Tourism
Spain Supreme Court ruling opens the door to a flood of claims from tourist accommodation providersBusiness owners' association Fevitur predicts that the state could end up paying160 million euros in compensation
Añádenos en Google Tourists dropping off keys to their tourist accommodation in Malaga. (SUR)Malaga
26/05/2026 a las 12:45h.Following the Supreme Court’s decision last Thursday to overturn the national registry for tourist accommodation - introduced by the Spanish government last year - affected ... property owners are left asking one question: "What now?"
The court struck down the requirement due to the central government's lack of jurisdiction in the matter and because it duplicated registries already managed by Spain's autonomous regions. Five regional governments, including Andalucía, had challenged the nationwide census at the time of its introduction.
Lawyers specialising in the sector are now predicting a flood of financial claims against the Spanish government. Fevitur, the federation of tourist accommodation owners, estimates that compensation claims against the state could reach €160 million.
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Tourism
Pilar Martínez
The scale of the impact is vast; data released by the government’s sub-delegation in Malaga last Wednesday revealed that 25,100 tourist lets in Andalucía alone had been declared illegal by the central government. Nationwide, it is estimated that more than one in four holiday rentals across Spain were affected.
Beyond those declared illegal, every owner who complied with the statewide census faced various out-of-pocket costs. These ranged from a mandatory €32 fee for the registration procedure at a property registry, to fees paid to independent consultancies or for requesting necessary documentation.
The next steps for owners will depend on individual circumstances. In Andalucía, around 75,000 holiday rentals are registered with the regional tourism registry - representing about half of all such properties in the region.
Legal experts outline several options for those affected:
• Refunds: Claiming back the €32 fee paid to the property registrar.
• Compensation: Demanding damages for the period a property was declared illegal for lacking the national code, despite being fully compliant with regional laws.
• Loss of earnings: Suing the Spanish government for damages, losses, and lost profits.
Experts predict that the central government will face a deluge of financial claims from tens of thousands of people. Many were unable to comply with the national registry for a variety of reasons, which subsequently blocked them from operating on major holiday rental platforms that mandated the state code - effectively shutting down businesses like the 25,100 properties in Andalucía.