What is a HUT (Habitatge d'Ús Turístic) in Catalonia?
A HUT (Habitatge d'Ús Turístic) is the Catalan category for a dwelling rented out for short tourist stays. The Generalitat de Catalunya runs the scheme, assigns a number (format HUT-... or HUTB-... in Barcelona) and since Decret-llei 3/2023 also requires municipal authorisation plus a 5-year review.
The general framework is Llei 13/2002 de Turisme de Catalunya and its implementing rule Decret 75/2020: a dwelling registered as a HUT is one let entirely, furnished, for stays up to 31 days, against payment and on a regular basis. Registration is made on the Registre de Turisme de Catalunya by the Direcció General de Turisme — not the town hall, although since 2023 you also need municipal sign-off.
The registration number has a fixed format and must appear in every listing (Airbnb, Booking, your own site). It starts with the municipal code or registration mark: HUTB-XXXXXX in Barcelona, HUT-XXXX or HUTG-XXXX in Girona, HUTL-XXXX in Lleida, HUTT-XXXX in Tarragona. Without that number in the listing, the platforms — under pressure from the Generalitat — pull the publication.
The big change came with Decret-llei 3/2023: in municipalities flagged as "tensionats" on housing (more than 200 Catalan towns), getting a new HUT is no longer automatic. You now need an explicit autorització municipal grounded in town planning, before the Generalitat will register you. Existing registrations are subject to renewal every 5 years, and a municipal refusal can knock out either new applications or renewals.
To run a HUT in compliance you need: a current cédula de habitabilidad, registration on the Registre as HUT (with the number on display), reporting of every guest to SES.Hospedajes and the Mossos d'Esquadra, declaration of income in IRPF (resident) or Modelo 210 (non-resident), and a 24-hour contact phone registered on file. Fines for listing without HUT follow the sanction regime of Llei 13/2002 (faltes greus and molt greus) and can reach €600,000 in the worst-case scenarios.
Why it matters
If you are buying a Catalan property planning to rent it tourist, the first thing to check — before the offer, before the notary — is whether that property can even get a HUT in that specific municipality. In Barcelona, much of Sant Antoni or the Eixample sit under a PEUAT moratorium and no new licences are issued; in coastal villages, town halls have been closing saturated zones one by one. Without a HUT there is no legal listing, and the asking price already includes a premium if the HUT is granted — always verify it with its number on the public register before you sign.