«Buy an apartment by the sea — and let it rent itself out». This is exactly how most foreigners think when they come to Costa Blanca with a budget for a second property. The logic is ironclad: the sun shines 320 days a year, the airport is nearby, tourists come year-round. Buy — rent out — break even.

In 2026, this logic still works. But the rules of the game have changed more in the last year and a half than in the previous ten years. The Supreme Court canceled the federal registry, neighbors in the building gained veto rights, and half of the resort municipalities froze the issuance of new licenses. Let's go through what this means for you as a future investor — without legal fog, with concrete figures and names of laws you should know before buying, not after.

Three levels at which your rental fate is decided

The main mistake of a beginner is to think that a «tourist rental license» is issued at a single window. In fact, the permit passes through three independent filters, and failure at any of them closes the matter completely.

The first level is the autonomous community (Valencia), where the regional tourism law applies. The second is the municipality, which can introduce a moratorium or require an urban planning certificate. The third is the homeowners' association of your building, which from 2025 has the right to simply say «no». You must pass all three. And the trickiest part is that these are not connected: the municipality can approve, but neighbors can vote against, and there will be no license.

That is why you cannot choose an apartment «for tourists» based on photos and sea view alone. First, the legal feasibility of the specific address is checked, and only then the balcony and renovation.

Level 1: Regional law of Valencia — Decreto Ley 9/2024

Since August 2024, a new decree on tourist housing has been in force in the Valencian Community. According to Decreto Ley 9/2024, all tourist apartments must renew their registration every five years and provide a certificate of urban compatibility issued by the city hall. This is a key point. Previously, the license was indefinite — you got it once and forgot about it. Now it is a renewable permit with mandatory checks every five years. And the central document here is the certificado de compatibilidad urbanística: a certificate from the city hall stating that tourist use is in principle allowed in your building and your zone.

In protected residential zones or buildings with restrictive statutes, such a certificate may be denied. That is, even without a formal moratorium, the city hall can refuse simply because the building is located in an area where tourist activity is not permitted.

Level 2: Municipal moratoriums — map of restrictions

Here Costa Blanca has become a patchwork quilt, and you need to understand this before choosing a city.

In the city of Alicante itself, the situation is tough. In December 2025, the city hall approved a spot modification of the general plan, extending the moratorium on issuing new licenses for a second year, setting a maximum of 0.187 tourist places per inhabitant, and banning new places in oversaturated zones (with exceptions for 3–5 star hotels). In addition, activities on the ground floors of shopping streets are restricted and a requirement for a separate entrance in residential buildings has been introduced.

And this is not only the provincial capital. In the province, municipalities such as El Campello, Calpe, Denia, Altea, and Javea maintain or have extended moratoriums. Before buying with a view to tourist rental, it is necessary to check the specific regulatory situation in the particular municipality and zone where the property is located.

Practical conclusion: two apartments with the same price in neighboring towns can have diametrically opposite investment potential. In one, a license will not be granted at all; in the other — no problem. The difference in profitability here is measured not in percentages, but by the very fact of «allowed/not allowed».

Level 3: Neighbors gained veto rights — LPH reform

This is perhaps the most underestimated change. On April 3, 2025, a reform of the Horizontal Property Law (LPH), introduced by Organic Law 1/2025, came into force.

The essence is simple and radical. Under the new version, tourist rental is prohibited by default, except in cases of direct permission by the homeowners' association, adopted by a three-fifths majority. An important detail is the double quorum: the decision is made under article 17.12 LPH — three-fifths of all owners who simultaneously represent three-fifths of the shares. If you have 60% of owners «for», but they own less than 60% of shares, the decision is invalid.

Moreover, the association may, by the same qualified majority, not only authorize but also restrict or completely prohibit tourist activity, as well as impose a surcharge on common expenses up to 20% for apartments rented to tourists.

Good news for those buying an existing business. Apartments that were already legally operating before April 3, 2025, can continue activities — the principle of non-retroactivity protects those registered earlier. Therefore, when buying a property with an active license, the date of initial registration becomes a valuable asset: it is «older» than the new bans.

What does this mean in practice? If you buy an apartment in a residential building without a valid license, you will have to go to a general meeting of neighbors and gather 60%+60%. In a resort building where half of the owners are local pensioners tired of suitcases in the hallway, chances may be low. But buying a property with an already issued and active license removes this risk.

Abolition of the federal registry: what happened and what remains

In spring 2026, an event occurred that caused a lot of confusion. The Supreme Court, with decision No. 620/2026, canceled the unified national short-term rental registry due to lack of state competence, but kept the digital single window. This refers to the registry introduced by Royal Decree 1312/2024 and effective from July 1, 2025.

The court’s logic: tourist rental and tourism regulation largely fall under the competence of autonomous communities, so the state had no right to create a national registry overlapping existing regional ones.

It is important to understand the consequences correctly. From the publication of the decision in the BOE on June 8, 2026, obtaining a state registration number for offering short-term accommodations on online platforms ceased to be mandatory. But — and this is critical — the abolition does not affect autonomous tourist licenses and registries, nor obligations regarding guest identification and data transmission, such as guest logs and SES Hospedajes.

Simply put: one federal bureaucratic layer was removed, but the regional license of Valencia, municipal requirements, and mandatory data transmission to the police remain in force. For the buyer, this is more a paper simplification than a real easing.

So is it worth buying for rental in 2026?

Yes — but consciously, not «at random». The demand has not disappeared: Costa Blanca remains one of the strongest resort markets in Spain with international demand growing year by year. Profitability is real, but concentrated: the weeks of July and August offer maximum occupancy and the highest nightly rates, while Easter, June, and September are mid-season. Calculating payback based on August rates multiplied by twelve is a classic beginner’s mistake.

Three rules that will save you tens of thousands of euros:

First — check the legal feasibility of the address before the deposit, not after. Moratoriums in the municipality and the homeowners' association statute are more important than renovation and sea view.

Second — a property with a valid license is more expensive for a reason. The date of initial registration is protected from new bans, and this «grandfather clause» is a real value, not a marketing markup.

Third — if a tourist license is unavailable, there is a legal alternative. In moratorium zones, temporary rental under article 3 of the Urban Lease Law (LAU), which does not require a tourist license, remains a lawful option. Profitability is lower, but risks are fewer.

The tourist rental market on Costa Blanca in 2026 is no longer «buy and forget», but an investment requiring due diligence at entry. However, those who consciously pass all three filters face fewer competitors: the illegal segment is cleansed, and demand remains. And this, paradoxically, is good news for the careful buyer.