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Owners of tourist apartments across Andalucía are raising alarms, with nearly 85% of legally licensed properties unable to operate this month amid what they describe as a massive bureaucratic hurdle.

 

The Association of Tourist Homes and Apartments of Andalucía (Avvapro) blames the Single Registry system, where over 80,000 licensed homes missed out on completing initial registration or filing 2025 contracts using form N2 by the deadline of Sunday March 2. This leaves only 17.2% fully up to date, just as high season kicks off in spots like Seville for Holy Week and the April Fair.

 

This echoes restrictions announced last year, when Malaga province opted to halt new tourist accommodation licences for three years to ease housing pressures.

 

Official figures from the Andalusian Tourism Registry, INE statistics, and the NRUA paint a stark picture. Out of 153,517 properties with valid licences, only 67,106 (43%) have a registration number, and a mere 40% of those have filed form N2. Avvapro points out that 86,411 tourist homes have all the necessary licences but are sidelined by administrative overload, especially in coastal towns and villages where these rentals are a lifeline for local families.

 

The issue hits hard in key provinces. Málaga, with 87,370 licences, has only 36,939 registered (42.3%). Cádiz manages 31.1% compliance from 23,497 units, while Huelva sits at 34% of 4,235. Seville fares better at 59% (6,689 out of 11,335), Granada at 65.6%, and Córdoba at 66%. Smaller spots suffer most, like El Bosque in Cádiz (2%), Jabugo in Huelva (4%), or Benahavís and Benalmádena in Málaga (25%). "We are talking about 86,411 tourist accommodations, which have all the necessary licenses, comply with regulations, and which, due to a bureaucratic bottleneck, are going to be left out of the system," Avvapro states.

 

The group is calling for an extension of the 2025 contract deadline, proportionate rules, and a crackdown on illegal offerings to restore legal certainty. Tourist rentals contribute 10-15% to Andalucía's tourism GDP, supporting jobs and rural economies. Regional Minister Arturo Bernal once noted the central government's registration "only creates chaos", a sentiment now ringing true as platforms may delist non-compliant homes, threatening livelihoods right before summer.

 

Image: Bartlomiej Koc/Pixabay