The Spanish Supreme Court has annulled the national register for short-term rentals known as the NRA registration. This register had been introduced by the central government of Madrid for tourist and other short-term rentals via digital platforms such as Airbnb and Booking.
From July 2025, legally offering short-term rentals online was only possible after NRA registration with the locally competent Land Registry.
Platforms were also required to verify this and had to block publications without an NRA.
The autonomous regions brought the national NRA registration to court because they argued that the regional governments, not Madrid, were competent to do so. The Court ruled in their favor.
Grounds for annulment of the NRA registration can be found in the advice that the Council of State already provided to the government in Madrid in December 2024. Its criticism concerned the following:
The government based the NRA registration on EU Regulation 2024/1028. While this regulation does require data exchange and coordination, it does not mandate a national register like that of the NRA. To enforce a restriction on an economic activity through sanctions, a law supported by a sufficient number of political parties is required, not the Royal Decree that was issued for the NRA.
The true purpose of the NRA system is registration for the control of short-term rentals and not the publication of a property right, for which the Land Registry serves. NRA registration therefore does not fit the objective, nature, and authority of the Land Registry. After all, publication in this register is essentially voluntary (exceptions such as mortgage encumbrances aside). For this reason, the annual reporting of rental information, which had to be carried out before March 2026, also did not fit the function of Land Registries according to the Council of State.
Moreover, the EU regulation already indicated that a module (nature of rental) may not be subjected to more than one registration procedure permitting the activity.
The government was in a great hurry to introduce the registration system: initially, an attempt was made to have it enter into force in early 2025, which was ultimately pushed back by half a year. This was despite the fact that the EU regulation gave time until May 20, 2026, at the latest.
The crucial question now is: what does the Court’s decision actually mean for the landlord?
Is the NRA suspended (due to a formal defect) or refused: then there is no longer any reason to proceed with correction or to object to it. The NRA is no longer enforceable, and the platforms can no longer refuse publication due to its absence. If the NRA suspension or refusal was caused by the lack of the homeowners’ association permission for the rental or by regional/municipal restrictions, then this remains relevant. In that case, attention is needed regarding the consequences thereof given by other authorities such as the Land Registry, the regional/autonomous and the municipal authorities. Sanctions from that quarter remain possible.
When damage due to the suspension or refusal is demonstrable and the damage is a demonstrable consequence of the refusal or suspension, the State can be held liable. However, bear in mind that the reason for the refusal or suspension will be taken into account by the judge. Moreover, this possibility exists for only one year.
Recovering the costs paid for NRA registration is less complicated. The basis for payment has ceased to exist, which entitles one to reimbursement.
The platforms: they can no longer require the presence of the NRA as a condition for advertising. Blocking online advertisements based on the absence of the NRA has lost its basis due to the Court’s ruling.
If the rental advertisement has been blocked by the platforms due to the suspension or refusal, demand that the platform lift the blocking due to the destruction of the NRA system.
What remains: EU Regulation 2024/1028 remains in force.
Platforms remain required to collect data on hosts and accommodations and transfer it to the national authority. The verification of the regional tourist registration number remains required. In the Valencia region, for example, this is the VUT number for tourist holiday homes. Other modules use different codes. For the landlord, this means that registration with the Autonomous Tourism Authority must be correct and that rental data must be registered in the Ministry of the Interior’s SES system to maintain online publication.
Prior to online publication, it therefore remains important to verify compliance with regional standards. Through data exchange via the national SES registration of July 2025, which remains in effect, stricter oversight in this regard is maintained.
The Supreme Court has not ended the discussion on tourist rentals. It has merely referred them back to the autonomous regions where they previously belonged. Essentially, no standard has disappeared: it is simply being applied again from a different, the regional, counter. Holiday rentals are therefore certainly not simpler or exempt from control due to the annulment of the NRA obligation. Spain still wants to and can keep short-term rentals under control, but this is fragmented; control is now exercised through European rules, state coordination (including via SES registration), regional powers in the field of tourism, municipal restrictions, and statutes of homeowners’ associations. Advertisements without a valid VT number remain prohibited, and the regional government retains its control powers and ability to impose sanctions. The state continues to exercise co-supervision, no longer through NRA registration but still through the exchange of rental data via the SES system and through the monitoring obligation of the platforms, which will remain in place.
It remains unclear what will happen to the annual reporting obligations that were linked to the NRA system. From January 2026, owners with a registered number for short-term rentals were expected to submit a form annually to the Land Registry regarding all short-term rentals, or even the absence thereof, during the preceding calendar year. Failure to submit this form before March 2026 could lead to the withdrawal of the NRA and thus to publication on digital platforms becoming impossible. Now that the State has been declared incompetent to impose NRA registration, it is unclear how it can require an annual declaration linked to a registration number that no longer has legal validity.
Landlords are now once again awaiting clarification after the rules were introduced with such haste, received broad discussion and multiple interpretations, were challenged, and have now been declared partially void. The sum of all this does not make the regional patchwork to which the registration procedure is currently limited any clearer for landlords. This entire episode makes it increasingly clear that the importance of proper legal guidance for real estate investments in Spain is often underestimated.
Numerous aspects will still need to be assessed, which can lead to different conclusions for every region, every building, and every plot of land.
Good legal guidance should therefore focus at a minimum on:
- whether holiday rentals are permitted according to regional standards;
- the existence of municipal restrictions during a specific period or in certain zones;
- any restrictions on rentals due to national, regional, or municipal requirements regarding the characteristics of the (to be rented) building or plot;
- required permits needed to obtain the rental permit.
A good investment always pays attention to intensive preparation, focusing on every aspect connected to it. That seems to entail costs, but the opposite is actually true.
Finally, for those who find this publication too much of a good thing: it can always be worse; just take a look at “the legendary permit A38” from “Asterix Conquers Rome”….