The Supreme Court has annulled the single registration procedure for short-term rentals that intend to be advertised through digital platforms, considering that the State lacks the competence to regulate it. Specifically, it argues that it establishes a regulation of a national registry that overlaps with the regional registries for the registration of tourist rentals.
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It was the Generalitat Valenciana that challenged this regulation which governs this single registry and also establishes the digital one-stop shop to collect and exchange data regarding these accommodations. The ruling, while annulling the registry, on the other hand endorses the provisions that regulate the one-stop shop, with its obligations to transmit data from online platforms and the transmission of data for statistical purposes.
The single registry of short-term rentals was promoted by the Ministry of Housing to fight against fraud that occurs in this type of rental. The registry began to be effective in Spain in July 2025. All homes intended for tourist or seasonal use were required to have a registration code in order to operate legally. Accommodations without this registration code could not be offered on the platforms.
Additionally, platforms were required to have landlords identify their homes with this number in their applications or to carry out periodic checks and report when they were negative.
In its ruling dated last Tuesday, the Court recognizes that there is “a growing concern, both at the European Union level and at the national level, about the rental of short-term accommodations that use the services of online platforms,” and also that attempts are being made to curb abuses using this type of rental to evade state regulations on long-term rentals or regional regulations on tourist rentals.
It is aware of the problems that occur, but considers that the core of the debate must be placed on determining whether the State has the competence to enact this regulation or not. The conclusion is that it does not have it in certain aspects, such as the registry, although it does in others, such as the window, that is, the obligation to share data.
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The operation of the single registry is as follows: the owner must request a registration code, which will be mandatory to operate on transactional online platforms with tourist or seasonal rentals, differentiating whether they are by rooms or by entire home, among other short-term accommodations that involve economic remuneration. Without that registration number, they cannot be advertised. The registry, therefore, will guarantee the identification of the accommodations and facilitate supervision by local and national administrations.
Owners of tourist or seasonal rental homes registered in the registry must also update the information related to those rentals in case of changes and share that number with the platforms where they publish their listings.
