Welcome to this article about the current situation of tourist licenses in Jávea (Xàbia).
We are living through complicated times for holiday rentals: regulations are becoming stricter and, in many cases, people who want to operate legally feel unfairly penalized.
That said, there are still opportunities to obtain a tourist license in Jávea, as long as all requirements are met correctly and the process is handled properly.
What Is Tourist Accommodation?
Simply put, obtaining a tourist rental license means converting your property into a small hotel: you can rent it out by days or short stays to tourists looking for holiday accommodation.
However, this activity is not always permitted. The essential first step is holding a valid tourist license that authorizes short-term rental activity.
Tourist License Regulations in the Valencian Community and Airbnb
This is where things get tricky. Several regulations apply simultaneously:
- Spanish Horizontal Property Law
- Municipal urban planning regulations
- Spanish Technical Building Code (CTE)
- Valencian Community tourism regulations
- National regulations, including the National Rental Register (NRA) and guest registration
Sounds overwhelming — but don’t worry.
At Licencia Vacacional, we specialize in handling the entire process and guiding property owners step by step to obtain their Valencian Community tourist license without unnecessary stress.
How to Register a Property as a Tourist Rental in Jávea
Below are the most common steps to legally obtain a holiday rental license in Jávea.
Homeowners’ Association Approval (Community Approval Requirement)
Here comes the first major requirement.
Since April 2025, approval from the homeowners’ association is mandatory in order to obtain a tourist license.
We know — it’s not easy. But this is the current legal reality.
✅ Important exception:
If your property is a detached single-family house, you do not need community approval.
Jávea City Council – Informe Compatibilidad Urbanística
The next step is obtaining approval from the Jávea City Council, officially known as the Urban Compatibility Report.
And here’s the problem:
In Jávea, this procedure is currently paralyzed, except for single-family homes.
Current situation:
✅ Single-family houses → can obtain a tourist license
❌ Apartments and other properties → must wait until 2027, when the process is expected to reopen
This municipal process can take several months.
Tourist Rental Registration in the Valencian Community
This is the well-known Responsible Declaration submitted to the Tourism Department, which officially grants the tourist license.
In this declaration, you state that your property complies with all applicable regulations — and trust us, there are many.
You may have heard that this registration is immediate.
In reality, it usually takes a few weeks to be finalized.
Once completed, you officially obtain your tourist license.
NRA Registration or Ventanilla Única Digital for Tourist Rentals
Finally, there’s the new National Rental Register (NRA) — introduced to standardize tourist rental registrations across Spain… and, unfortunately, add more bureaucracy.
This register acts almost like a “tourism police”, often requesting documents that should already have been verified by the Tourism Department.
In short, it’s:
- An additional procedure.
- An extra cost.
- A mandatory registration to obtain a code required to publish on platforms like Airbnb or Booking.