Marbella has the most aggressive licence enforcement on the Costa del Sol. That's not a marketing line — it's the working reality, and it changes how owners need to approach the licensing question for new properties bought after April 2025.
The two-licence framework
The VUT is the Andalucian regional licence; the NRUA is the national registry number. Both apply to every short-stay rental on the coast. The VUT is filed with the Junta as a declaración responsable and can be issued in a day for clean applications. The NRUA, mandatory since July 2025, registers the property in the management company's name in the national registry.
Both numbers must appear on every listing on every platform. That's enforced.
Where Marbella diverges from the rest of the coast
Many gated developments in Marbella have voted to prohibit new short-term rentals under the 3/5 community-vote rule that took effect in April 2025. Existing licences continue under the old rules — those are grandfathered and we manage many of them. New applications, however, depend entirely on whether the community has voted for or against, and increasingly the answer is against in residential-led developments.
This is the conversation we have with prospective owners before they purchase: not every Marbella property is licensable for short-stay any more. We'll tell you which buildings still grant new VUTs, which have closed the door, and which sit in limbo because the community hasn't voted yet either way. The buildings change quarterly. Anyone managing in Marbella honestly will admit they keep a running register, not a static list.
What it means for owners in practice
If you already hold a valid VUT for a Marbella property, your licence keeps its status. Selling the property doesn't transfer the licence directly, but the buyer can apply for a new VUT — and if your building has established precedent, that's a smooth process. The community vote becomes the variable.
If you're considering buying a property to rent short-stay, ask the seller for the community vote history before signing. We're happy to check on your behalf at no cost — there's no point you taking the property forward if the building has prohibited short-stay rentals. That conversation belongs at the discovery call, not after the keys are in your pocket.
The NRUA in Marbella
Once a VUT is in place, the NRUA filing is administrative. Royal Decree 1312/2024 set the national framework; the registration sits with us as the rental manager. The N2 annual declaration follows every February and we file for every property we manage.
The honest position on Marbella: more restrictive than other Costa del Sol municipalities, but not closed. With the right property in the right building, the licensing path is clear. The discovery call is where we tell you which side of that line your specific case falls on.
