Key compliance terms in Spain

A vivienda de uso turístico (VUT) is a house or flat rented out to tourists for short stays, regularly and for money. The Spanish state tenancy law — the LAU — expressly leaves this kind of rental outside its regime, so each autonomous region writes its own rules, with its own name: HUT in Catalonia, ETV in the Balearics, VFT in Andalusia, and so on.

The LAU (Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos), Law 29/1994, is the Spanish state statute that governs leases of urban dwellings and premises: it distinguishes primary-residence rentals, seasonal rentals, and tourist use, and fixes minimum terms, deposits, tenant rights, and landlord limitations.

A licencia turística is the permit you need to rent out your home as a holiday rental in Spain. Each autonomous community has its own version (HUT in Catalonia, ETV in the Balearics, etc.), with its own number and its own rules. No licence = no right to advertise.

The cédula de habitabilidad is the official paper that says your dwelling is fit to live in: that it has the required square metres, ventilation, kitchen and bathroom set by law. The autonomous region issues it — not the town hall — and it expires after a set number of years.

The NIE (Número de Identidad de Extranjero) is the unique personal number Spain assigns to any foreigner — EU citizen or not — with economic, professional or social interests in the country. Without an NIE you cannot buy property, open a bank account, file a Modelo 210, or sign most contracts.

Cl@ve PIN is one of the methods inside the Cl@ve system, Spain's common electronic identification for dealing online with the AEAT, social security, Catastro and other government bodies. It lets you file the annual Modelo 210 from any computer or phone without an installed digital certificate.

The referencia catastral is the 20-character alphanumeric code the Spanish Catastro assigns to every property. It is the unique identifier of the dwelling for the local (town hall, IBI) and national (AEAT) tax administrations — without it there is no IBI bill, no Modelo 210, no deed of purchase.

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.

A VFT (Vivienda con Fines Turísticos) is the Andalusian category for a dwelling rented out for short tourist stays. You register it on the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA) with a number in the style VFT/PROV/00000, which must appear on every listing.

An ETV (Estada Turística en Vivienda) is the Balearic category for a dwelling let for tourist stays. It is granted by the relevant consell insular (Mallorca, Menorca, Eivissa or Formentera) — not by the Govern — and since 2017 is only awarded in zones that each island's PIAT declares fit for tourist use.

SES.Hospedajes is the Spanish Ministry of the Interior's online portal where you must report who is staying in your house, hotel or holiday rental. You have 24 hours from check-in to do it, and it applies to every kind of accommodation in Spain.

The Mossos d'Esquadra are Catalonia's own police force, and they run their own system for registering guests in tourist accommodations in Catalonia. If you own a holiday rental here, you may have to report bookings to both the state SES and the autonomous Mossos register.

The parte de viajeros was the traditional guest-registration form every Spanish hospedaje had to fill in and send to the Policía Nacional or Guardia Civil. It was the regime under Orden INT/1922/2003. It has been replaced by SES.Hospedajes (Real Decreto 933/2021, operational from 2 October 2024) — the name is still used out of habit, but the system itself no longer exists in its old form.

Pre-check-in is the capture of guest data — name, ID document, número de soporte, nationality, date of birth — before the guest arrives at the property, typically via an online form. It is the practical way to comply with RD 933/2021 (SES.Hospedajes) without making the guest scan papers at the door.

Modelo 210 is the Spanish tax return you file if you own a property in Spain but do not live here. You submit it to the AEAT (Spanish Tax Agency) for two things: what you earn from renting it out, or — if you leave it empty — an "imputed income" the tax authority charges because you have a second home at your disposal.

IBI is Spain's annual municipal property tax — equivalent to UK council tax or US property tax. The town hall collects it (not the central tax agency), and the amount is a percentage of the cadastral value of your property.

IEET — known in the Balearics as the "eco-tax" — is the tax your guest pays for every night spent in a holiday rental, hotel, campsite or hostel in Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza or Formentera. You as the host collect it from the guest and remit it to ATIB when the annual liquidation arrives.

The plusvalía municipal — formally IIVTNU (Impuesto sobre el Incremento de Valor de los Terrenos de Naturaleza Urbana) — is a local tax on the increase in value of urban land when you transfer it (sale, inheritance, gift). It is collected by the town hall, not the AEAT, and since the November 2021 reform you may choose between two calculation methods.

Ocupación ilegal — popularly "okupación" — is when someone enters a property without the owner's permission and stays without any contract. In Spain it is a criminal offence, but recovering the property can take months. It is a different problem from a non-paying tenant (who does have a contract and falls under the LAU).

Inquiokupación is the popular term for a tenant who moved in legally with a contract, stops paying or stays after the contract ends, and refuses to leave. It is not squatting — criminally, there is a valid title of entry — so the eviction runs via the civil route (juicio verbal de desahucio LEC 250.1.1º), slower than the eviction of okupas.