Andalucía removes 13,000 unregulated holiday rentals as crackdown intensifies

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More than 4,700 properties have been struck off the register in Malaga province alone as the regional government grants councils the power to suspend licences

Europa Press

Monday, 9 February 2026, 16:20

The regional government of Andalucía (the Junta) has removed 13,037 tourist rentals from its official register as part of a "comprehensive strategy of control, regulation, and management". Of these, 4,731 dwellings are located in Malaga province, the area most affected by the sweep.

According to the regional minister for tourism, Arturo Bernal, the figures demonstrate that the Junta's policy "guarantees coexistence between residents and visitors, while at the same time establishing mechanisms to combat illegal activity".

Under a new legal framework, local councils have been granted the authority to suspend licences and "declarations of responsibility" for tourist accommodation for up to three years. The breakdown of cancellations by province highlights the scale of the enforcement.

The breakdown of cancellations by province is as follows: Malaga has 4,731 cancellations, of which 1,385 are in the Costa del Sol capital, Granada has 2,138 (1,198 in the provincial capital), Cadiz has 1,836 (484 in Cadiz city), Seville has 1,468 (1,307 in the capital), Almeria has 991 (186 in the capital), Cordoba has 896 (755 in the capital), Huelva has 587 (57 in the capital) and Jaen has 390 (99 in the capital).

Municipal limits of local councils

This progress is underpinned by Decree 31/2024, which empowers local councils to set proportionate limits on the number of tourist homes per building, area, or time period. This is further supported by the Housing Emergency Decree Law 1/2025, which strengthens the ability of town halls to protect the urban environment and align tourism with local planning models.

In a move to automate enforcement, the Andalusian Tourism Register now automatically blocks the registration of new dwellings in areas subject to licence suspensions in Seville, Malaga, Cadiz, and El Puerto de Santa María.

The regional ministry is also working alongside town halls in municipalities such as Alhaurín el Grande, Jerez de la Frontera, and Marbella to improve the detection of "irregular" accommodation. "Andalucía shows that it is possible to combine tourism leadership with quality of life and urban planning," Bernal added.

The move follows a wider national trend in 2026, including the launch of the N2 declaration form, which requires all owners with a unique rental number to report their activity annually or face automatic revocation of their licence.