💶 Tax · RDL 26/2026 · 10% VAT · 1 Dec 2026

10% VAT on Andalusian holiday lets from 1 December 2026

Published September 2026 · By SALAMA LEGAL SLP · Jacob Salama, lawyer & economist, ICAMALAGA Bar 11.294

If you own a holiday let (VUT) in Andalusia, Royal Decree-Law 26/2026 of 29 September (published 30 September 2026) reverses a rule that worked in your favour for decades: until now, letting by the night with no hotel services kept your income outside VAT. From 1 December 2026 that is no longer true. Short-stay furnished letting becomes subject to VAT at a reduced 10%, whether or not you provide hotel services.

The striking part is the timing: Spain moves two years ahead of what was already coming from Europe. We analysed Directive (EU) 2025/516 (the VIDA package), which had scheduled this for 2028; RDL 26/2026 brings that same test to December 2026.

What the rule actually says

Article 7 rewrites letter e') of article 20.Uno.23.º of the VAT Act. A furnished apartment or dwelling letting is excluded from the exemption — becomes taxable — when either:

• the landlord provides any hotel-industry service (cleaning during the stay, laundry, restaurant, reception) — the old test; or
• the duration for the same tenant does not exceed 30 nights — the new, purely time-based test.

The second bullet is the key: what matters is no longer the services but how long the guest stays. A stay of 30 nights or fewer is taxable by definition. A parallel change to art. 91.Uno.2.2.º sets the rate at 10%, not 21%.

The only exception: your own home

Where the short stay is in the dwelling that is the landlord's habitual residence (a spare room in your own home), it stays exempt. For a dedicated holiday flat you do not live in, the exception does not apply.

From when

The VAT change has its own date: 1 December 2026. The rest of the decree-law took effect on 1 October 2026, but VAT waits until 1 December. Stays from that date are caught; the tax point is when the stay is supplied, not when it was booked.

What it means for your holiday let

• VAT registration (Modelo 036).
• Charging 10% to the guest and issuing invoices.
• Returns (quarterly Modelo 303, annual 390).
• Deducting input VAT on cleaning, commissions, repairs, furniture and supplies — the upside.

And it is not only VAT: the reform adds an IBI surcharge of up to 150% in stressed-market municipalities and excludes holiday lets from the income-tax reductions. It is a package designed to steer housing back to residential use.

Disclaimer: general information as of 2026 reflecting Royal Decree-Law 26/2026 as published; not individualised tax or legal advice. Rules and implementing measures may change; check your case before acting.