Catalonia's Tourist Accommodation Registration Process: Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: 8/4/2021
As indicated in our Terms of Service, each Host is responsible for the compliance with the applicable laws. Airbnb provides you with the necessary space so that you may include in your listing all the information that you need or that the law requires you.
Despite this, Airbnb is implementing new fields for listings of accommodations in Catalonia that make it even simpler for hosts to insert in their listings legal information, for example, the registration number of the Tourism Register when Hosts consider it necessary to display this.
The following section provides answers to frequently asked questions regarding the listing protocol and implementation process.
Check our frequently asked questions for more information regarding private rooms in Barcelona and Catalonia. You can also check the website of the Catalonian administration and/or of the Barcelona City Hall.
What do the applicable regulations in Catalonia say about accommodations for touristic purposes?
Prior to the rental of your accommodation, you should verify if it falls within the different types of accommodations contained in the touristic regulations. If it does, it is possible that, before renting your accommodation, you should file a responsibility statement (declaración responsable) or a prior communication to the city council about where your accommodation is located, and depending on the type of accommodation, also with other relevant touristic authorities. In the majority of cases once the responsibility statement or prior communication is filed you will be allowed to rent your accommodation from the same date of submission, though there may exist other limitations from a local or specific perspective. The touristic authorities will register your accommodation in the Touristic Registry of Catalonia and will give you a registration number that you may include in your listing.
What does this registration process consist of?
The registration of the accommodation with the Tourism Registry of Catalonia generates a number that will be provided to you by the touristic authorities after the filing of the responsibility statement or the prior communication.
Who has to file a responsibility statement or previous communication?
All accommodations for touristic purposes contemplated in the Tourism Law (13/2002 of June 21) applicable in Catalonia, the Decree 75/2020 of August 4, on tourism in Catalonia, and the Law 16/2015, of 21 July, concerning the simplification of the administrative activity of the Administration of the Generalita and local governments of Catalonia and the impulse of economic activity as well as the Spanish Civil Code and the Urban Rentals Law. The types of cases are very specific and you should examine in each case what norms are applicable to you and whether you need to file a responsibility statement or similar. We suggest that you check this personally or that you seek advice, since such laws have been amended frequently in the last few years and there may be other norms that affect you.
What happens if I only want to rent my accommodation for long-term? And what if my accommodation is a rural house or a touristic apartment?
If you only want to rent your accommodation to the same guest for a period of time of more than 31 consecutive nights, the touristic regulations will not be applicable, and you will not have to submit a self-statement or prior communication or obtain the registration number in the Touristic Registry of Catalonia.
The Decree 75/2020 of August 4, on tourism in Catalonia regulates different types of touristic establishments (below you can find the list), and imposes the fulfillment of specific requirements in relation to the minimum conditions applicable to each type, touristic licenses, registry, etc.:
- Hotel establishments, which includes hotels, hotel-apartments, hostels, and pensions
- Touristic apartments
- Camping
- Rural tourism establishments, which include farmhouses (casas de payes) and rural accommodations (farmhouses masía, country houses masovería, independent houses, or shared village houses)
- Unique accommodations
- Shared homes
How can I register?
In all applicable cases you’ll need to file a responsibility statement or communication with the corresponding city council, electronically depending on the city hall, or before any of the public registries established in Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Administrative Procedures Law.
After that, the relevant city council will send a communication to the Catalan Touristic Administration which will issue and provide you with your registration number. If your application is approved, you’ll receive a registration number that you’ll be able to add to your listing page.
What happens if I already registered?
If you’re already registered, follow the following steps and add your accommodation registration number to each of your listings in Catalonia:
- Go to Your listings
- Click your accommodation listing in Catalonia
- Click Policy & norms at the left side of the page, select Regulations, and then select an option
- Follow the instructions to display your registration number and when you finish, click on Next and then Submit
- Repeat this process for all the accommodations you have in Catalonia
Please note that, when including the registration number of your accommodation, only the initial letter code (ex: HUTB) and the following six digits (ex: 123456) need to be inserted, not the DC code of two digits (ex: 12) that follows.
What happens if my accommodation does not require the filing of a responsibility statement or other similar formality?
You may be able to indicate such circumstance by following the process outlined above.
How much does the responsibility statement filing process cost?
The fee associated to the responsibility statement varies from city to city. For example it is €227 in Barcelona, €150 in Girona, and €273 in Lleida.
How often do I have to renew the registration number?
It is not necessary to renew the registration number, its validity remains while the accommodation maintains the requirements and conditions imposed by the applicable regulations. However, if any of the data of the accommodation vary, you should inform the relevant authorities. You should also update your Airbnb's listing to include the new information.
Which documents are required by the competent authorities in order to file a responsibility statement and obtain the corresponding registration number?
You must submit a self-statement before the corresponding City Council in which the touristic accommodation is located, through the available official forms. In such document the following information, among other, is required:
- Accommodation details and its maximum capacity
- Owner's data
- Phone number to use for any communications related to the activity of your touristic accommodation
- Identification of the company in charge of the assistance and maintenance of the accommodation
- Self-statement declaring that the dwelling has an occupancy certificate
If you are entrusting the management of the accommodation to a third party, in addition to the information listed above, the following information must also be included:
- Data of the manager
- Self-statement declaring that the manager has a valid title granted by the owner for the management of the dwelling
You can find the procedures and download the application forms depending on the municipality here. In case you have any doubts you can click on this Catalonia Administration website, which contains the answers to the most frequent questions. Airbnb displays the listings such as they are completed by hosts though you must comply with the norms that you consider are applicable. We suggest that you obtain specialized advice. It may be that some of the norms have been amended, may not be applicable to you, or that you consider them contrary to norms of a superior rank or European depending on the specific facts.
How do I revoke my consent to data sharing?
If you revoke your consent to sharing data with the competent bodies of the public administration, you will be unable to continue hosting (as data sharing is a requirement of hosting). If you would still like to revoke your consent, please contact us and explain that you would like to revoke your consent to data sharing as part of Catalonia’s Pass-through Registration flow. We'll remove your listing, note your revocation, and you will not be able to re-list your listing unless you contact us and expressly re-consent to data sharing.
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