Panic in Spain as thousands of tourists could be left homeless after law change

Over a million short-term holiday lets in Spain could vanish from booking platforms in just a few weeks unless providers follow new rules designed to tackle overtourism. The regulations brought in by Spain's Ministry of Housing will see listings on websites including Airbnb and Booking.com vanish on August 1, unless they include a mandatory Rental Registration Number (NRA, as per its Spanish acronym). Despite the new requirement coming into force on July 1, non-registered accommodation still made up 87% of the country's active tourist let supply as of July 15, according to data intelligence firm Mabrian, accounting for over 1.1 million rooms.

Providers were given a month-long grace period to update their services in line with the new law, but unless they rush to properly designate legitimate listings and remove illegal advertisements from their sites, holidaymakers who have booked trips to hotspots across Spain could be left with nowhere to stay. Silvia Blasco, president of the Spanish Federation of Tourist Housing and Apartment Associations (Fevitur), warned: "Families who have booked an apartment or holiday home are likely to be left without accommodation."

Ms Blasco said the reason behind the delays in officially registering legal accommodation could be the requirement to enter a large quantity of information into a "single digital window system".

Carlos Cendra, partner and director of communications at Mabrian, added: "Although short-term let hosts were informed of the deadlines and the mandatory nature of the National Registry by July 2025, most only began the registration process when it came into force, concentrating a large volume of applications in a very short period."

The new scheme - designed to ease pressure on Spain's struggling housing market - has also been criticised for overruling regional and municipal registration licenses, with the new NRA taking precedence over existing validation.

Officials appear determined to remove all unlawful listings from the sector, however, with a successful battle waged by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs forcing Booking.com to take down 4,000 un-registered rooms and a High Court ordering Airbnb to surrender over 65,000 short-term lets earlier this year.

It followed a 25% jump in Spain's supply of short-term tourist rentals in the two years to June, according to tourism lobby group Exceltur, a trend driven by the continual flow of holidaymakers into the country - making it the world's second most-visited destination after France, attracting 25.6 million international visitors in the first four months of 2025 alone.

Tourists planning trips to Spain this summer have been urged to make sure their booked accommodation is compliant with the new regulations, by ensuring a registration number is clearly displayed on the holiday home's listing.