What's happened and since when
Madrid capital has closed two normative fronts nearly at once. The first is autonomous: Decreto 27/2026published at Boletín Oficial de la Comunidad de Madrid el 6 de abril de 2026 y en vigor desde el 26 de abril de 2026, modifica el Decreto 79/2014 que regula los apartamentos turísticos y las VUT en toda la región. Introduce nuevos requisitos de habitabilidad (la Comunicación de Inicio de Actividad Turística, CIVUT), prohíbe destinar a uso turístico cualquier vivienda con protección pública y da un periodo transitorio de tres años, hasta el 26 de abril de 2029, para adaptarse salvo que se haga una reforma sustancial del inmueble. También faculta expresamente a los ayuntamientos para limitar el número de VUT por edificio, zona o periodo mediante ordenanza.
The second front is municipal: Reside Planand that the town of Madrid has been and final after a transitional period. At the historic centre (Amer 00.01 area: Sol, Palacio, Cortes, Ambassadors, Justice, University, La Latina, Garden and part of Arganzuela) the town council no longer grants licences for VUT scattered in residential buildings, even with independent access at ground level. They are only allowed to fully tertiary or hotel buildings and it is also prohibited to transform a commercial place into a tourist housing. Outside the historic centre, the criterion is different: dispersed VUT remains authorized but only with independent public and ground or first floor access. The complete building intended for tertiary use, inside or outside the centre, does not have this restriction. That explains a striking figure: of the more 16.000 VUT active in capital capital Madrid, only a 7 % has been licensed as an idealist. The vast majority currently operates in a grey area that the town can pursue at any time, regardless of whether the Reside Plan tightens its criterion more in the future.
To this have been added a change of another order that affects all of Spain from 3 April 2025: Reforms of Horizontal Property Act exige que el propietario que quiera destinar su vivienda a uso turístico obtenga antes la aprobación expresa de la comunidad de vecinos, con una mayoría de tres quintos de propietarios y de cuotas. Es un filtro que se suma al urbanístico y que en Madrid pesa tanto como el Plan Reside, porque una comunidad puede bloquear una VUT aunque el Ayuntamiento la autorice.
What can you do if you have a license
To have an effective license doesn't mean to have an indefinitely free bar, but they don't get them from day to day. That's what changes and what doesn't:
- Maintain activity. A licence granted prior to restrictions remains valid. The Reside Plan acts on new licences and does not retroactively withdraw them.
- To adapt to physical requirements with margin. The 27 / 2026 Decree gives up to 26's April 2029 to meet new habitability requirements, unless you do a substantial refurbishment of the property earlier, in which case they are applied immediately.
- To transmit or sell the housing with the license. We have found no explicit limitation to the transferability of the VUT license in Madrid capital (as opposed to other cities, where the title's succession is regulated). Before closing a sale, we have to ask the town council to confirm that the licence remains valid and that it is not affected by a file.
- To watch the owners community. Aunque la licencia sea anterior a abril de 2025, una comunidad puede acordar ahora, con mayoría de tres quintos, prohibir la actividad turística hacia adelante o aprobar cuotas especiales de gastos comunes para las viviendas turísticas. Revisa los estatutos y las últimas actas de junta: es el punto donde más propietarios con licencia están teniendo sorpresas, no en la administración.
- Keep registration and sending data up to date. El registro único estatal de arrendamientos (NRA) fue anulado por el Tribunal Supremo en mayo de 2026 (STS 620/2026, de 19 de mayo, ECLI:ES:TS:2026:2148), así que el identificador que sigue siendo obligatorio publicar en los anuncios es el número de registro turístico autonómico de la Comunidad de Madrid. Además, toda vivienda turística tiene la obligación de comunicar los datos de las personas huéspedes a través de SES.HOSPEDAJESThat's independent of the license and that's equal with old or new leave.
What Can't Do Without A License, and The Legal Alternative
If your house is at the historic centre and has no more license, today you cannot release it as a scattered VUT: the track is closed unless you buy or adapt an entirely tertiary or hotel building. Outside the historic centre, clearance remains possible but only if the property has independent access from the street and is on the ground or first floor and if your flat is on a third floor with shared access by the general portal, it does not meet the requirement even if the district has no area restriction.
Operating without a license where the regulations have been prohibited have serious consequences: the town can order an end to activity and apply sanctions ranging from 30.001 € to 60.001 € and up to 100.001 € at the third level, as well as a surcharge from 20 % on common expenses in some buildings.
The legal alternative for a housing that cannot operate as VUT is season rentalA lease contract for work, studies or medical stay with no limitation on tourist spaces or tourist leave, as regulated by Section 3.2 of the Urban Leases Act. It does not generate the same income as a high-season VUT but allows to continue to rent the property in an area where the tourist high is closed with a different management model (selection of tenant, contract and monthly collection instead of overnight reservations).
Calendario 2026-2028
- 26 de abril de 2026: Decree 27 / 2026 (CIVUT, prohibition of VUT in protected housing and local authority to restrict by area) entered into force.
- 2026, in force: Reside plan applied throughout the town term and historic centre closed to new dispersion VUT.
- 26 April 2029: end of the transitional period of Decree 27 / 2026 to meet new physical habitability requirements with the exception of earlier substantial reform.
- No date: The risk that districts of the metropolitan crown (Alcalá de Henares, Aranjuez) will approve an ordenance of their own similar to Plan Reside. Today, there is no detectable one, only the autonomous Decree.
El dato clave para planificar cualquier operación en Madrid capital a medio plazo es que el Centro Histórico no tiene, a fecha de hoy, ninguna fecha prevista de reversión. A diferencia del periodo transitorio del Decreto 27/2026, que sí tiene un final fijado (2029), el cierre del Plan Reside al Centro Histórico se ha planteado como definitivo. La corona metropolitana, en cambio, sigue sin ordenanza propia detectada, lo que la convierte en la zona con menos riesgo regulatorio a corto plazo dentro del área metropolitana de Madrid, aunque el riesgo de contagio en municipios grandes como Alcalá de Henares o Aranjuez no es descartable si el patrón de Plan Reside se extiende, como ya ha ocurrido en otras comunidades con moratorias que empezaron en la capital y se extendieron después a las cabeceras de comarca.
Summary table by area
| Zone | New dispersed VUT | Tertiary complete building | 24 risk months |
|---|---|---|---|
| Historical Center (APE 00.01) | No | Yes | High - closed with no reversion date |
| Rest of districts of Madrid capital | Yes, with independent access + low / 1ª | Yes | Medium - risk of tightening |
| Corona metropolitan (Alcala, Aranjuez, Pozuelo, Alcobendas, Sierra Oeste) | Yes, only an autonomous decree | Yes | Average at Alcala / Aranjuez by contagion and low at the rest |
What we do at Bliss Homes in Madrid
We run houses in Madrid capital and at 24 town of the crown, so we see every day the difference between what the ordinance says and what can really be operated on every street. Before we leave a house we check if it's in the area of the historic centre, if it has independent access and what plant it's at, and we review the statutes and the final minutes of the community so as to avoid a surprise at midseason. Our integrated management commission is from 17 % + VAT (20,57 %), calculated from the total of the reserve after the disposal of the platform's commission (Airbnb or Booking) and cleaning forms part of that base. No permanency.
If your house's in an area where you can no longer be discharged as VUT, we do the same work with season rental: contract, selection of tenant and monthly collection. The start up, on both models, takes 7 days after we have keys and documentation. Can you see the service details at management of tourist flats in Madrid.
FAQ
Can I continue to rent my VUT at the historic centre if I had a license before Plan Reside?
Sí. El Plan Reside afecta a las licencias nuevas, no revoca de forma retroactiva las que ya estaban concedidas. Lo que sí puede cambiar es la comunidad de propietarios: desde el 3 de abril de 2025 puede prohibir la actividad hacia adelante con mayoría de tres quintos, o fijar cuotas especiales para las viviendas turísticas.
Can I sell my flat with the VUT license included?
We have not found an explicit restriction to the transmission of the license in the regulations of Madrid capital. Before signing, we should ask the town council for a written confirmation that the licence remains valid and has no open file, as the buyer will demand that guarantee.
What if my flat's outside the historic centre but doesn't have independent access?
No license. Outside the historic centre, the requirement for dispersed VUT is independent public access and be at ground or first floor. A upper floor with access shared by the general portal does not meet, although the district has no area restrictions.
Do we still have to have a single state register of leases?
No. The Supreme Court set aside in May of 2026 the provisions of Royal Decree 1312 / 2024 that established that register. The identifier to be published remains the number of autonomous tourist registration of the Community of Madrid and it remains necessary to report information about the guests through SES.HOSPEDAXES.
My house's at the historic centre and she doesn't have a license. What can I do?
No VUT license dispersed at the historic centre today. The legal alternative is season rental, regulated by article 3.2 of the Urban Retirement Act, with no limitation of tourist spaces or tourist license. It changes the income model but allows to continue to rent the property.
Do we talk about your place?
We give you an estimate with information about real housing that we already manage, not an invented number. Free and free.