Comunidad de Propietarios: New Rules on Holiday Rentals

Since April 3, 2025 your comunidad de propietarios has the final say on holiday rentals. The reform of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal allows the owners' meeting to ban tourist rentals in the building with a three fifths majority, to restrict them, or to charge the flats concerned a surcharge of up to 20 percent on community fees. For owners on Mallorca this is one of the most important legal changes in years - whether you want to rent out yourself or you want peace and quiet in the building. How the comunidad works in general is explained in our guide to property management and the comunidad de propietarios.

What the reform of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal changes

The comunidad de propietarios is the legally mandated community of owners of a building in Spain. It manages the common areas, decides on fees and the rules of living together, and is represented by an elected president. Its legal basis is the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal of 1960, which has been reformed several times since.

The most recent change, and the most important one for landlords, came via the fourth final provision of the Ley Organica 1/2025 of January 2, in force since April 3, 2025. The new Article 17.12 turns the previous logic on its head: anyone who wants to start offering their flat as a holiday rental needs the prior, express approval of the owners' meeting. Without that resolution, tourist use of the flat is not permitted in the building, even if the Balearic government would grant a licence.

Concretely, the community can do three things with a three fifths majority:

• ban holiday rentals in the building entirely
• allow them but attach conditions (such as quiet hours or a cap on the number of flats)
• increase the community fee share of the flats used for tourism by up to 20 percent

Important for Mallorca: the resolution of the comunidad does not replace the public-law side. An ETV licence from the Balearic authorities remains mandatory on top. What you risk without a licence is covered in our guide to the ETV licence and illegal holiday rentals.

Three fifths majority: how a resolution is passed the legally safe way

The three fifths majority is a double majority: three fifths of all owners who at the same time represent three fifths of the ownership shares (cuotas de participacion). Votes are counted not only per head but also by the share of the building set out in the purchase deed. What counts is all owners, not only those present. Under Article 17.8 LPH, the votes of duly invited absent owners who do not object within 30 days of receiving the minutes are counted as approval.

For a resolution to hold up in court, the minutes have to be right. Under Article 19 LPH, the minutes (acta) must contain, among other things:

1. place, date and whether it was an ordinary or extraordinary meeting
2. the agenda, on which the holiday rental item was expressly announced
3. the voting result with the names and shares of the owners in favour and against
4. the exact wording of the resolution

The minutes must be finalized within ten days of the meeting and sent to the owners. A resolution that was only passed under "any other business", or whose voting result is not clearly documented, is open to challenge.

Outvoted: which rights you have as an owner

If you are outvoted at the meeting, you are not defenceless against the resolution. Article 18 LPH allows a challenge (impugnacion) in court. The deadlines are short: three months for resolutions that violate the statutes or seriously disadvantage individual owners, and one year for resolutions that violate the law. Only owners who voted against the resolution, were absent, or were wrongly denied their vote can challenge it. You also have to be up to date with your community payments.

Is a majority of those present enough for a ban? No. What is required is three fifths of all owners and three fifths of all shares. Absent owners count as approving though, if they do not object in writing within 30 days of receiving the minutes. If you want to stop a ban, you have to react actively.

Does the ban also apply to existing holiday rentals? No, the reform has no retroactive effect. Anyone who was renting legally before April 3, 2025 has grandfathered protection. Without a licence, or where the statutes already contained a ban, that protection does not apply.

If you rent out without the required approval, the president of the comunidad can demand that you stop, and the community can then file a cease and desist claim (accion de cesacion). How conflicts in the building play out and escalate in general is the subject of our post on neighbour law in Spain.

How to recognize a good property administrator

Whether a holiday rental resolution is passed cleanly depends in practice heavily on the administrador de fincas. You can recognize a good administrator by precisely worded agenda items, correctly counted proxies and shares, minutes delivered complete and on time, and written answers to questions. You should get suspicious when meetings are called without a clear agenda, minutes arrive weeks later, or voting results are documented without a list of names. On a topic as contentious as tourist rentals, a clean administration is the best protection against years of litigation. If you plan to rent out yourself, you will find the basics in our guide to renting to tourists.

Conclusion

The reform of the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal has shifted the balance of power in apartment buildings: since April 3, 2025 the comunidad de propietarios decides with a three fifths majority whether new tourist rentals are allowed in its building, and it can tighten existing rules with conditions or a surcharge of up to 20 percent. For owners that means: take the meetings seriously, check the minutes and keep an eye on the deadlines, because silence after the meeting counts as approval. If you have been outvoted, the challenge under Article 18 LPH is a sharp but time-limited tool. And if you are buying in order to rent out, check the resolutions of the comunidad before you sign at the notary.