How to ask your owners' association for permission to rent to tourists (and get it)

Short answer: ask the president in writing to include a specific item on the agenda of the next meeting: "Authorisation of tourist use of flat X under article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act". Arrive at the meeting with a two-page proposal that answers the three usual fears (noise, parties and wear on common areas) and with commitments you can keep. And ask for the agreement to be worded with the exact words the Junta de Andalucía needs to see on the certificate.

Step 1: Ask for the item on the agenda

Any owner can ask for a matter to be included in the meeting. Do it in writing (an email to the administrator with a copy to the president is enough) and in advance: notice of the ordinary meeting is sent at least six days beforehand. If the ordinary meeting is far off, you can ask for an extraordinary one: the president must call it if a quarter of the owners or of the shares request it.

Suggested text for the item: "Request for express authorisation to use flat [floor and door] for tourist purposes, under article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act."

Step 2: Prepare the proposal

One or two pages, which can be sent before the meeting. It should include:

• Exactly what you are going to do: whole home, maximum places (those the square metres allow), minimum stays.
• Who is on call: a 24-hour contact phone for the neighbours (yours or the manager's).
• House rules that every guest will sign: quiet from 22:00 to 8:00, no parties, maximum number of people, pool use according to the association's rules.
• How it is controlled: traveller registration with the police, lock with a code per booking, cleaning at every check-out, inspection of the flat at every changeover.
• What you offer the association: accepting the special fee of up to 20 % the law allows, contributing to a specific expense (a sign, a camera in the hall) or both.

Step 3: At the meeting

Speak little and concretely. The neighbours are not voting on the law: they are voting on whether they trust you. Answer the three fears:

1. Noise: signed rules, 24-hour phone, eviction for breaches (the Andalusian rules allow you to require anyone who breaks the rules of coexistence to leave within 24 hours).
2. Parties: maximum number of people equal to the places, no exceptions; deposit from the guest; lock code changed with every booking.
3. Wear: special fee and cleaning at every check-out.

And an argument that usually carries weight: an empty flat, or one rented to strangers with no control, is more worrying than one with traveller registration and a reachable person in charge.

Step 4: Get the agreement worded properly

Ask for the minutes to record literally: "The meeting agrees, by [X] votes in favour representing [Y] participation shares, to authorise the tourist use of flat [floor and door], owned by [name], under article 17.12 of the Horizontal Property Act." With that, the administrator can issue the certificate the Junta de Andalucía asks for at registration.

Remember that absent owners who do not object in writing within 30 days of receiving the minutes count as votes in favour: the final result is known a month after the meeting.

What if the answer is no?

It can be proposed again at another meeting; there is no limit. Many associations vote no the first time out of ignorance and yes the second, when they see a serious plan. What you cannot do is start renting without the agreement: the association can demand that you stop and the Junta can cancel the registration.

Can the manager help me with this?

Yes, and it is one of the most useful things they do. We prepare the proposal with the owner, provide the rules we already use in the other homes and, if the association asks, attend the meeting to answer questions. A neighbour who can call a company at three in the morning votes differently.