Using our Short-Term Rentals (STRs) Monitoring Tool, we studied the distribution of tourist rental lessors in the Spanish market, to unveil that it is mostly controlled by individuals and small owners or agencies. This study on the distribution of tourist housing management and ownership in Spain was carried out cross-referencing various data points using our tool for monitoring and controlling STR offerings, capable of processing and analysing the available information associated with all listings on Airbnb, Booking.com, and TripAdvisor.
The data corresponds to a snapshot from March 15, 2025, considering the 50 Spanish provinces (excluding Ceuta and Melilla). By capturing millions of data points of Airbnb’s listings as of the reference date, the study provides a very up-to-date view of the STRs supply in Spain. Using the identification codes (IDs) of the hosts registered on Airbnb and the available listings associated with their profiles, we determined how many properties are being managed by that hosts’ profiles throughout Spain.
Listings have been classified by type of host or lessor, understanding this concept not only as owners, but as any individual or legal entity, represented in a user or host profile, who manages one or more properties, whether owned or not. Hosts or lessors have been classified in three categories: Individuals (hosts who rent one STR, either as owners or managing it for a third party); Small Lessors (with a portfolio of 2 to 10 STRs, either owned or managed); and Large Lessors (with a portfolio of 11 or more VUTs, divided into three tiers: 11 to 20 units, 21 to 50 units, and 51 and over).
The data corresponds to a snapshot from March 15, 2025, capturing of millions of data points from Airbnb’s listings, that provides a very up-to-date view of the STRs market in Spain. We focused our analysis on Airbnb because it high penetration in the Spanish STR market: in fact, as a recent study by Phocuswiright points out, nearly 90% of the VUT supply is available on this platform.
A Business Controlled by Individuals and Small Lessors
Mabrian’s analysis shows that tourist rentals in Spain are primarily owned or managed by individuals and small lessors, who represent, on average, 74.1% and 23.9% of hosts, respectively.
The provinces with the highest number of hosts offering a single STR, and above the national average, are Murcia and Castellón (77.9%), Alicante (77.4%), Pontevedra (76.8%), Vizcaya (76.4%), Cantabria (76.3%), Tarragona (75.5%), Huelva (75.3%), Almería (74.8%), Girona (74.6%), and A Coruña (74.2%). Provinces where important tourist destinations are located, such as Malaga (72.8%), Guipúzcoa (72.5%), Valencia (72.3%) or Cadiz (71.2%) are slightly below the national average, while the percentage of small lessors is higher in some of the provinces where some of the most visited destinations in Spain are, such as the Balearic Islands (69.8%), Madrid (67.1%), Santa Cruz de Tenerife (66.2%), Barcelona (64.5%) or Seville (63.4%).
STRs large-scale owners represent, on average, 2% of the total number of tourist rentals hosts in Spain. The three provinces with the highest proportion of large lessors are Córdoba (6.4% of its listings), Lleida (5%), and Seville (4.8%).
Furthermore, 17 provinces double the national average of STRs controlled by large lessors. This is the case in Santa Cruz de Tenerife (3.5% of the total), Tarragona, Girona, and Soria (3.7%), Málaga (3.8%), Cáceres (4%), Zamora and Murcia (4.1%), the Balearic Islands (4.2%), Palencia (4.3%), Granada (4.4%), Barcelona, Huelva, and Jaén (4.5%).
Among the highly tourism-led provinces with a higher percentage of large lessors (such as Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tarragona, Málaga, Murcia, the Balearic Islands, Granada, Barcelona, Córdoba, and Seville), the data show that around 42% of the large STR lessors in these provinces control a portfolio of 11 to 20 tourist accommodation units; 28% manage between 21 and 50 units, and the remaining 30% manage more than 51 tourist accommodation units.
“The structure of Spain’s short-term rental market, as reflected in our data, highlights several critical issues. On one hand, most STR properties are managed by individual lessors who leverage them to generate supplementary income while expanding the range of accommodation options available in destinations. However, inconsistent quality standards and varying levels of regulatory compliance present significant challenges for destinations striving to maintain the integrity of their lodging offer and overall reputation. Additionally, small-scale lessors—who represent nearly a quarter of the market—play a key role in shaping pricing dynamics, competitiveness, and quality benchmarks for the STR sector. They also serve as important local economic actors, often operating with structured business models that can positively contribute to the destination’s economy.”
Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communications, Mabrian
Nearly four out of every 10 tourist homes in Spain do not have a licence
Our study also analyses the Spanish STR listings from a licensing perspective. Our data indicates that, on average, 62% of the STRs listings inform about their licence, while the remaining 38% do not. This does not mean that all listings that do not publish their licence do not have one, but it is a metric that provides authorities with an indicator of the potential pool of non-regulated listings.
The provinces with the highest proportion of listings reporting licences (an average of 96.3% of the total) are the Andalusian provinces (Almería, Málaga, Córdoba, Jaén, Cádiz, Seville, Huelva, and Granada) and the Catalan provinces (Tarragona, Girona, Lleida, and Barcelona).
Other provinces of great importance to tourism in Spain show disparate trends: For example, while 67.8% of available STR listings in the Balearic Islands report licences, but in Alicante, the second province with the most available STR listings in Spain, the majority (56.8%) do not report licences, similarly to Las Palmas (60%) or Santa Cruz de Tenerife. (60.6%).
In other provinces of significant importance due to the volume of available listings, such as Madrid, 86.5% of STR listings do not include an associated licence. The same applies to 70.3% of listings in Valencia, 69.1% of VUT listings in Pontevedra, 64.8% in Toledo, and 62.5% in Murcia.
“Regulations and the capacity of public authorities to monitor non-compliant listings vary significantly across autonomous communities and provinces. This disparity directly impacts the proportion of licences reported—or not—on tourist rental platforms and presents a major challenge for public oversight. The ability to accurately identify unlicenced listings and cross-reference them with official records, as destinations like Ibiza and Menorca are already doing, has the potential to reshape the short-term rental market in Spain, enabling more effective regulation and enforcement.”
Carlos Cendra, Partner and Director of Marketing and Communications, Mabrian
