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Spain: In a landmark decision, Spain’s Supreme Court [Tribunal Supremo] has ruled that homeowner associations, or communities of property owners, have the authority to prohibit short-term rentals in residential buildings and complexes with a majority vote of residents [three fifths / 60 per cent].
The civil chamber ruling establishes clear rules on the practice, empowering residents to control tourist activity within their buildings, and they will no longer require unanimous consent to prohibit short-term holiday rentals.
It comes after two previous appeals were brought to the Supreme Court, including one case in Marbella in 2019 when residents in one building complained about “noise, destruction, theft, the smell of marijuana, urine and stains” coming from flats that were being used for commercial tourism. After a ban on the rentals was approved by 48 votes to three, two companies that owned six tourist apartments took the case to court, which ruled that the ban was legitimate.
Confusion about regulating the increasing number of holiday rentals in Spain stems from a 2019 amendment to the country’s Horizontal Property Law, introduced by a royal decree. Article 17.12 of the law enabled communities to vote on whether to ban or restrict short-term rental activity, however it did not clarify a voting threshold required to make a decision, leading to conflicting rules from courts across different Spanish provinces.
In December last year, the Supreme Court ruled that a holiday rental can be banned by a homeowner association if the association explicitly forbids such economic activities, even if the property fulfils all legal and municipal requirements to operate as a holiday rental.
In the Canary Islands, the Canary Islands Holiday Rental Association [ASCAV] welcomed the latest ruling, saying that it would allow associations to “freely establish whether they wish to limit, condition or prohibit” rentals, while upholding the rights of individual property owners and providing clear guidelines for regulation.
