Housing ministry reports 13,726 illegal tourist apartments in the Canary Islands
These are properties that applied for a short‑term rental registration number but did not obtain it because they do not meet the requirements.
The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda (MIVAU) has informed online platforms that there are 86,275 illegal tourist and temporary rentals across Spain, 13,726 of which are located in the Canary Islands, and has ordered the removal of their listings.
The affected properties had requested a short‑term rental registration number but were denied because they do not satisfy the legal criteria, in line with the European regulation that requires a single register for short‑term rentals.
Since July, this registration code—issued by the Property Registrars—has been mandatory and is shared with platforms through the Ministry’s Digital Single Window.
Once the Ministry notifies the platforms, they must immediately withdraw the listings for those properties, even if the same unit appears on several platforms simultaneously.
- Total registration requests: 412,253
- Tourist rentals: 320,620 (78 %)
- Non‑tourist/seasonal rentals: 91,608 (22 %)
Anomaly in the Community of Madrid
In Madrid, 83 % of the requests correspond to seasonal housing. Specifically, 21,978 of the 26,355 applications received are for seasonal accommodations, while 4,377 are for tourist rentals.
Madrid Leads the Ranking of Revoked Requests
Madrid tops the list of municipalities with the highest number of revoked tourist‑rental applications, totaling 5,344.
The next municipalities are:
- Barcelona – 5,005 denied
- Marbella – 2,993 denied
- Sevilla – 2,659 denied
- Valencia – 1,874 denied
- Málaga – 1,845 denied
- Torrevieja – 1,240 denied
- San Bartolomé de Tirajana – 1,056 denied
- Adeje – 1,019 denied
- Arona – 942 denied
The province of Málaga stands out, with seven of its municipalities ranking among the top 20 for the most requests.
Regional Overview
- Andalusia leads the autonomous communities with the greatest number of revoked mandatory registration requests: 21,872.
- Valencian Community follows with 14,387.
- The Canary Islands rank third, with 13,726 denied registrations.