Tourist rental regulations in the Basque Country

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

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New decree on tourist housing in the Basque Country

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

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

The aim is for this area to have a sufficient supply of rental properties for vacation, making it more attractive for tourism.

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

Regulations for tourist apartments of the Bilbao City Council

In this city, both full tourist rental and tourist rental of rooms in private homes are allowed. But be careful, not everything is oregano, in the areas of Old Town 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 put the vacation rental in a property in this area, you'll have to be faster than your neighbors.

And more restrictions and specifications. If you want to rent out rooms to tourists in the house where you live, you won't be able to rent out more than 3, no matter how many more rooms the property has.

If what you have is a tourist apartment, it is possible that you will have to make some adaptation, since the municipal ordinance on vacation rental in Bilbao establishes 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 is logical to think that there should be at least one full bathroom.

In any case, you must register the property in the Registry of Companies and Tourist Activities of Euskadi and record in the Property Registry that the property or a part of it is used for tourist purposes.

Types of accommodations according to the "Airbnb Law" of Bilbao

According to the Bilbao ordinance on tourist accommodations, three types are defined.

• Tourist Rooms: in which the person responsible for the tourist activity must be registered in the dwelling in which rooms are offered for tourist rental. It is not subject to any particular legislation
• Tourist Housing: they are those that are entirely dedicated to tourist purposes, and must be located in buildings for residential use and exclusively on the first floors of the same –or on upper floors, as long as they are located below the dwellings and have independent access to them from the public road–.
• Hotels, hostels or pensions: They are kept assimilated to the Equipment Use and their regulation is according to the regulations of the General Urban Planning Plan regarding their location – and to that of the PER of the Old Town and the PERRI of Bilbao la Vieja in case they are implemented in these areas -.
• Tourist apartments and apart-hotels: an apartment is considered, according to the description contained in Law 13/2016, of July 28, on Tourism of Euskadi, those that not only consist of a bedroom but also have a toilet 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.

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

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

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

To carry out the activity, you must submit to the City Council a prior communication model and a report with the data of the owner and the property.

Requirements to obtain a tourist rental license

The Airbnb legislation in the Basque Country requires that the start of the activity be communicated to the corresponding Town Hall, making a responsible declaration in which the data of the property, the accommodation and the owner are recorded. Paying the corresponding municipal tax.

It is also necessary to register in the Registry of Companies and Tourist Activities of the Basque Country. The responsible entity will check if the property meets all the requirements and if so, the registration will proceed and the interested party will be granted a distinctive code that will identify the property as a tourist dwelling.

Possible fines and penalties in tourist rental

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

Minor infractions are punishable 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, together with Catalonia, the Autonomous Community with the highest fines in this matter.

But if you are a legal person and you do everything right, you don't have to be afraid of these sanctions. That being said, remember that in this Community it is also mandatory to hire a civil liability insurance of €35,000 per offered accommodation place. This entails an extra expense, but it will prevent you from having to scratch your pocket if some tourist suffers some damage in your apartment or if your guests cause damage to the community.