Parties, noise and house rules: how to avoid them and what to do when they happen
The four measures that eliminate almost all parties, a template of house rules in Spanish and English and the protocol when a guest breaks the rules.
Reviewed on 22 September 2026 · By the team at Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional, more than ten years managing holiday rentals · Markdown version · Versión en español
Short answer: parties are not prevented with cameras or signs: they are prevented before accepting the booking (minimum stay, profile screening), when confirming it (clear, signed house rules) and at the time (a phone that answers and a lock that can be closed). Airbnb has banned parties in all its listings since 2022, and the Andalusian rules allow you to require anyone who breaks the rules of coexistence to leave the home within 24 hours.
The four measures that work
- Minimum stay of 2 nights always and 3 on high-season weekends. Almost all parties come from one-night bookings made the same day.
- Booking screening: profiles with no reviews, locals (a booking from the same city for Saturday is suspicious), for the maximum number of people and with vague messages. You reply with a question ("what is the reason for the trip? how many of you will there be?") and decide.
- House rules in the listing and in the confirmation message, with the consequences.
- Strict capacity: the number of people who come in is the number on the booking. A booking "for 2" with six people in the hall at eleven at night is a party starting.
And a fifth that helps: a noise detector (measures decibels, does not record) that alerts your phone when the level stays high. Airbnb allows it if it is disclosed in the listing.
House rules template
In Spanish and English, in the listing, in the confirmation and in the house guide:
Normas de la casa. Máximo [4] personas, las de la reserva. Silencio de 22:00 a 8:00 en todo el edificio, terrazas incluidas. No se permiten fiestas, eventos ni visitas que no figuren en la reserva. Prohibido fumar dentro. [Mascotas no admitidas / admitidas previa consulta]. Uso de la piscina según las normas de la comunidad. El incumplimiento de estas normas supone la finalización inmediata de la estancia sin reembolso y el cargo de los daños y de la limpieza extraordinaria.
House rules. Maximum [4] guests, those on the booking. Quiet hours 22:00–8:00 throughout the building, terraces included. No parties, events or visitors not on the booking. No smoking indoors. [No pets / pets on request]. Pool use according to community rules. Breaking these rules ends the stay immediately without refund, plus charges for damages and extra cleaning.
What do I do if there is a party?
- Message and call the guest at the time: remind them of the rule and warn of eviction.
- If they do not respond or it continues: Local Police (in Torremolinos, Benalmádena, Fuengirola and Málaga they attend noise calls) and cancellation of the booking on the platform for breach of rules.
- Change the lock code the next day (or sooner if they have left).
- Photos of everything, damage claim and extra cleaning charged to the guest.
- Message to the neighbour who called, with what has been done.
Is it legal to install a noise sensor?
Yes, with two conditions: that it measures decibels without recording audio or images (those sold for tourist homes work that way) and that you tell the guest in the listing and in the house rules. A device that records conversations inside the home is illegal (privacy and data protection), and indoor cameras are banned by the platforms: Airbnb has banned cameras inside the home since 30 April 2024 (even if switched off), requires outdoor cameras to be declared in the listing (where they are and whether they record) and the presence of noise sensors, which cannot be in bedrooms or bathrooms. Outside, in common areas, the association decides. The sensor is not court evidence: it is an alert to your phone so you can act before a neighbour calls.
And complaints about normal noise?
Children playing at nine in the evening, a conversation on the terrace at eleven, suitcases in the corridor at seven in the morning. They are not parties: they are the normal disturbances of a building with visitors, and they are managed with information (times in the guide, "the neighbours are sleeping") and with courtesy. A welcome message saying "this is a family building, we'd appreciate quiet after ten" avoids half of them.
Can noise be banned completely?
No, and it is not worth trying. What is reasonable is what you would ask of a neighbour: quiet at night, controlled numbers, no parties. Associations accept that; what they do not accept is the feeling that nobody answers. We explain it in A neighbour complains.