If you own a holiday rental in Spain from abroad, the past few months have been confusing in two languages. Spain’s Supreme Court annulled the national short-term rental registry (the NRUA) in a run of judgments through May and June 2026. Yet as of mid-July, Airbnb’s own help centre still describes the annulled decree as if nothing happened and keeps showing two registration fields, one national and one regional.
Here is the answer in one line: your regional tourist registration number is the one that matters, the same one that was mandatory before the NRUA existed. Everything else is detail, so let’s get the detail right.
What the court killed, and what it didn’t
The Supreme Court struck down the state registry (Royal Decree 1312/2024) because tourism regulation belongs to Spain’s regions, not the central government. Still fully alive:
- Your regional registration (HUT in Catalonia, VT in Valencia, VUT in Andalucía and Galicia, ETV in the Balearics, VV in the Canaries…). Regional law requires it to appear in your advertising, with fines for omitting it.
- The EU short-term rental framework (Regulation 2024/1028): the single digital entry point and the platforms’ data-sharing duties survived the ruling explicitly.
- Guest registration (Royal Decree 933/2021 and SES.HOSPEDAJES): a different regime from a different ministry. Every guest still generates a police report within 24 hours, exactly as before.
What is gone: the obligation to obtain the state number through the Property Registry. In Catalonia, registries have been cancelling provisional numbers since the judgments reached the official gazette, roughly 66,000 registered properties are affected, and nobody is refunding the fees paid so far.
What to do on Airbnb and Booking today
Airbnb shows two fields. Fill and maintain the regional one, in your listing details; Airbnb publishes per-region help articles with the expected format (its Galicia article, for instance, asks for VUT-LU-000000). For the national field there is, as of today, no official platform guidance; what you must not do is leave the regional field empty.
Booking takes the number per property in the extranet’s licence section. One rule saves most headaches on both platforms: enter the number exactly as your region issued it, slashes, hyphens and prefixes included. Automated rejections are almost always formatting.
If a platform blocks your listing for lacking a state number that no longer exists, escalate to support citing Supreme Court judgment 620/2026. The legal basis for that requirement is gone.
The number that is still mandatory, by region
| Region | Registry | Typical format |
|---|---|---|
| Andalucía | Registro de Turismo de Andalucía (RTA) | VUT/SE/00000 (older VFT prefixes were converted automatically in 2024) |
| Catalonia | Registre de Turisme de Catalunya (NIRTC) | HUTB-000000 (HUTG, HUTT, HUTL by area); the provisional filing number is valid while the final one is pending |
| Valencia region | Registre de Turisme | VT-000000-V (A/CS/V by province) |
| Madrid | Registro de Empresas Turísticas | VT reference number; since Decree 27/2026 a technical suitability certificate (CIVUT) also applies. Check the current rules for what must appear in the ad itself |
| Balearic Islands | Island tourism registry | ETV/0000 |
| Canary Islands | Registro General Turístico | VV-35-3-0000000 |
| Galicia | REAT | VUT-CO-000000 |
| Basque Country | REATE | Code including the province (BI/SS/VI); the Basque tourism law requires the number “in all types of advertising” |
| Asturias | Regional tourism registry | VUT or VV reference, plus the exact address, in every ad |
A cautionary tale about enforcement: the Basque government got Airbnb to remove hundreds of unregistered listings on demand. Regions use this lever, and the platform will not warn you first.
If you held an NRUA: a short exit checklist
- Don’t renew it or start new filings. The obligation no longer exists.
- Keep the full file, including any rejection: it is the basis for any future fee claim.
- Audit your listings today: regional number present, exact format, on Airbnb, Booking and your own site.
- A cancelled provisional NRUA does not touch your regional licence. They are different registries; your right to operate comes from the regional one.
And whatever happens to property registries, the daily obligation continues: every arriving guest means a traveller report to SES.HOSPEDAJES within 24 hours. That recurring part is what RegistroViajero automates, digital check-in included, in your guests’ language and yours.
Frequently asked questions
Can I advertise without any registration number? No. The state NRUA is gone, but the regional number remains mandatory in advertising in nearly every region, with fines for omitting it.
Airbnb still asks for the national number. What do I enter? Keep the regional field correct; that is the legally required one. There is no official platform instruction yet for the national field. If support blocks you over it, cite the Supreme Court annulment.
My provisional NRUA was cancelled. Must I stop renting? No, as long as your regional registration is valid. The cancelled number belongs to the annulled state registry, not to your licence.
Will Spain refund the NRUA fees I paid? No refund procedure has been announced. Keep every invoice in case one opens; some owners are weighing individual claims.
Does this change my guest registration duties? Not at all. Royal Decree 933/2021 is a separate regime: guest data still goes to SES.HOSPEDAJES within 24 hours of check-in, with the same penalties.
Sources and disclaimer
Sources: Supreme Court press note (CGPJ); Airbnb help on Royal Decree 1312/2024 and on Galicia registration, checked 17 July 2026; Andalucía Decree 31/2024 (BOJA); Basque Tourism Law 13/2016 (BOE).
This article is informational and is not legal advice. Number formats and advertising rules are regional and change often: verify yours with the official registry of your region.
