How to check whether a holiday flat has a licence in Andalusia (RTA) before you buy or manage it

General information based on official sources, checked on 3 November 2026. It is not legal or tax advice.

Anyone buying a holiday flat, or handing it to a manager, meets one question: is it registered in the Andalusian Tourism Register (RTA)? That registration is what people call a “holiday rental licence”; the Junta de Andalucía calls it registration as a vivienda de uso turístico (formerly “con fines turísticos”). This guide collects what the official sources say about what it is, how it is checked and what the current decree regulates. The official texts are in Spanish.

For an overview, see our page on the tourist licence in Andalusia.

What is the RTA, and what does “having a licence” mean?

The Andalusian Tourism Register is run by the Junta de Andalucía. According to Decree 28/2016, tourist-use dwellings are registered through an electronic declaración responsable filed by whoever operates the dwelling, stating that it meets the decree’s requirements (article 9.1). The Junta publishes the information on its tourist-use dwellings page, and the rules are in the consolidated text of the decree.

Under article 3, a tourist-use dwelling is a dwelling equipped for immediate use, located in a building where accommodation is offered for a price, on a habitual basis and for tourist purposes. Tourist purpose is presumed when it is marketed through tourist channels, including those where the accommodation can be booked.

The decree also says that the following cannot be tourist-use dwellings, among others: publicly protected housing, dwellings in buildings whose bylaws expressly ban the activity, and dwellings classed as “asimilado a fuera de ordenación” without municipal authorisation (article 1.3), and that dwellings let for more than two months continuously to the same tenant fall outside its scope (article 1.2.b).

How is it checked whether a flat is registered?

The Junta offers the Tourist Establishments and Services Search. According to its frequently asked questions, it allows searching by registration number, trade name, address or holder details (for companies, by tax ID; not by a private individual’s ID number).

According to the same source, an activity type must be selected to get results, only registered services appear (not cancelled ones) and, to find an exact address, downloading the results as an Excel file is suggested. The decree adds that the dwelling details in the declaración responsable are publicly accessible in the Consejería’s search tools, except the phone number and email (article 9.1).

Two codes are not the same thing. According to the Junta, the code obtained when the declaration is filed is the declaration number; the registration code, in the format VUT/HU/00000 (VUT, the first two letters of the province and a sequence number), appears in the registration resolution. And, according to its note for already-registered properties, VFT codes became VUT under Decree 31/2024.

What details appear in the registration?

According to article 9.1 of the decree, the declaración responsable includes, as a minimum: the dwelling’s identification, with its cadastral reference and maximum capacity (only one dwelling per cadastral reference is accepted, with exceptions); the person or entity operating it and the title that entitles them; the owner, if different; a statement that the dwelling is not publicly protected housing; its compatibility with the planning rules and, where required, the change-of-use licence or declaration; and the periods during which the service is provided.

Article 4 states that whoever is listed as operator answers to the authorities and to guests. And article 3.2 presumes that whoever carries out the main hospitality tasks operates the dwelling: handing over keys, receiving guests, looking after them during the stay, maintenance, cleaning or invoicing. According to the Junta, when a company does that management, it must report the change of operator in its favour (the Junta note cited above). The inspection services check compliance, and the Consejería can cancel a registration if there are inaccurate or false essential details, no actual provision of the service, or missing required planning licences or declarations (articles 9.2 and 10.1).

What requirements does the decree set for the dwellings?

Article 6 and the annex of the decree set habitability and service requirements. Among them, without being a complete list:

• Compliance with municipal planning rules and, where applicable, the licence or declaración responsable that allows the building to be used for tourism (article 6.1.a).
• A built area of at least 14 m² per place, with a minimum of 25 m²; two bathrooms if there are more than five places and three if more than eight (article 6.1.b and c).
• A maximum capacity of fifteen places for a whole dwelling and six if let by rooms (article 5.4).
• Direct ventilation and some way of darkening the windows in bedrooms and living rooms, cooling if it operates in May, June, July and August, and heating if it operates in December, January, February and March (article 6.1.d, e and f).
• Minimum kitchen, bathroom and bedroom equipment, a first-aid kit, smoke detectors and a fire extinguisher (annex).
• A phone number for guests available 24 hours a day, cleaning at each user’s arrival and departure, and official complaint forms with their notice (article 6.2).
• The registration code on the payment receipt and on the contract-type document given to the guest (articles 6.2.e and 7.1).

How does the Junta describe the registration procedure?

According to the Junta’s frequently asked questions, the procedure is a declaración responsable to start the activity, filed online with a digital certificate, and the dwelling is registered when the process ends. The owner’s details and, if different, the operator’s are provided, along with documents such as the nota simple from the Land Registry; if they are not attached to the declaration, they are requested later with 10 working days to supply them.

The Junta states that registration is free of charge, that the registration resolution can be downloaded from the same screen after filing, that changes of operating periods or of holder are reported with a form, and that whoever stops operating the dwelling files the notice of cessation to cancel the registration. For the current resolution time, see the Junta’s website.

What do the rules say about flats without registration?

Article 11 of the decree treats as clandestine activity the provision of accommodation when the tourist activity has started without filing the declaración responsable, and classes it as a serious infringement under article 71.1 of Law 13/2011 on Tourism in Andalusia. The penalty regime is that of Title VIII of that law (article 10.2). According to the Junta, offering the dwelling outside the declared operating period is also treated as clandestine supply.

The details of each case depend on the specific situation: ask the Junta.

What role does the owners’ association have?

Decree 28/2016 excludes dwellings in buildings whose bylaws expressly ban the activity (article 1.3.b), and the declaración responsable includes a statement that the bylaws do not ban it and that the association has expressly authorised it under national law (article 9.1.g).

According to the consolidated text of the Horizontal Property Act on the BOE, whoever wants to carry out the activity must first obtain the association’s express approval (article 7.3), and an agreement to approve, limit, set conditions on or ban the activity requires the favourable vote of three fifths of all the owners who, in turn, represent three fifths of the ownership shares (article 17.12). These provisions were added by Organic Law 1/2025, with effect from 3 April 2025.

More detail in can the owners’ association ban a holiday flat?.

What do town halls say?

The decree recognises that town halls may limit the number of tourist-use dwellings per building, sector, area, period or zone, using clear and objective criteria and publishing them before applying them (article 2.2). Also, the Junta notifies each registration to the town hall and, if the dwelling does not comply with its planning rules, the town hall informs the Junta so it can cancel the registration (article 9.3).

This is what the official websites of the Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz town halls indicate (checked on 3 November 2026; for Rota and Puerto Real, ask their town hall):

• Jerez de la Frontera: the town hall states that the council approved definitively, on 28 November 2025, the amendment to the PGOU (the general urban plan) that regulates tourist-use dwellings, published in the provincial gazette (BOP) on 22 January 2026. In urban land it is processed with a declaración responsable (municipal procedure); in multi-family buildings they are only accepted on ground floors and the change of use must be legalised (town hall news).
• El Puerto de Santa María: the town hall states that the council approved on 7 March 2025 suspending new authorisations for tourist-use dwellings, under Decree-Law 1/2025, for a maximum of three years, and in March 2026 said it remains in place while the new General Plan is drafted (town hall note).
• Cádiz: the town hall reported in May 2025 that the council unanimously approved the PGOU amendment to suspend the registration of new tourist-use dwellings in the city (Cádiz town hall). The page gives no duration and does not say whether it is still in force.

Local rules change: ask your town hall.

And guest registration, SES.HOSPEDAJES?

It is a different obligation from the RTA. According to Royal Decree 933/2021, guests’ details are reported to the Ministry of the Interior by electronic procedures, immediately and in any case within no more than 24 hours of the booking or signing of the contract, or of the start of the services (article 6). Reporting outside the deadline is classed as a minor infringement (article 8.3.b). The reporting platform is SES.HOSPEDAJES.

Summary: what each source says

Topic	Official source
RTA registration, details and requirements	Decree 28/2016, consolidated text
Procedure, free of charge and search tool	Junta’s frequently asked questions
Owners’ association	Horizontal Property Act (BOE) and OL 1/2025
Town halls	Official websites of Jerez, El Puerto and Cádiz
Guest registration	Royal Decree 933/2021 (BOE)

How much could a flat earn, and how we work

On income, see the income calculator and how much a holiday flat earns in Jerez. On what a manager costs, how much a holiday rental management company charges.

At Orilla Host we only manage flats whose registration is in order, in Jerez de la Frontera, El Puerto de Santa María, Rota, Puerto Real and Cádiz. We do a free assessment of each flat. If there are no bookings, we don’t charge, and there is no lock-in (30 days’ notice).

Sources (checked on 3 November 2026)

• Junta de Andalucía, tourist-use dwellings and frequently asked questions.
• Junta de Andalucía, Decree 28/2016, consolidated text (amended by Decree 31/2024 and Decree-Laws 7/2024 and 1/2025).
• Junta de Andalucía, note on adapting already-registered properties and RTA search.
• BOE, Royal Decree 933/2021, Act 49/1960 on Horizontal Property and Organic Law 1/2025.
• Town halls of Jerez, El Puerto de Santa María and Cádiz.

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General information based on official sources; it is not legal or tax advice. Rules change: ask your town hall or the Junta.