this coast is the difference between a lettable asset and a holiday home you may only use yourself. Where to buy has therefore acquired a second layer: whether the town hall whose territory the property falls in will let you register at all. For anyone whose numbers depend on rental income, I would put that question first — it is the only one that cannot be solved with money afterwards.
Where you can still register: the Costa del Sol municipality by municipality
The table below sets out the position in each of the main Costa del Sol municipalities as at 1 August 2026, compiled from municipal announcements and the Junta de Andalucía’s published enforcement reporting. Where a measure is announced but not confirmed in force, the table says so. The “as of” column matters as much as the status column — councils are still moving.
| Municipality | New registrations | What is actually in place | As of |
|---|---|---|---|
| Málaga city | Closed | Total suspension of new tourist-home licences across the whole municipality, for up to three years, on top of zoning that had already declared 43 districts saturated (over 8% tourist flats as a share of residential stock) | August 2025 |
| Fuengirola | Restricted | No blanket moratorium. The council has asked the regional registry to cancel roughly 600 registrations that breach article 7.1.6 of the PGOU (the independent-entrance requirement), applies commercial waste charges to tourist homes, and has removed the 30% IBI rebate for owners | From 13 August 2024, applied to applications filed after 22 February 2024 |
| Mijas | Open | No municipal moratorium identified. Mijas has historically facilitated registration through the documento administrativo urbanístico (DAU) route for properties without a first-occupation licence | Checked 1 August 2026 |
| Benalmádena | Open, under study | Saturated zones mapped with the University of Málaga — highest concentrations in Benalmádena Costa, the marina and the Benalbeach complex; Arroyo de la Miel and the town centre below 5–10%. Limits to be approved zone by zone. No suspension yet | Study published 27 September 2024 |
| Marbella | Open, registry announced | No moratorium. A municipal tourist-home registry has been announced, together with a rule limiting the conversion of commercial ground-floor premises to tourist use | Announced 19 February 2025 |
| Estepona | Open | No municipal suspension identified. Municipal tourism quality plan 2023–2027 in force | Checked 1 August 2026 |
| Torremolinos | Restricted | Municipal regime described as increasingly restrictive but without the capital’s total suspension. Detail not confirmed against the municipal record — treat as indicative and verify before relying on it | Checked 1 August 2026 |
| Benahavís | Open | No municipal suspension identified | Checked 1 August 2026 |
Read that as a map of trajectories, not a permanent settlement. Málaga city sits at one end and Benahavís at the other; the interesting cases are in the middle. Fuengirola has shown that a council needs no moratorium to reduce the stock of licensed tourist homes — it can enforce an existing planning rule against registrations granted without it. Benalmádena has done the mapping that would let it impose zone-level caps whenever it chooses. Marbella has announced a municipal register, the precondition for anything further. None of the three is closed; all three have built the machinery.
Andalucía is not banning tourist rentals — it is enforcing the rules it already has
The regional picture is often reported as a crackdown on short-term letting in principle. It is not. On the figures the Junta de Andalucía reported in June 2026, what it has been doing is enforcing the conditions always attached to the vivienda con fines turísticos regime — and the effect is substantial.
Growth in registered tourist homes across Andalucía slowed to 3.12% in 2025, down from 16.89%. More than 15,300 registrations have been cancelled since January 2024 — roughly 10% of the region’s registered stock, removing about 80,000 bed places. More than 16,000 dwellings have been investigated for irregularities and more than 11,700 public enquiries handled since August 2025. The Junta has also run a joint enforcement operation with the Policía Nacional against unlicensed operators, Proyecto Titán, and signed ten formal agreements with municipalities carrying heavy tourist-accommodation activity.
The distinction matters for anyone modelling a purchase. A ban is a political event a later administration can reverse; enforcement of existing conditions is structural. It also means a compliant registration is worth more, because the supply of registrations that survive scrutiny is no longer growing at anything like the old rate.
The corollary is that buying a property which already carries a registration is not the shortcut it looks like: a registration on a dwelling that does not meet the conditions is one waiting to be cancelled. Roughly 600 owners in Fuengirola are discovering that now.
The Higuerón problem: when the municipal boundary runs through the resort
Reserva del Higuerón sits on the Fuengirola–Benalmádena boundary, which makes it the clearest illustration on this coast of why the resort name tells you nothing about the regulatory regime. Two apartments a few hundred metres apart, in what any buyer would call the same development, can fall under entirely different municipal regimes: Fuengirola’s cancellation drive and PGOU article 7.1.6 on one side, Benalmádena’s zone-by-zone saturation study on the other.
The consequence is not theoretical. A unit on the Fuengirola side that fails the independent-entrance rule is exposed to the cancellation process now applied to roughly 600 registrations there. A unit on the Benalmádena side is not — for the moment — though Benalmádena has identified the marina, Benalmádena Costa and the Benalbeach complex as its most concentrated zones. Neither owner would find this in the sales material, because the brochure describes the resort, and the resort is not the unit of regulation.
The instruction to a buyer is specific: check the cadastral municipality of the exact unit, not the name of the development. The referencia catastral on the nota simple and the IBI receipt states which town hall the property belongs to. Ask for it in writing before you sign, and have your lawyer confirm that municipality’s registration position on the day. Do not accept “it’s in Higuerón” as an answer, and do not accept an assurance that the neighbours all let their apartments out — the neighbour may be one boundary away.
The naming compounds it. Higuerón attaches to more than one place here: the Reserva del Higuerón area on the eastern Mijas Costa stretch and the separate Higuerón Marbella Golf Resort are not the same asset, not in the same municipality, and not subject to the same rules. If two shortlisted properties carry the same name, check the cadastral reference rather than the marketing — and read the boundary question alongside our Mijas area guide, Benalmádena area guide and Marbella area guide.
Two things that sit above the municipal question — and can defeat it
The first is your community of owners. Two resolutions of the Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública, both on the Benalmádena No. 2 property registry and both published in the BOE, confirm that an administrative tourism licence does not override the community’s statutes. In one, a registry number was suspended because the statutes prohibited “any commercial activity”; in the other, because they said tourist accommodation “will not be permitted”. Both owners’ appeals were dismissed. Where the statutes prohibit it, the owner needs a formal amendment by public deed, inscribed at the property registry; a general meeting vote is not enough. We set this out in what community statutes say about tourist rentals, and how to check them before you exchange.
The second is that the national registry no longer exists. Royal Decree 1312/2024 created a national short-term rental registry, live from 1 July 2025; Supreme Court judgment 620/2026 of 21 May 2026 declared it null on competence grounds. Owners are no longer obliged to obtain the single registry number or file the annual rental declaration. What survives is the digital single window, the duty on platforms to transmit rental data, and statistical reporting. Responsibility has moved back to the regions — here, the Junta de Andalucía and its Registro de Turismo de Andalucía — which is why the municipal layer is now the whole of the question. The judgment is examined in our analysis of the Supreme Court ruling on the national short-term rental registry.
The council figures behind the table
Fuengirola’s restriction is a response to genuine density. On council figures published in August 2024, tourist-accommodation pressure stood at 9% — double Málaga’s 4.5% and triple Seville’s 3% — after growth of 30% since 2020. The municipality had about 5,500 tourist homes and nearly 28,000 bed places, 65% of all lodging capacity, with Torreblanca–Carvajal densest at 13.9%. Benalmádena’s September 2024 study counted about 7,542 tourist rentals against 49,500 dwellings — roughly 15% municipality-wide, but heavily concentrated by zone, which is why its response has been zonal.
Marbella’s numbers show how far registered stock diverges from stock that is actually working. The figures below are from the Ayuntamiento de Marbella, published February 2025, covering 2024.
| Marbella tourist homes, 2024 | Registered (number) | Actually marketed (number) |
|---|---|---|
| Establishments / properties | 13,857 | 7,516 |
| Bed places | 110,080 | 42,351 |
On the council’s reading, only 32% of regionally registered properties are genuinely commercialised. That gap deserves attention from anyone treating headline registration counts as a proxy for competition. It suggests a large body of registrations held defensively by owners who use the property themselves and let it rarely. On the same figures the sector generated about €100m in revenue, average guest spend was €173 — double the provincial average — ratings averaged 4.8 out of 5, and 56% of guests were Spanish.
The municipal sources are worth reading directly — the Ayuntamiento de Marbella announcement of the municipal tourist-home registry, the Ayuntamiento de Fuengirola statement on limiting further registrations and the Ayuntamiento de Benalmádena statement on its saturated-zone study.
If letting income is in your model, tell me the specific unit you are considering and I will tell you which municipality it is actually in, and what that means.
This is general information, not legal or tax advice. The position for a specific property should be confirmed with a Spanish lawyer or asesor fiscal before you commit.
Common questions
Can I let my Marbella apartment short-term in 2026?
Yes, in principle. Marbella had no moratorium as at 1 August 2026 and remains open to new registrations. The council announced a municipal registry on 19 February 2025, alongside a rule limiting conversion of commercial ground-floor premises to tourist use, so expect an extra municipal step. Community statutes are the more common obstacle.
Does Mijas have a moratorium?
No municipal moratorium in Mijas was identified as at 1 August 2026. Mijas has historically been among the more accommodating councils on this coast, facilitating registration through the documento administrativo urbanístico route for properties lacking a first-occupation licence. That is a current position, not a guarantee.
What happens if my property is in Higuerón?
It depends which side of the boundary the unit stands on. Reserva del Higuerón straddles the Fuengirola–Benalmádena line, so two apartments a few hundred metres apart fall under different regimes: Fuengirola’s cancellation drive and PGOU article 7.1.6 on one side, Benalmádena’s zone-by-zone study on the other. Check the cadastral municipality of the specific unit.
Does a tourist licence override my community’s rules?
No. Two DGSJFP resolutions on the Benalmádena No. 2 property registry, resolved 8 and 17 October 2025, confirm that an administrative tourism licence does not defeat statutes prohibiting commercial activity or tourist accommodation. Both appeals were dismissed. Amending the statutes requires a public deed inscribed at the registry — a meeting vote alone is insufficient.
Do I still need the national short-term rental registry number?
No. Supreme Court judgment 620/2026 of 21 May 2026 annulled the national registry created by Royal Decree 1312/2024, live since 1 July 2025. The obligations to obtain the registry number and file the annual rental declaration have fallen away. The digital single window and platform data-transmission duties survive; verification now sits with the regions.
Is buying a property that already has a registration a safe route?
Not by itself. Andalucía cancelled more than 15,300 registrations between January 2024 and June 2026 — around 10% of registered stock. A registration on a dwelling that fails the conditions, such as Fuengirola’s independent-entrance requirement, is exposed to cancellation. Verify the underlying compliance, not just the certificate.
Sources
- Junta de Andalucía — registered tourist homes, cancellations and enforcement including Proyecto Titán; 2024–2025 data, reported June 2026. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Ayuntamiento de Marbella — municipal tourist-home registry announcement and 2024 sector figures; 19 February 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Ayuntamiento de Fuengirola — limiting further tourist-home registrations; municipal pressure figures, August 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Ayuntamiento de Benalmádena — saturated-zone study with the University of Málaga; 27 September 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- BOE — DGSJFP resolution BOE-A-2026-1524; resolved 8 October 2025, published 22 January 2026. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- BOE — DGSJFP resolution BOE-A-2026-3182; resolved 17 October 2025, published 2026. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Tribunal Supremo — judgment 620/2026 of 21 May 2026 annulling the national registry created by Royal Decree 1312/2024. Retrieved 1 August 2026.
- Ayuntamiento de Málaga — suspension of new tourist-home licences and saturated-district zoning; August 2025. Retrieved 1 August 2026.