# Tourist or long-term rental? An honest comparison for a flat on the Costa del Sol

> Income, work, risk and tax, compared without tricks. Tourist rental earns more but does not always pay off: it depends on the flat, on where you live and on how much you want to be involved.
>
> Topic: Before you start · Reviewed: 2026-09-22 · URL: https://mipisoturistico.app/en/guides/tourist-or-long-term-rental-an-honest-comparison-for-a-flat-on-the-costa-del-sol
> Published by Mi Piso Turístico (Torremolinos Gestión Vacacional), a holiday-rental management company on the Costa del Sol.

**Short answer:** tourist rental usually leaves **between 40 % and 80 % more net money** than long-term letting on the Costa del Sol, in exchange for more work (or paying someone to do it), more wear on the flat and fewer tax advantages. Tourist wins when the flat is near the beach and you want to keep using it; long-term wins when the flat is far from tourist interest or when you want to forget about it completely.

## How much more do you earn with tourist rental?

A well-located 4-place flat in Torremolinos takes in €20,000-25,500 gross a year as a tourist home, of which the owner keeps about €13,000-15,000 after the platform, cleaning and manager. Suppose the same flat is let long term at €1,000 a month (check the real price for your area on property portals): €12,000 a year, with hardly any management costs. The gap widens the closer the flat is to the sea and narrows the further inland it is.

## What does long-term letting have going for it?

- **Zero work**: one tenant, one contract, one transfer a month.
- **The tax office treats you better**: if the flat is the tenant's main home, a 60 % reduction (or more in some cases) applies to the net income on your tax return. In tourist rental that reduction **does not exist**.
- **Less wear**: a family looks after the flat as their home; 80 groups a year do not.
- **No licence, no association, no traveller registration.**

## And against?

- **Getting the flat back is slow**: housing contracts last at least five years if the tenant wants, and a default can take many months to resolve.
- **You cannot use it yourself**, not in August or at Christmas.
- **The price stays fixed** for the length of the contract, with updates limited by law.

## What does tourist rental have going for it?

- **More income**, especially from June to September and at Easter.
- **You can use it yourself** whichever weeks you want: you block them on the calendar and that is it.
- **You get paid every week**, not every month, and non-payment practically does not exist: the guest pays before coming in.
- **The flat is always checked**: every check-out is an inspection.

## And against?

- **It is an activity**, not a rent: pricing, messages, keys, cleaning, breakdowns and reviews. Either you do it or you pay a manager 15-20 %.
- **Tax**: no 60 % reduction, and the days the flat is empty are taxed too (explained in [How much does the tax office take?](/guias/hacienda-vivienda-turistica)).
- **Initial paperwork**: the Junta's licence, the association's agreement and the flat's requirements.
- **It depends on the season**: November and February are weak all along the coast.

## Can I do both at the same time?

Not with the same flat at the same time. The Junta de Andalucía makes it clear that a home registered as a tourist dwelling cannot combine residential letting: while it is registered, it is operated as a tourist home in the declared periods. You can let to the same tenant for more than two consecutive months (that is no longer tourist), but then those weeks are outside the tourist calendar.

## How do I decide?

Ask yourself three questions: is the flat less than a kilometre from the beach or the centre? Do I want to use it myself sometimes? Is it worth paying someone so I do not have to deal with anything? With two yeses, tourist usually wins. And if you want numbers for your street, use the [calculator](/calculadora) or ask us for them.

## Sources

- [Spanish Tax Agency: 60 % reduction on housing leases (only the tenant's main home, in Spanish)](https://sede.agenciatributaria.gob.es/Sede/ayuda/manuales-videos-folletos/manuales-practicos/irpf-2024/c04-rendimientos-capital-inmobiliario/rendimiento-neto-reducido/reduccion-arrendamiento-inmuebles-destinados-vivienda.html)
- [Junta de Andalucía: FAQ on tourist dwellings (incompatibility with residential letting, in Spanish)](https://www.juntadeandalucia.es/organismos/turismojusticiadesregulacionyadministracionlocal/areas/turismo/registro-turismo/establecimientos-servicios/paginas/faq-viviendas-turismo.html)