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After several years of relentless growth, Spain’s supply of tourist apartments has gone into reverse for the first time since 2022, signalling a potential turning point in the country’s tourism and housing debate.

 

According to new figures published on Monday by the National Statistics Institute (INE), there were 329,764 holiday rental properties registered across Spain in November 2025, a fall of 12.4% compared to the same month last year. The total has now slipped below 330,000, marking the first annual decline in three years and suggesting that the rapid expansion of tourist apartments has come to an abrupt halt.

 

The drop is particularly striking given how quickly the market expanded in recent years. In August 2024, the number of tourist apartments hit a record high of 403,267. Since then, supply has fallen by 18.2%, equivalent to 73,503 fewer properties, although current levels remain above those seen during the pandemic lows.

 

This slowdown comes at a time when tourists are already rethinking how and where they travel in Spain due to rising costs and shorter stays. While overall tourism spending remains strong, recent data suggests fewer visitors are spending more, rather than mass numbers driving growth. This shift has raised fresh questions about how Spain balances high tourism revenue with pressure on housing and local communities.

 

Regionally, the picture is uneven. Holiday rentals fell by more than 25% in the Valencian Community, Madrid and Murcia, with Murcia seeing the steepest proportional decline at 33.1%. In absolute terms, the Valencian Community recorded the biggest drop, losing more than 16,000 tourist apartments in a single year. Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Galicia also saw significant reductions.

 

By contrast, only Andalucía and Extremadura recorded growth, with Andalusia adding 1,394 properties, an increase of 1.5%. The region now accounts for 27.8% of all tourist apartments in Spain, underlining its continued importance within the holiday rental market.

 

Overall, tourist apartments now represent 1.24% of Spain’s housing stock, down from 1.41% a year earlier. The government has linked the decline to stricter regulation. A new state registration system introduced last year requires owners to prove their properties are legal before advertising online, allowing authorities to identify 86,000 illegal short-term rentals in one year.

 

Responding to the figures, the Ministry of Housing said, “Tourist apartments have registered the largest drop in the historical series thanks to the decisive action of the Spanish Government,” adding that reforms are aimed at ensuring more homes are available for long-term, affordable residential rental.

 

However, while the official INE figures do suggest a decrease in the number of tourist flats, these statistics are based solely on listings published on Spain’s three main holiday rental platforms and may not reflect the full picture. The Madrid Tenants’ Union acknowledges that the data show the impact of recent intervention in the market, but warns that illegal tourist flats are on the rise, estimating that 90% of such properties in the capital operate irregularly.

 

As such, they say, the figures fail to represent the reality experienced by residents dealing with the rental crisis.

 

Attention is also turning to the widespread use of seasonal rentals as a loophole. This broad category covers everything from 11-month contracts to one-week lets, allowing many properties to avoid tighter regulations. A quick search on property platforms reveals that a significant proportion of listings, particularly in coastal areas and cities under heavy tourist pressure, are now marketed under this arrangement.

 

 

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