If you own an apartment in Fuengirola, a townhouse in Mijas or a villa near Marbella and you want to rent it to holidaymakers, you need the right Andalusian licence. The single most common mistake we see among British, German, Dutch, French and Swedish owners on the Costa del Sol is copying advice written for Valencia or Catalonia. The Costa del Sol sits in Andalusia, and Andalusia has its own system: the VFT, the Vivienda con Fines Turisticos, registered with the Junta de Andalucia through the Registro de Turismo de Andalucia (RTA).
This guide explains exactly what the VFT is, what your property must have, how the responsible declaration works, what the RTA/VFT code is for, the taxes you will owe, and what happens if you rent without it.
Answer capsule: To rent legally to tourists on the Costa del Sol you need a VFT registered with the Junta de Andalucia’s RTA via a declaracion responsable. There is no government fee to register, but a gestor typically charges 150-400 EUR; first-occupancy licence and other documents can add 150-300 EUR. Operating without a VFT risks fines from 2,000 EUR up to 150,000 EUR for serious cases. Registration is immediate and indefinite, but the property must meet minimum standards.
What Exactly Is a VFT?
A VFT (Vivienda con Fines Turisticos) is a private dwelling rented in its entirety, or by rooms, to tourists for short stays, marketed through channels such as Airbnb, Booking, travel agencies or your own website. It is governed by Decreto 28/2016 of the Junta de Andalucia, which was reformed in February 2024 (Decreto 31/2024) to tighten standards and close loopholes.
It is not the Valencian VUT and not a rural-tourism property (casa rural) or a registered apartment-block (apartamento turistico, the AT category). If you rent a single villa or flat to holidaymakers, the VFT is almost always your category.
The key feature is that you register through a declaracion responsable — a self-declaration. You are not asking permission; you are formally declaring under your own responsibility that the home meets the legal requirements, and you may begin renting the moment you submit it. The RTA then verifies after the fact.
Minimum Requirements Your Property Must Meet
Before you declare, the home must satisfy the Decreto 28/2016 standards. The most important:
- A valid first-occupancy licence (Licencia de Primera Ocupacion) or equivalent habitation certificate from the local town hall — Marbella, Estepona, Benalmadena, Torremolinos, Nerja and the rest each issue their own.
- Direct ventilation to the exterior or patio in every bedroom and living area, plus some form of window shading (blinds or shutters).
- Air conditioning (cooling) in bedrooms and lounge if the property is rented between May and September, and heating if rented between October and April. In practice, most Costa del Sol properties install both.
- A first-aid kit and visible information on the nearest medical centre.
- Tourist information on the area, plus details of services, transport and a leisure guide.
- Complaint forms (hojas de quejas y reclamaciones) available to guests.
- Furnishing, cleaning and bed linen adequate for the stated occupancy.
- Maximum capacity respected: generally 15 places per dwelling and no more than four per bedroom.
Detached villas in urbanisations around Sotogrande or La Cala de Mijas usually clear these easily. Older apartments in central Malaga or Torremolinos sometimes need an aircon upgrade or a renewed occupancy licence first.
The Declaracion Responsable, Step by Step
- Confirm the property is eligible and gather the cadastral reference, your NIE/passport, the occupancy licence and the owner’s details.
- Submit the declaracion responsable to the RTA, normally online through the Junta de Andalucia’s electronic office with a digital certificate or Cl@ve, or via a gestor who holds power of attorney.
- Receive your VFT code immediately. Because it is a self-declaration, the registration is effective from submission; you do not wait weeks for approval.
- Display the code in every advertisement and listing.
There is no official registration fee. The cost you pay is professional help and any documents you are missing.
The RTA / VFT Code — What It Is and Where It Goes
Once registered, your property is assigned a code in the format VFT/MA/#####, where MA is the province code for Malaga (the whole Costa del Sol sits in Malaga province, except Sotogrande’s San Roque side, which is Cadiz — CA). The number that follows is your unique registry entry.
This code is not optional decoration. By law it must appear in every advert and platform listing — Airbnb, Booking, Vrbo, your website, printed brochures, everything. Airbnb and Booking now actively block or remove Andalusian listings that cannot show a valid VFT/MA code, so without it you effectively cannot market the property online. Many owners discover this the hard way when a listing is suspended mid-season.
Taxes You Will Owe
Renting to tourists is taxable income, and the rules differ sharply depending on where you are resident. This is general guidance — confirm your own position with a gestor or abogado.
- Income tax via Modelo 210 (non-resident owners). EU/EEA residents (German, Dutch, French, Swedish owners) pay 19% on net profit and may deduct expenses such as community fees, IBI, insurance, utilities and repairs in proportion to rental days. Non-EU residents — which since Brexit includes British owners — pay 24% on gross income with no deductions allowed. This single point costs UK owners thousands a year and is the most common unpleasant surprise.
- Filing frequency. Modelo 210 is generally filed quarterly when there is rental income.
- IBI and rubbish tax (basura). Annual local taxes, payable regardless.
- IVA (VAT). Pure accommodation without hotel-style services (daily cleaning, meals, reception) is normally VAT-exempt. Add those services and the activity can become a 10% VAT economic activity — another reason to take advice.
- Tourist guest register. You must report every guest’s ID to the authorities through the SES.Hospedajes system within 24 hours of check-in, a separate national obligation from the VFT itself.
Resident owners declare rental income in their ordinary Spanish IRPF return instead of Modelo 210.
Fines for Operating Without a VFT
The Junta de Andalucia inspects, and sanctions under the Andalusian tourism law (Ley 13/2011) are real. Penalties are tiered:
- Minor infringements: up to 2,000 EUR — for example, failing to display the VFT code or minor information defects.
- Serious infringements: 2,001 to 18,000 EUR — including renting without registering at all, or providing false data in the declaracion responsable.
- Very serious infringements: 18,001 to 150,000 EUR — for repeated or large-scale unlicensed activity.
Beyond the fine, an unregistered listing can be removed by the platform, your insurance may not cover guest incidents, and unpaid rental tax can trigger a separate Hacienda inspection with surcharges. The 2024 reform also gave communities of owners more power to restrict or prohibit tourist rentals by a three-fifths majority, so check your community statutes before you start.
Common Costa del Sol Scenarios
- A British owner in Benalmadena who has rented informally for years: register the VFT, but budget for the 24% non-resident gross-income tax and back-declare prior years before an inspection finds them.
- A German couple buying in Estepona off-plan: confirm the first-occupancy licence is in hand before completion, then register before listing.
- A Dutch owner in Nerja whose apartment block recently voted on rentals: check the community minutes — a three-fifths vote can now block new VFTs in your building.
Talk to Us First — It’s Free
Getting the VFT right at the start is far cheaper than fixing a suspended listing or a Hacienda letter later. Costa del Sol Habitat connects expat owners with vetted local gestores, abogados and property managers who handle the declaracion responsable, the occupancy licence, the Modelo 210 set-up and the SES.Hospedajes registration end to end. Reach out for a free, no-obligation enquiry and we will point you to the right professional for your town and your situation.