Tourist Rental Regulations in Euskadi

The phenomenon of tourist accommodation has grown significantly in just a few years, forcing various Autonomous Communities to regulate this matter. The regulations for tourist flats in Euskadi are a complex issue that combines regional regulations with municipal ordinances.

[toc]

New decree on tourist accommodation in Euskadi

On July 26, 2018, Decree 101/2018, of July 3, on tourist accommodation and rooms in homes for tourist use, was published in the Official Gazette of the Basque Country. This regulation fulfilled the mandate of Tourism Law 13/2016 (you can consult the full text here), which referred to the regulation of tourist rentals.

The Decree outlines all the requirements you must meet if you have a property in this Autonomous Community that you wish to convert into holiday accommodation. One of its peculiarities is the obligation to have civil liability insurance (something not required in other regions).

The purpose is to ensure a sufficient supply of holiday rentals in this area, making it more attractive for tourism.

In our information center on tourist accommodation legislation, you can find more details about regulations in other cities.

Regulations for tourist flats of the Bilbao City Council

In this city, both full tourist rental and tourist room rental in private homes are permitted. But be careful, not everything is so straightforward; in the areas of Casco Viejo and Bilbao la Vieja, there can only be tourist apartments on the first floors and only one accommodation per building.

So if your idea is to offer holiday rentals in a property in this area, you'll have to be quicker than your neighbours.

And there are more restrictions and specifications. If you want to rent rooms to tourists in the house where you reside, you cannot rent more than 3, no matter how many more rooms the property has.

If you have a tourist apartment, you may need to make some adaptations, as Bilbao's municipal ordinance on holiday rentals states that these properties must have a living room, dining room (or living-dining room), kitchen, and bedrooms. It doesn't say anything about bathrooms, but it's logical to assume there must be at least one full bathroom.

In any case, you must register the property in the Register of Tourist Companies and Activities of Euskadi and record in the Property Register that the property, or part of it, is designated for tourist use.

Types of accommodation according to Bilbao's “Airbnb Law”

According to Bilbao's ordinance on tourist accommodation, three types are defined as such.

• Tourist Rooms: where the owner of the tourist activity must be registered in the home where rooms are offered for tourist rental. It is not subject to any particular legislation.
• Tourist Accommodation: these are properties entirely dedicated to tourist purposes and must be located in residential buildings and exclusively on their first floors – or on upper floors, provided they are located below the dwellings and have independent access from the public road.
• Hotels, hostels or guesthouses: These are assimilated to the Use of Equipment and their regulation is according to the provisions of the General Urban Planning Plan regarding their location – and to those of the Special Urban Renovation Plan of Casco Viejo and the Special Internal Urban Renovation Plan of Bilbao la Vieja should they be implemented in these areas.
• Tourist apartments and apart-hotels: an apartment is considered, according to the description in Law 13/2016, of July 28, on Tourism of Euskadi, to be one that not only consists of a bedroom but also has a toilet and kitchen.

Holiday rental ordinance of the San Sebastián City Council

If your property is in beautiful San Sebastián, you can also rent it out completely or even host tourists in your own home.

In the case of renting rooms, you must have well-differentiated spaces for the kitchen, dining room or living room, bathroom, and bedroom. Tourists must have at least one bedroom and one bathroom for themselves.

When it comes to tourist accommodation, it cannot be smaller than 35 square meters, and the kitchen must have containers for waste classification, indicating the place for their disposal.

The ordinance has divided the map of San Sebastián into several zones, establishing certain limitations. In fact, in zone A, holiday homes are completely prohibited.

To carry out the activity, a prior communication form must be submitted to the City Council, along with a report containing the owner's and the property's data.

Requirements to obtain a tourist rental license

The legislation for Airbnb flats in the Basque Country requires that the start of the activity be communicated to the corresponding City Council, by making a responsible declaration that includes the details of the property, the accommodation, and the owner, and paying the corresponding municipal fee.

Registration in the Register of Tourist Companies and Activities of Euskadi is also necessary. The responsible entity will verify if the property meets all the requirements, and if so, registration will proceed, and the interested party will be granted a distinctive code that identifies the property as tourist accommodation.

Possible fines and sanctions for tourist rentals

If the legal requirements established at autonomous or municipal level are not met, a sanctioning procedure will be initiated. Be very careful with this; it's not enough to comply with the legislation to obtain the license and then do whatever you want.

Minor infractions are sanctioned with fines of up to €10,000, serious ones with fines of €10,001 to €100,000, and very serious ones can reach up to €600,000. The Basque Country is, along with Catalonia, the Autonomous Community with the highest fines in this matter.

But if you are a lawful person and do everything correctly, you don't have to fear these sanctions. However, remember that in this Community, it is also mandatory to take out civil liability insurance of €35,000 per offered accommodation space. This represents an extra expense but will prevent you from having to dig into your pockets if a tourist suffers any damage in your apartment or if your guests cause damage to the community.