Converting your house into tourist accommodation is no longer just a decision that affects your economy, but it also has a community dimension. Since the Horizontal Property Law allows it, your neighbors have the legal right to approve a surcharge of up to 20% on common expenses if you decide to rent your home through platforms such as Airbnb.
This measure seeks to balance the rise of short-stay tourism with neighborhood coexistence and the maintenance of buildings. In this way, an attempt is made to compensate for the greater use of common areas and ensure that commercial activity does not harm the harmony of the community of owners.
What the law says
According to article 17, section 12 of the LPH, published in the BOE, the community of owners can approve, limit, condition or prohibit tourist activity within the property.
And if the building decides to allow it, it can also establish special fees or increase the common expenses of those who rent their home for tourist purposes, always within the limit of 20%.
To do this, the rule requires an agreement of three-fifths of the owners and the total participation fees. Furthermore, it cannot be applied retroactively; That is, you cannot penalize what was already being done before the agreement.
In practice, this means that if the tourist rental of your apartment generates more noise, wear or expenses, your community can pass on part of that cost. A measure that, according to some property administrators, seeks to “give leeway to neighbors without the need for endless litigation.”
Tourism and pressure on housing
Spain is one of the European countries with the most homes dedicated to tourism. According to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), in 2025 alone there were more than 350,000 apartments with tourist use registered, 7% more than the year before that. Meanwhile, in cities like Madrid, Barcelona or Malaga, housing shortages and skyrocketing rental prices continue to set the norm.
The Bank of Spain estimates that since 2015 the weight of tourist rentals has contributed to making residential rentals more expensive by up to 10% in areas of high demand. At the same time, the Ministry of Housing warns that 40% of young Spaniards already dedicate more than 40% of their income to rent, a figure that far exceeds the levels recommended by the European Union.
The LPH also clarifies that these agreements are binding on all owners, even those who are absent, as long as they have been duly summoned and do not express their opposition within the legally established period.