Short answer: yes, you can still register a new holiday rental in Mijas. As of October 2026 the town hall has not set any limit or moratorium of its own. What decides it is the property: it must meet the Andalusian requirements and, if it is in a building or urbanisation with a community of owners, it now needs the community's express approval. If you are buying with rental income in mind, check both before you sign.
Holiday lets are regulated at three levels: the town hall, the Junta de Andalucía and the Spanish state. This is where each one stands in Mijas.
1. Mijas: no local limits, for now
Unlike Málaga city, Mijas has not approved any ordinance, moratorium or zoning that caps the number of tourist homes. So far it has taken the opposite approach: in 2016 the town hall began issuing a certificate of planning prescription and habitability for homes without a first-occupation licence (because they were very old, never had one or had lost it) so that they could be entered in the Andalusian tourism register.
That could change. Since 2024 the Andalusian rules allow town halls to set proportionate limits on the number of tourist homes per building, area or zone. And since 4 March 2025, Andalusian Decree-law 1/2025 lets them require a licence or a responsible declaration for the change of use before registration, and suspend new tourist homes for up to three years, across the whole municipality or by zones, as soon as they agree to start amending their planning. Málaga city has used it; Mijas had not as of October 2026. The mayor said in March 2025 that Mijas has a large number of tourist homes that "needs regulating". Before buying, ask your lawyer to check whether anything has been approved since this article was published.
2. Andalucía: registration and minimum standards
A holiday rental (vivienda de uso turístico, VUT) must be entered in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía by filing a responsible declaration. The rules are in Decree 28/2016, as amended by Decree 31/2024 (in force since 22 February 2024) and by Decree-law 1/2025 (in force since 4 March 2025). The responsible declaration must now state that the community of owners has expressly authorised the activity. The main requirements:
- At least 14 m² built per guest and 25 m² in total, according to the Cadastre.
- Two bathrooms for more than five guests and three for more than eight.
- Air conditioning in bedrooms and living room if you rent between May and August, and heating if you rent between December and March.
- Direct ventilation to the outside or to ventilated courtyards in bedrooms and living room, and a way to darken the windows.
- A maximum of 15 guests for a whole home, or 6 if you rent by rooms.
- The home must comply with municipal planning rules. The Junta notifies the town hall of every new registration.
Three kinds of property are excluded outright: homes under public protection (VPO), homes in buildings whose deeds or community statutes expressly prohibit the activity, and homes declared "asimilado a fuera de ordenación" (AFO), that is, built without a licence and tolerated but not legalised, unless the town hall expressly authorises the change of use. The first two have already come up in Mijas, when the national registration number still existed: Mijas Land Registry no. 2 refused or revoked the number for flats whose community statutes banned tourist lets (2025) and suspended it for a room in a VPO flat (December 2025). In 2026 the Directorate General for Legal Certainty upheld the registry's position: one appeal was dismissed on the merits and the others failed on procedural grounds. That national number no longer exists, but the Andalusian exclusions still apply.
3. Spain: the community has the final say
Since 3 April 2025, the Horizontal Property Act requires any owner who wants to start a holiday rental to obtain the express prior approval of the community of owners. The vote needs three-fifths of all the owners, who must also hold three-fifths of the participation shares. With the same majority, the community can charge the flat up to 20% more in community fees. Owners who were already operating legally under the tourism rules before that date can continue.
This matters a great deal in Mijas, where much of what is for sale on the coast is in urbanisations with a community, such as Calahonda or Riviera del Sol.
What has gone is the national single rental register (NRUA). It was required on platforms such as Airbnb and Booking from 1 July 2025, but the Supreme Court annulled the register and its number (judgment 620/2026 of 19 May, published in the BOE on 8 June 2026) because the state lacked the power to create it. The annulment is partial: the digital single window through which platforms send data to the authorities remains. The Andalusian registration is still compulsory, and its number is the one that goes in listings.
4. Tax: VAT on short stays from December 2026
Royal Decree-law 29/2026 applies 10% VAT from 1 December 2026 to rentals of furnished homes of up to 30 nights, unless the landlord has their main residence in the home. Until now these rentals were VAT-exempt when no hotel-type services were provided. The decree has been in force since 8 October, but with Parliament dissolved it must be ratified by the Standing Committee of the Congress, with the vote scheduled for 12 November 2026. The first version, Royal Decree-law 26/2026, was rejected on 2 October 2026, so check where it stands.
The same decree allows town halls to add a surcharge of up to 50% on the IBI property tax of tourist homes, and more for owners of several, but only in officially declared stressed housing markets. Andalucía has not declared any, so it does not apply in Mijas today.
What it means if you are buying
- An apartment in an urbanisation with a community: assume you will need a three-fifths vote to start a new holiday rental. Ask for the community statutes and the minutes of recent meetings: if the statutes prohibit it, you cannot register it, and if the community has already voted against, you are unlikely to win the vote. If the numbers only work as a holiday let, think again.
- A detached villa: if it does not belong to any community, the community vote is not an issue, but the Andalusian requirements are: bathrooms per guest, air conditioning, ventilation and planning legality. Check that it is not in AFO status, which is common with villas on rural land. Many villas sit in urbanisations with their own community, so check that too.
- A home that is already registered: ask for the registration number in the Registro de Turismo de Andalucía and evidence that it has actually been operating. The exemption from the community vote covers the owner who was already letting before 3 April 2025, and it is not clear that it passes to a new buyer. Your lawyer should confirm this before you pay extra for an existing licence.
- A protected (VPO) home: it cannot be a holiday rental, whole or by rooms.
If holiday letting does not fit, long-term or seasonal rentals are other options, with their own rules. Read what to check before investing in Mijas and the step-by-step buying guide.
This article is general information, reviewed on 16 October 2026, not legal or tax advice. The rules are changing fast: for a specific property, talk to a local advisor.
