\n
\n<\/a><\/p>\n
The court, in response to the appeal lodged by the Valencian regional government, stated that it partially upholds the appeal, annulling only those provisions establishing the so-called single register of leases. It also dismissed the appeal in relation to the provisions governing the digital one-stop shop for tenancies, the obligations imposed on online platforms to transmit data and the transmission of data for statistical purposes.<\/p>\n
The ruling began by recognising that there is “a growing concern, both at the European Union and national level, about the rental of short-term accommodation using the services of online platforms”, and that an attempt is being made to curb the abuses that have been occurring in the use of this type of rental to circumvent state regulations on long-term rentals.<\/p>\n
However, it considers that the core of the debate focuses on determining whether or not the government had the authority to issue this regulation, and the court concluded that it does not have the right to do so in certain aspects.<\/p>\n
To this end, it analyses different jurisdictional titles: civil legislation and organisation of public registers and instruments (art. 149.1.18 CE), basic conditions that guarantee the equality of all Spaniards in the exercise of rights and in the fulfilment of constitutional duties (art. 149.1.1 CE), bases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity (art. 149.1.13 CE), statistics for state purposes (art. 149.1.31 CE). And it rejects that the exhaustive regulation of the new single register at national level is covered by any of them.<\/p>\n
\n25,100\n<\/p>\n
\nis the amount of tourist dwellings declared illegal by the government for not being in this single register, which the supreme court has now annulled\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe judgment considers that this does not constitute substantive regulation of short-term lettings, nor is the purpose of the established registration procedure to register a tenancy agreement or restrictions on ownership so that they may take effect against third parties.<\/p>\n
“Rather, it concerns a single registration procedure relating to properties, or parts thereof, which enables a registration number to be obtained as a necessary requirement in order to offer a short-term rental or letting service through online platforms, without the legislative competence under Article 149.1.8 of the Spanish Constitution (in relation to the organisation of public registers) being suitable for regulating a procedure and registration of this nature,\u201d it stated.<\/p>\n
This is in addition to the fact that it rejects the possibility of relying on the heading \u201cbases and coordination of the general planning of economic activity\u201d (Article 149.1.13 of the Spanish Constitution), since the regulation is considered to go beyond what may be regarded as specific \u201cbasic provisions\u201d or \u201ccoordination measures\u201d, in order to \u201cestablish an exhaustive regulation of a national register: this overlaps with the existing regional registers in relation to the registration of properties intended for tourist lettings\u201d.<\/p>\n
The court only recognised the government\u2019s authority to regulate the digital one-stop shop, the coordination of one-stop shops and the data transmission obligations of online platforms for statistical purposes, exercising its powers relating to the \u201ccoordination of the general planning of economic activity and statistics for State purposes\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u00a0Final judgment\u00a0<\/p>\n
It is worth recalling that this single register promoted by the government came into force on 2 January 2025, although it was not implemented until 1 July of last year. It required all tourist accommodation in the country – already registered in their respective regional authorities and subject to each region\u2019s requirements – to gather extensive documentation and, upon payment, go through a land registry official in order to operate on short-term rental platforms. Many properties have, in the meantime, been taken off the market for being unable to provide all the required documentation, affecting 70 per cent of accommodations in rural areas.<\/p>\n
In this regard the central government sub-delegation in Malaga reported that in Andaluc\u00eda more than 25,100 illegal dwellings have been identified – accounting for more than one in four of all such cases in Spain – for not being registered in this single register. These are the same properties which may now be eligible to make claims, according to experts in this field.<\/p>\n