Can I run a tourist home if I am not the owner? Tenant, usufructuary, management company and several owners

Short answer: yes. In Andalusia a tourist home is registered in the name of the operator («titular de la explotación»), who does not have to be the owner: it can be a usufructuary, a management company or a tenant. What the rules require is a legal title that entitles them (art. 4.1 of Decree 28/2016) and that the declaration also identifies the owner (art. 9.1.c). In practice: a usufructuary can, without asking anyone; a management company can, with an operating contract signed by the owner; a tenant with a main-residence lease almost never can, because the Urban Leases Act only lets them sublet part of the home and with written permission. And if the home has several owners, the Junta asks for everyone's signature.

Who is the «operator»?

The person or company that provides the accommodation service and answers for it to the Junta and to guests (art. 4.1). Decree 31/2024 made it very clear (art. 3.2): operators are the people or companies that manage one or more homes «regardless of the title that entitles them», and whoever carries out the main services is presumed to manage: «handing over keys, receiving guests, assistance during the stay, upkeep and maintenance […], cleaning at check-in and check-out or invoicing».

In plain words: if you are the one handing over the keys and looking after guests, you are the operator, whether or not you own the flat. And if a management company does it, the company has to be listed as operator, not the owner.

What document do I need if I am not the owner?

In its FAQ the Junta asks, when the operator is not the owner, for the «legal title entitling the operation of the whole home (operating/assignment/loan-for-use contract, etc., stating the period of validity)». Plus the usual: land registry extract and owners' association certificate (Documents for the licence).

That title can be:

• A management or operating contract between the owner and the management company (the usual case).
• A lease that expressly authorises tourist use.
• An assignment or a loan for use (free of charge), for example from parents to a child.
• The usufruct recorded in the land registry extract.

What is not enough is «the owner said yes». If the Junta finds that the title does not exist or is not valid, that is an «inaccuracy of an essential nature» and it cancels the registration (art. 9.2).

I am a tenant: can I sublet the flat to tourists?

Almost never, and this is where most people get it wrong. If your lease is for a main residence, the Urban Leases Act says the home «may only be sublet partially and with the landlord's prior written consent» (art. 8.2). Renting the whole flat to tourists is not a partial sublet, and it also stops being your permanent home. Both are grounds for the landlord to terminate the lease automatically (art. 27.2, letters c and f).

The risks, in order:

1. Eviction and losing your home.
2. The bookings you have sold fall through the day your lease ends: the sub-letter's right ends with yours (art. 8.2).
3. If you registered as operator without a valid title, the Junta cancels the registration, and operating without registration is a serious offence (art. 11 of Decree 28/2016 and art. 71.1 of Law 13/2011).

The only clean route is a contract designed for it from the start: a lease for a use other than housing, with a clause in which the owner expressly authorises tourist operation, in writing and with a term. That is what companies that rent flats to operate them sign. Note: the owners' association still has to have approved it, and the Junta asks for the certificate in this case too.

I am a usufructuary: do I need the bare owner's permission?

No. The Civil Code allows the usufructuary to «use the property personally, lease it to another» (art. 480) and keep its income (art. 471). You can register the home as operator and sign with a management company without the bare owner's signature. Two limits:

• Everything you sign ends with the usufruct (art. 480). If the usufruct is for life, on the day you die future bookings and the management contract are extinguished: your heirs should know.
• You cannot alter the «form and substance» of the home (art. 467): a renovation that changes it needs the bare owner.

Unless the document that created the usufruct (a will, a deed) says otherwise (art. 470): read it first.

I am a management company: how is the flat listed?

The company registers as an operating company, ticking that box in the declaration, and is listed as operator; the owner appears identified as owner. If the home was already registered in the name of the owner or another company, it is not registered again: a change of holder is notified through the Junta's procedure 7267, with a digital certificate, and the licence and its code are kept (Changing the licence holder). That is how we work with the flats we manage.

There are several of us: is one signature enough?

No. It is the most common trap with siblings who inherit a flat.

• If you operate it yourselves, the Junta asks you to tick «co-ownership» in the declaration and for each co-owner to sign the shared ownership annex with their digital certificate.
• If a third party operates it (a management company, one sibling who runs everything), the decree requires them to obtain the title «from all the owners» (art. 3.2).

What if the co-owners cannot agree?

Here civil law does little for whoever wants to rent. The Civil Code says that a majority is enough to manage the common property, but a majority «of interests», that is, of shares (art. 398). And the Directorate General for Legal Certainty has stated that whoever owns half of a home does not have a majority to lease it (resolution of 15/07/2021). With two siblings at 50 %, neither can impose on the other. And even with more than half, the Junta needs everyone's signature.

The options left:

1. A written agreement between all of you: who runs the flat, how income is shared, what happens if someone wants out. It is what keeps you out of court.
2. Let a judge decide if there is no majority or the majority's decision is seriously harmful (art. 398): the judge can even appoint an administrator. It is slow and expensive.
3. Leave the co-ownership: nobody is obliged to stay in it and anyone can ask for division at any time (art. 400). A flat cannot be split, so if nobody buys the other's share, it is sold and the price is shared (art. 404).
4. Buy out whoever does not want it, which is what most families end up doing.

We have not found any ruling that says expressly whether turning a co-owned home into a tourist home is an act of management (majority) or of alteration (unanimity, art. 397). Until there is one, assume you need everyone.

What if the flat belongs to a married couple?

If it is community property («gananciales») and there is no marriage settlement, management belongs to both (art. 1375 of the Civil Code). The prudent thing is for both to sign the contract with the management company and the declaration. If one refuses without reason, a judge can supply their consent (art. 1376); an act done without the necessary consent can be annulled by the spouse who did not sign (art. 1322).

Summary

If you are in one of the unusual cases (usufruct with the bare owner against it, an undivided inheritance, a sibling who does not answer), write to us: we have seen it before and will tell you where to start.