Tourist Rental Regulations in Euskadi

The phenomenon of tourist housing has grown significantly in just a few years, forcing the different Autonomous Communities to regulate this matter. The regulations on tourist apartments in Euskadi are a complex issue that mixes regional regulation with municipal ordinances.

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New decree on tourist housing in Euskadi

On July 26, 2018, Decree 101/2018, of July 3, on housing and rooms in housing 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 it in full here), which referred to the regulation of tourist rentals.

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

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

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

Regulations for tourist apartments in the Bilbao City Council

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

So if your idea is to offer vacation rentals in a property in this area, you will have to be faster than your neighbors.

And 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 the municipal ordinance on vacation rentals in Bilbao establishes that these properties must have a living room, dining room (or living-dining room), kitchen, and bedrooms. It says nothing about bathrooms, but it is logical to assume that 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 Registry that the property or a 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 Housing: 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 to them from the public road–.
• Hotels, hostels, or guesthouses: These remain assimilated to Equipment Use and their regulation is according to the General Urban Planning Plan's regulations regarding their location –and those of the PER of Casco Viejo and the PERRI of Bilbao la Vieja if they are implemented in those areas–.
• Tourist apartments and aparthotels: an apartment is considered, according to the description in Law 13/2016, of July 28, on Tourism of Euskadi, to be those that not only consist of a bedroom but also have a bathroom and kitchen.

Vacation 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.

If you rent rooms, you must have clearly 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.

In the case of tourist housing, it cannot be less than 35 square meters and the kitchen must have containers for waste separation, indicating the place for its deposit.

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

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

Requirements to obtain a tourist rental license

The legislation for Airbnb apartments in the Basque Country requires that the start of the activity be communicated to the corresponding City Council, making a responsible declaration that includes the property, accommodation, and owner's data. Paying the corresponding municipal fee.

It is also necessary to register in the Register of Tourist Companies and Activities of Euskadi. The responsible entity will check if the property meets all requirements, and if so, it will proceed with the registration and grant the interested party a distinctive code that will identify the property as tourist housing.

Possible fines and penalties for tourist rentals

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

Minor infractions are sanctioned with a fine of up to €10,000, serious ones with a fine 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 legal 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 liability insurance of €35,000 per accommodation space offered. This entails an extra expense, but it will prevent you from having to dig into your pocket if a tourist suffers any damage in your apartment or if your guests cause damage to the community.