Homebase Academy

Renting out your home in Mallorca: what is legal in 2026

Homebase Academy. Last checked: 25 October 2026. We update this guide after the parliamentary vote on the seasonal-lease decree, expected around 12 November 2026.

You can let a home in Mallorca legally in three ways. Which one applies depends on how long the guest stays, why they come, and whether money changes hands. This guide explains each track. Most of it is about the middle track, mid-term lets, because that is where the rules changed in October 2026 and where most questions come from.

The three tracks at a glance

1. Holiday lets: 30 nights or less

In the Balearics, a tourist stay is a stay of days or weeks of up to one month, which means up to 30 nights (Ley 8/2012, art. 50). Spanish tenancy law draws its own line at 31 days. A home offered for immediate use through tourist channels is presumed to be a tourist let unless the owner can show another purpose.

• What you need: A tourist licence (ETV), meaning a registered declaración responsable with a set number of places. The licence number must appear in every advert.
• What is closed: No new tourist places in apartment buildings anywhere in the Balearics since April 2025 (Decreto Ley 4/2025). Palma has its own restrictions.
• What it costs if you get it wrong: Fines up to €50,000 for serious and €500,000 for very serious infractions. The owner, the operator and whoever markets the home can all be held liable.
• From 1 December 2026: Stays of 30 nights or less carry 10% VAT, as do lets with hotel-type services.

A holiday is a holiday, whatever its length. Knowing your guest does not make an unlicensed short stay legal. Neither does stretching a holiday to 32 days. That is covered under track 2.

2. Mid-term lets: 32 days to 12 months

A temporary home lease (arrendamiento de vivienda temporal) falls under the national tenancy law (LAU), not the tourism law. It needs no tourist licence.

Since 8 October 2026, Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 treats these leases as housing, no longer as "use other than housing". Five things now apply.

The rules

1. A real reason. The tenant must be temporarily away from their habitual home for a reason that is "justificada y acreditable": justified and provable. The reason must be written into the contract (LAU art. 7.2).
2. The owner carries the proof. If anyone challenges the lease, it is the owner who must prove the reason was real (art. 7.2).
3. Length. More than 31 days and, as a rule, no more than 12 months in total, including extensions (art. 9 bis). An extension is only possible if the reason still exists. Homebase uses a minimum of 32 days so that no stay falls under either tourism line.
4. No chaining. More than two back-to-back contracts between the same parties for the same home make the first contract a standard residential lease. The same happens if the lease goes beyond 12 months without a reason that still holds.
5. If the reason fails. A lease without a real, documented reason is treated as a standard residential lease from the day it was signed. The tenant can then stay up to 5 years, or 7 if the owner is a company. The tenant can leave after 6 months.

Which reasons hold, and which do not

The law gives no closed list. Legal commentary and the examples used by the government point to the same kind of reasons: a stay that is temporary because of something in the tenant's life that has a beginning and an end.

For people who winter in Mallorca: spending the winter here is not, on its own, a reason the new rules recognise. It becomes a valid mid-term let when one of the reasons above applies, for example buying or renovating a home here, treatment or a project. If none applies, the legal options are a licensed holiday let, a stay with friends or family without payment, or buying.

The tenant must also have a home elsewhere

The lease is for someone away from their habitual home. That home must exist and stay theirs during the lease. - Evidence: a residence certificate, a tax-residence certificate, or a recent utility bill or lease in the tenant's name. - Watch the padrón: if the tenant registers the Mallorca address as their home, that points to a habitual residence and weakens the temporary nature.

Who is responsible for what

The owner (landlord): - States the reason in the contract and makes sure it is real. - Collects and keeps the evidence. This is the owner's legal burden. Keep the file for at least five years after the lease ends. - Takes the legal deposit (fianza) of one month's rent. Any extra guarantee is capped at one more month, and no rent-default insurance may be demanded. - The fianza is deposited with the Balearic housing institute (IBAVI) within 30 working days. We are confirming with our lawyer how this applies to temporary leases. Until then, Homebase deposits. - Does not pass on fees, management costs or property taxes to the tenant. - Responds to repair requests within five working days and covers small repairs from normal wear. - Signs a written record of the home's condition with the tenant when the lease ends.

The tenant: - Gives the reason in writing and in their own words, with evidence. - Confirms that their habitual home is elsewhere and stays theirs. - Tells the owner if the reason ends or changes. - Does not register the address as their habitual home, sublet, or rent out rooms or nights. - May leave after one month with 10 days' notice, without penalty.

The tenant has no form to file with any authority. Their statements are part of the contract. A false statement gives the owner grounds against the tenant, but it does not remove the owner's burden of proof. Good evidence at the start is the owner's real protection.

The agent (Homebase or any other): - May not charge the tenant for finding the home, writing, formalising, managing, changing or renewing the lease. - Checks the reason and the evidence before the contract is signed. - Collects only what is needed and stores it securely under GDPR. For medical treatment, proof of dates is enough; we never ask for a diagnosis.

What the tenant fills in

Every Homebase mid-term lease has an Annex 1, the reason for the stay. The tenant completes and signs it:

1. Full name, ID or passport number, nationality.
2. Habitual home: address and country, plus one piece of evidence.
3. Reason category: work · project · study · medical · own home under renovation · moving or buying · caring for family · other.
4. In your own words (3–5 lines): why you need to live in Mallorca for this period, what ends the need, and why the dates are what they are.
5. Start and end date, and what happens if the need ends earlier.
6. Evidence attached (list).
7. Declaration: "The above is true. My habitual home remains at the address stated. I will inform the landlord if the reason ends or changes. I will not register this address as my habitual residence, sublet or offer the home to others."
8. Date and signature.

An example of a good answer:

"We are buying a home in Santa Ponsa (reservation signed 14 October 2026, completion planned for February 2027). We need a place to live while we complete the purchase and the renovation. Our habitual home remains in Aarhus, Denmark. The lease ends when we can move in, at the latest 31 March 2027."

An example that does not hold:

"We want to spend the winter in Mallorca."

Money, services and VAT

• Rent on a mid-term lease without hotel-type services is VAT-exempt.
• Services such as cleaning, linen or a car are booked and paid separately with the provider, at a price the tenant has seen. Keep them out of the rent, so the lease stays a home lease.
• Successive leases of the same home: the rent may not rise faster than the official reference index (IRAV).

Leases signed before 8 October 2026

They keep the old rules until the agreed end date, then end without extension. A renewal is a new lease under the new rules.

Status of the rules

RDL 29/2026 has been in force since 8 October 2026. Parliament has been dissolved for the general election on 29 November, so its standing committee (Diputación Permanente) must confirm the decree. The vote is expected around 12 November. An earlier version was rejected on 2 October. - If it is confirmed: the rules above stay. - If it is not: the earlier, looser rules return. Lawyers disagree on what happens to leases signed in between.

Homebase applies the strict rules either way. They are the ones that keep an owner safe in court.

3. Friends and family: no payment

Lending your home to people you know, without rent or anything in return, is not a rental. You need neither a licence nor a lease. Once there is payment, including "covering costs" in cash, it becomes a let under track 1 or 2.

The national registration number

On 19 May 2026 the Supreme Court annulled the national registration number for short and seasonal lets (STS 620/2026). Two things still apply: - Platform reporting. Platforms still report listing data to the national digital gateway (Ventanilla Única Digital), under EU Regulation 2024/1028. - The Balearic tourist register. Holiday lets still need it.

Co-owners

• Your own weeks are for you, your family and your friends.
• No short lets. Without a tourist licence you cannot let your weeks to paying guests.
• Mid-term for the whole home. The co-ownership can let the whole home off-season as a mid-term lease to a tenant with a valid reason. The income is shared by share.

Who pays what

• Holiday lets we manage: Our fee is 20% of the rent, VAT included, deducted from the rent.
• Mid-term lets: The owner pays our fee. The tenant pays nothing to Homebase and pays only for services they asked for in writing, directly to the provider.
• Referral partners are paid out of our fee. It never adds to what the owner or the tenant pays.

Checklist for owners before signing a mid-term lease

• ☐ Reason in the contract and in Annex 1, in the tenant's words
• ☐ Evidence of the reason, with dates
• ☐ Evidence of the tenant's habitual home elsewhere
• ☐ Dates match the reason; at least 32 days and no more than 12 months
• ☐ Not the third back-to-back contract with this tenant
• ☐ Fianza of one month, extra guarantee no more than one month, no default insurance
• ☐ No fees charged to the tenant, and services kept outside the rent
• ☐ Check-in report with photos; check-out report signed by both parties
• ☐ File kept for at least five years

Questions we are asked most

I want to winter in Mallorca for three months. Can I rent mid-term? Not on that reason alone. With a concrete reason, such as buying or renovating a home here, treatment or a project, yes.

Who checks the reason? No authority checks it at signing. It is tested if there is a dispute, usually when the owner wants the home back. That is when the owner must prove it.

What if the tenant lied? The owner has a claim against the tenant. The court will still look at whether the owner did reasonable checks. Documents collected at the start are what count.

Can I let to the same tenant every winter? Each lease needs its own valid reason. More than two back-to-back contracts between the same parties for the same home turn the first one into a standard lease.

Can my company be the tenant? Yes. The company rents for an employee who is posted to Mallorca, and the posting is the reason.

Does the tenant have to register anywhere? No. The tenant should not register the address as their habitual home.

This guide is general information, not legal advice. Rules change. Check your own case with a lawyer or your asesor before you let.

Sources

• Ley 8/2012 del turismo de las Illes Balears, art. 50 (Iberley)
• Decreto Ley 4/2025 (BOE)
• Real Decreto-ley 29/2026 (BOE)
• RDL 29/2026: LAU articles 2.3, 7.2, 9 bis, 11, 21 bis, 36 (ALY Abogados)
• Reform of the LAU 2026 (Sepín)
• What the owner must now prove (Economist & Jurist)
• Seasonal letting in 2026: justification and documentation (SEAG)
• Temporary and room lets: what owners must know (OCU)
• Valid causes and the tourist line (dig.es)
• Status and dissolution of parliament (Veritas Gestión)
• Vote expected 12 November (La Región)
• If the decrees are not confirmed (Fabregat Perulles Sales)
• Fianza and IBAVI in the Balearics (Landager)
• Supreme Court annuls the national registration number, STS 620/2026 (Cuatrecasas)