# Is it legal to put a key box on the façade or in the street? Where yes, where no and how we do it

> Inside your own door, yes. On the façade or in the entrance hall, only with the association's permission, because they are common elements. On a lamppost or a railing in the street, no: article 7.4 of the Andalusian tourist dwellings decree forbids it. The alternative we use: a portable box put out on the night of arrival and collected the next morning.
>
> Topic: Day to day · Reviewed: 2026-09-22 · URL: https://mipisoturistico.app/en/guides/is-a-key-box-on-the-facade-or-in-the-street-legal
> Published by Mi Piso Turístico (Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional), a holiday-rental management company on the Costa del Sol.

**Short answer:** it depends where you put it. **Inside your flat's door or on your own door: yes**, it is yours. **On the façade, in the entrance hall or the lobby: only if the association authorises it**, because they are common elements and the Horizontal Property Act does not allow you to alter them on your own. **On a lamppost, a railing or a fence in the street: forbidden**, and not by a local by-law but by the Andalusian tourist dwellings decree itself: "they may not be placed on street furniture elements in public roads" (art. 7.4 of Decree 28/2016). The same article requires you to **arrange the key handover beforehand** if you are not going to be at the home at the arrival or departure time.

## What exactly does the law say?

- **Decree 28/2016** (art. 7.4) does talk about key boxes, and it is the first thing to know: if the key handover is done "by depositing them in padlocks, security key boxes or similar, these **may not be placed on street furniture elements in public roads**". And it adds that, if the operator is not going to be there at the arrival or departure time, "the key handover must be arranged beforehand". Where you put it inside your property is your business; in the street, it is not.
- The **Horizontal Property Act** does matter: façade, entrance hall, landings and courtyards are **common elements**. Fixing a key box there (drilling, gluing, screwing) is an alteration that needs the **association's agreement**; without it, the president can demand that you remove it, and with the April 2025 reform associations also have a say over tourist use ([Can my association ban it?](/guias/comunidad-de-vecinos)).
- The **public road** belongs to the town hall, and with the Andalusian decree in hand a key box hanging from a lamppost or a railing is a breach of tourism rules (Junta inspection) as well as an occupation of public furniture that the town hall can remove. There is no need to look for a local by-law: the tourist dwelling rules already forbid it.

## And on the entrance door, from the inside?

It is the most common solution and the least annoying, but it is still a common element: ask the president for permission or take it to the meeting. In buildings with several tourist homes there is usually already a policy. Remember that a key box in the hall contains a key to **the whole building**: change the code often and never publish it in the listing.

## How we do it: the portable key box

We do not fix key boxes to walls. We use a **padlock-type key box**, with no building work, which is hung up and taken down:

1. Only for **late arrivals** (from 23:00), when there is no handover in person.
2. It is placed **that same afternoon** at a point agreed with the guest, with a single-use code.
3. **Early the next morning it is removed.** There is no permanent box on the façade, nor a building key hanging in the street all year round.

Advantages: it alters no common element, there is nothing for the association or the town hall to remove, and the code dies with the booking. All other handovers are done in person or with a smart lock with a code per booking ([Locks and keys](/guias/cerradura-y-llaves)).

## What if a neighbour complains about the key box?

If it is on a common element without permission, remove it and ask nicely: it is what a judge would ask of you. If it is on your door, explain that it is yours and touches nothing common. And if the underlying problem is not the key box but the activity, the guide is a different one: [Neighbours who complain](/guias/vecinos-que-se-quejan).

## Sources

- [Decree 28/2016 on tourist dwellings, consolidated text with the 2024 amendments (Junta de Andalucía), articles 6, 7 and 8 (in Spanish)](https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/sites/default/files/inline-files/2024/02/3%20Decreto%2028-2016,%20de%202%20de%20febrero%20de%20las%20viviendas%20con%20fines%20turisticos_0.pdf)
- [Law 49/1960 on Horizontal Property, articles 7 and 17 (consolidated text, BOE, in Spanish): works on common elements and association agreements](https://www.boe.es/buscar/act.php?id=BOE-A-1960-10906)
- [Decree 28/2016 on tourist dwellings, as amended by Decree 31/2024 (BOJA), article 7.4: key boxes may not be placed on street furniture in public roads (in Spanish)](https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/boja/2024/24/50)