Holiday rentals on Ibiza have experienced a major "boom" in recent years. The greater demand stems from an increase in the percentage of tourists who prefer a holiday home rather than a hotel.  On the other hand, there has also been an increase in the number of homes available for holiday rentals, as property buyers plan to use this additional income to cover the running costs of their property.

In 2012, the Balearic Tourism Act (Ley 8/2012) introduced strict regulation of holiday rentals for the first time. Anyone who wanted to apply for a new holiday rental licence after 2012 had to go through a bureaucratic process, and also pay a fee for the number of beds they offered. Property owners who obtained a holiday rental licence from 2012 to 2022, increased the value of their property because the valuable licence could be transferred to anyone who purchased the home. In February 2022, new applications for holiday rentals were suspended for four years. The aim was to have four years in which to examine how many tourist accommodation places could be allowed without overloading the island. However, the licences already issued by the island council (Consell Insular) remained in place.

Since the beginning of 2025, there have been new regulations that those property owners with an existing holiday rental licence have to adhere to. A register for all short-term rentals in the entire country of Spain ("Registro Unico") came into force on 2 January 2025. The law states that registration is mandatory for all owners of holiday properties as of 1 July 2025. Spain is thus one of the first countries to implement an EU regulation that obliges member states to set up an information system for short-term rentals. This new regulation obliges the landowner to apply for a registration number for their rented property. They can apply for this online via the central land registry office (www.registradores.org). They also must have it registered at the relevant land registry office in Ibiza. 

Finally, the landowner must also inform any online renting platforms they are using of this registration number. The regulation applies to tourist and seasonal rentals, as well as rentals of rooms that provide short-term accommodation. The registration must also include the amount of financial remuneration for rental properties offered via online transaction platforms. Furthermore, another law decree from 2021 came into force on 2 December 2024. According to that law, all holiday rental companies in Spain must register every guest regardless of their age. This applies to both adults and minors (https://seshospedajes.es/registro/).

In summary, here are the registration requirements that holders of a tourist rental licence in Ibiza need to be aware of. Firstly, the owner of the holiday property must immediately register with "Ses Hospedajes" (https://seshospedajes.es/registro/) and register all future guests on that site with personal data such as identity card numbers and home address. In addition, they need to register their holiday rental property by 1 July 2025 at www.registradores.org, and have it entered in the proper land register. The application must be made with the digital signature of the owner. It can be submitted online or brought in person to the relevant land registry office. Every property owner should also pay the annual tourist tax ("ecotasa") to the Balearic Tax Authority (atib.es) on time, even if the licence is not actively used, as this is the only way to prevent the Consell from allowing the rental licence to lapse.

There are other factors to consider when purchasing a property in Ibiza with an existing rental licence. In addition to checking the legal security before buying the property, we also recommend checking whether fines have been imposed on the property for violations of the law, and whether the licence has been revoked by the authorities.

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