Guide to obtain a new renting license for villas and apartments in Mallorca

What is the DRIAT?

This declaration statement is a form you need to fill in to apply for a license. In full, it is the Declaració Responsable d'Inici d'Activitat Turística. The process of submitting this applies from the moment the zoning of the Consell de Mallorca and Ajuntament de Palma comes into force.

Definitions

a. Housing in a single-family building. In other words villas and townhouses that don't share a space.

b. Housing in a multi-family building where there is shared access or facilities. In other words apartments with communities or houses that occupy some kind of shared ground.

These definitions help determine if the property can be commercialized, whether they are subject to the Horizontal Property law, and if it is subject to a five-year renewal.

Horizontal Property

As far as apartments (or properties that have some kind of communal element) are concerned, an agreement at a Community Owners' meeting must be obtained. This means the majority of property owners within the building accept tourist rentals and this agreement must be registered at the Land Registry.

Main Residence or Year-Round Rental

You must go to the respective town hall to obtain a certificate confirming that the property in question is located in an applicable zone. This certificate will also specify what kind of tourism rental can be carried out: two months if this is your main residence, or year-round if not. Please note that you have 60 consecutive days but not both July and August. You could still choose June-July or August-September.

If the property is your main residence, you must also present the Certificado de Empadronamiento. The rental periods must be whole months and you must indicate which months you intend to rent. Any changes in the rental months must be communicated in the month of January.

Requirements

The home must meet these requirements:

• Minimum age of five years at the time of application, during which its use has been private residential.
• Cédula de habitabilidad (certificate of occupancy or the equivalent from the local council).
• Energy certificate with an F qualification for buildings built prior to December 31, 2007 or D for subsequent buildings.
• Individual water meter registered with the water supply company (unless it is not connected to mains water supply).
• The home is not, and has not been, subject to any kind of official protection (council housing).
• At least one bathroom for every four places of occupancy.
• The property must meet the minimum score of 70 in the list of requirements on Annex 6, a checklist document which you can get from your Spanish legal adviser.
• An owner can have a maximum of three properties registered for tourism rentals.

Procedure, Stage 1, Consorci Borsa d'Allotjaments Turístics (CBAT)

Head to the CBAT (carrer de Montenegro, 5, Palma) to purchase the tourist places (the total number of places, or beds, is already set on the certificate of occupancy or cédula de habitabilidad)

The beds have different prices depending on whether it is:

• A house in a single-family building (ETV) costs €3,500 per place of occupancy.
• A home in a multi-family building or subject to the horizontal property law (ETVPL) costs €875 per place.
• A house in a single-family or multi-family building, which is listed as a Principal Residence and therefore rented for 2 months per year (ETV60) costs €291.67 per place.

Procedure, Stage 2, Form Submission and Accompanying Documents

You must submit your DRIAT form to the Direcció General de Turisme together with the following documentation:

Single-Family Building ETV

• Formal document of the owner (copy of ID, NIE..).
• Payment of the administrative fee (expected to be around €300)
• Power of attorney (if applicable).
• The completed checklist (Annex 6 of Decree 20/2015, of April 17)  with a minimum of 70 points.
• Certificate from Local Council stating the applicable zone and the type of rental (indefinite or 2 months for principal residence).
• Proof of purchase of tourist places at the CBAT.
• Only in the exceptional cases of Single-Family homes being subject to horizontal property law (those that share plot or property elements with others), the statutes that state the Community Owners' acceptance of tourist rentals (see point b below).

Multi-Family Building or Subdivided Property ETVPL

• All previous documents as in Single-Family Building.
• Título constitutivo or statutes from Community Owners' Meeting that correspond to the horizontal property law and expressly permit tourist rental.

Single- and Multi-Family Buildings for 2 Months per year

• All previous documents as in Single-Family Building.
• Títol constitutivo or statutes from Community Owners' Meeting that correspond to the horizontal property law and expressly permit tourist rental.
• Certificate of registration (certificat d'empadronament) from the council indicating that the owner lives in the property.

Other Points

• The tourist rental license will allow rentals for days or weeks for a maximum period of one month. In the cases of homes marketed under the Principal Residence Mode (ETV60) the owner's coexistence with the clients is allowed. You cannot formalize contracts for rooms or match users who have entered into different contracts. Unless this is the Principal Residence (ETV60) and the owner is in the house when guests stay.
• Tourist services must be offered. This means regular cleaning, bedding and towels, a supply of general household items, upkeep of the house, service during working hours.
• All regulatory requirements related to business activity, including labour legislation if you have hired staff, and taxes have to be met.
• You must send details of staying guests to the Guardia Civil or Policía Nacional.
• Guests need to abide by the rules of the community and owners/representatives are responsible in clearly setting these out and obtaining the guests' signed acknowledgement.
• The license number of the property must be permanently published in all rental marketing. It must also be provided to the client at the beginning of the stay.
• You must have an insurance policy in place that covers third-party liability for holiday rentals.
• The houses located in the areas of fire risk prevention (check this with the local council) have to take the measures referred to in point 19 of Article 50 of Law 8/2012
• Tourist Rentals in apartment blocks or homes subject to horizontal property laws, or in Principal Residence homes, is for a maximum of five years. The license can be renewed at the same cost.
• If a building community decides to stop allowing holiday rentals, registered apartments will have to cease their activity within a year.