The changes in the area of vacation rentals in Mallorca from February this year have led to many questions and confusion. We wrote about this already in our first update on vacation rentals Mallorca 2022, where we answered in particular the question about the renewal of bed spaces and the transfer of bed spaces in real estate sales in Mallorca.
Other questions have arisen in the meantime, which we would like to explain briefly in this article.
What about the renewal of old licenses?
The term "old licenses" in the area of vacation rentals on Mallorca refers to the vacation rental licenses that were approved before July 2017. Here, a further distinction is then made between licenses issued in the periods 2005-2012 and 2012-2017.
What about renewing legacy licenses under the 2005 requirements?
Art. 12 of Ley 2/2005 states that licenses are valid for a maximum of six years and must be renewed two months before the end of these six years. With the introduction of Law 8/2012 of July 19, this provision has NOT been repealed, so it is still valid. This means that licenses obtained between 2005 and 2012 must be renewed every six years, otherwise they will expire.
lost. A corresponding fee must be paid at the time of renewal.
What about renewing legacy licenses under the 2012 requirements?
In the laws and regulations on vacation rentals that were in force in the period from 2012 to 2017, there is no regulation on the period of validity of vacation rental licenses for Mallorca. Also, there is no transitional regulation on this in the Tourism Law of the Balearic Islands (Law 8/2012 of July 19). This means, conversely, that the licenses have no expiration date and therefore do not need to be renewed. This statement was confirmed to us (by telephone) by the tourism authority.
Is a rental of 30 days or more still a vacation rental?
According to the Balearic Islands Tourism Law (as amended on June 18, 2022), vacation rental is when a residential property is marketed for a short period of time with the intention of making a profit. The previous regulations still contained the rule that if the rental was less than 30 days, it was presumed to be a vacation rental. This led to the reverse conclusion that a rental of 30 days or more had to fall under long-term rentals. This presumption no longer exists in this form.
Instead, it is now clearly defined that the vacation property may be rented out on a daily or weekly basis, but the rental period may in no case exceed the duration of one month. The presumption has been reformulated and, according to the current legal situation, the existence of vacation rental is assumed, provided that the marketing is of short duration (i.e. by the day or by the week) and it cannot be refuted that the marketing serves a purpose other than tourism. In plain language, this means that it is now no longer the duration of the rental that matters, but the marketing character: tourist or non-tourist. Therefore, anyone who engages in vacation rentals may not rent out the vacation property for more than one month. Anyone who does not wish to engage in vacation letting and therefore lets for longer than one month must also prove that it is not tourist letting.
Author:
Dr. Dominic John Patrick Porta, LL.M.
Attorney at Law (Düsseldorf Bar Association n° 52954)
Abogado (ICAIB n° 6645)
dominic.porta@anwaltmallorca.eu
www.anwaltmallorca.eu
What rights do they still have?
Do you need the support of a German lawyer for your house purchase or rental in Mallorca?
Porta & Associates is a law firm in Palma de Mallorca specializing in Real Estate Law Spain, among other areas.
Dr. Dominic Porta advises you as a German lawyer in Mallorca on all matters relating to house purchase, renting and licenses. The modern law firm in Palma also represents its clients in corporate law, inheritance law, contract law and tax law.
More information and contact can be found at www.anwaltmallorca.eu
