50,000 Less Tourist Homes in 6 Months
INE detects a drop of around 50,000 tourist homes in six months
According to the Spanish National Statistics Institute (INE), the number of tourist homes (vacation rentals) in Spain stood at 329,764 properties in November 2025, which is about 50,000 fewer than six months earlier — and 46,700 fewer than a year earlier. This represents a 12.4% year-on-year decrease, the largest annual reduction recorded in about five years.
The decline is being attributed to stricter regulation, including:
The implementation of a Single Register of Rentals (Registro Único de Arrendamientos).
Reforms to the Law on Horizontal Property (Ley de Propiedad Horizontal) giving homeowners’ associations greater power to restrict or even ban tourist rentals in their buildings.
Regional impacts varied:
The Valencian Community saw the largest absolute drop (about -14,749 properties), followed by Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
Murcia experienced the biggest percentage reduction at nearly -29.2%.
In proportion to the overall housing stock, tourist properties now represent around 1.24% of all homes, the lowest share since early 2023.
Beyond the sheer count of properties:
The total number of vacation rental places (beds) declined substantially as well — down by over 271,000 year-on-year and over 300,000 compared to the previous count.
These data illustrate a notable shift in the tourism rental segment in Spain, reversing earlier growth and likely reflecting the effects of legal tightening and enforcement.
📊 Evolution of Tourist Homes in Spain (INE data + market context)
🧠 2020 – Beginning of official INE series
The INE began systematically measuring the number of tourist dwellings in Spain in 2020.
In December 2020, there were over 321,000 tourist dwellings, representing about 1.3% of the total housing stock and offering more than 1.6 million bed-places.
📈 Growth through 2023–2024
During the early post-pandemic recovery, the number continued to grow:
By August 2023, Spain had close to 400,000 tourist homes according to INE-based market analyses.
February 2024 vs February 2023: a +9.2% increase, reaching around 351,389 VUT (viviendas de uso turístico).
November 2024 data suggested around 368,295 VUT, though down slightly on the immediately prior quarter.
➡️ Insight: These figures show a period of sustained expansion in the short-term rental stock from 2020 through most of 2024, with total tourist homes often cited near or even exceeding 380,000–400,000 in that period.
📉 2025–2026: Decline begins
End of 2025
The most recent INE count (November 2025) shows 329,764 tourist homes, about 46,699 fewer than one year earlier (–12.4%).
This represents the largest annual decrease since INE started tracking these data in 2020.
| Period | Number of Tourist Homes (approx.) | Trend |
|---|---|---|
| Dec 2020 | ~321,000+ | Baseline |
| Aug 2023 | ~380,000–400,000 | Growth phase |
| Feb 2024 | ~351,000 | Continued growth, slower pace |
| Nov 2024 | ~368,000 | Peak range |
| Nov 2025 | ~329,764 | Marked decline |
| Change Nov 2024→Nov 2025 | −12.4% (~−47k) | Largest drop recorded |
Summary: Growth in tourist homes accelerated through 2023 and much of 2024. But by late 2025, the stock has retraced significantly, shrinking toward early-to-mid-2023 levels.
📌 What the trend implies
📌 Earlier growth drivers
The initial expansion through 2023–2024 likely reflected:
A rapid post-pandemic return of tourism.
Landlords shifting towards short-term letting where profitability was higher than long-term rentals.
Relatively looser control and registration requirements until mid-2024.
📌 Recent contraction drivers
The sharp downturn by late 2025 is primarily associated with regulatory changes:
The Nuevo Registro Único de Arrendamientos requiring official registration numbers for listings.
Reform of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal, making it easier for communities to limit or ban tourist lets.
These measures have forced many properties off legal short-term rental markets, contributing to the numerical decline.
📊 Tourist homes as share of housing stock
Even at its peak, tourist homes have represented a small percentage of total Spanish housing — around 1.3–1.5% nationally in the growth period.
As of late 2025, this share has declined again to about 1.24%.
📍 Key takeaways
✔ Trend reversal: After years of expansion post-2020, tourist home counts peaked in 2024 and began a clear decline by late 2025.
✔ Regulatory impact: Policy interventions (registration + community restrictions) appear to be a central driver of the drop.
✔ Market context: Despite the decline in homes, Spain continues to receive high numbers of tourists generally — highlighting that rental housing pressures coexist with resilient tourism demand.
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