Torremolinos has the longest continuous short-term-rental tradition on the Costa del Sol. The first wave of mass tourism arrived here in the 1960s; the apartment-tower boom of the 1970s and 1980s was largely built with tourist occupation in mind. Half a century later, the municipality has the highest VUT density per capita on the network — and a comunidad culture that has generally treated tourist rental as normal rather than novel.
That history shapes how the 3/5 community vote has played out here. In most of Spain the vote forced a new conversation. In much of Torremolinos it ratified an existing one.
This is the 2026 VUT guide for Torremolinos owners, written from our office in Arroyo de la Miel.
The shape of a VUT licence, briefly
A VUT (Vivienda con Fines Turísticos) is the regional licence the Junta de Andalucía grants under Decreto 31/2024. It is per-property, regional rather than municipal, and the indispensable document for any legal short-let listing.
The single most important fact for a Torremolinos buyer to internalise: Torremolinos is a separate municipality from Málaga capital and is not subject to Málaga's saturation cap. A Centro Histórico Málaga apartment cannot be granted a new VUT under any circumstances; a Torremolinos apartment three Cercanías stops away operates under the standard regime.
The licensing constraint sits at the regional Junta level and the comunidad level. The Torremolinos Ayuntamiento has been historically and notably pro-tourism — the municipality's identity is built around the industry — and has not imposed parallel local restrictions.
Since 1 July 2025, every active VUT must also hold an NRUA national-register entry under Royal Decree 1312/2024 — the cross-register the platforms verify at listing time.
How the 3/5 vote has played out across the sub-areas
The April 2025 amendment to the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal required a 3/5 majority for new VUT licences in any comunidad de propietarios. Torremolinos's response has been more uniformly permissive than any other municipality on the network — but with meaningful sub-area variation.
La Carihuela — the old fishermen's quarter turned beachfront-resort strip — has been the most consistently pro-vote area in the municipality. The buildings here, low-rise and mid-rise dating from the 1960s through the 1980s, have always carried tourist traffic. Most comunidades have ratified the existing culture with comfortable 3/5 majorities. Many had it sewn up at their first AGM after the amendment.
Playamar — the 1970s-1980s tall tower-block cluster — is more variable. The towers are large (often 100-200 units), the owner mix is genuinely international with significant absentee ownership, and comunidad votes have been complicated by simple logistics. Several Playamar comunidades have moved to written-vote canvasses through their administradores de fincas to collect the 3/5 threshold outside the AGM itself, with mixed outcomes. We have seen Playamar buildings vote both ways depending on the resident-vs-investor balance and the strength of the administrador's communications.
Bajondillo — the central seafront stretch immediately below Calle San Miguel — has leaned permissive in most comunidades. The investor-owner share is high and the buildings are oriented toward short-let economics.
Montemar and the inland residential belt — quieter, more residentially-oriented, with a higher long-stay tenant population — has been notably more cautious. Several Montemar comunidades have voted explicit prohibition. The owner profile here is more permanent-residence and the comunidad culture reflects that.
El Calvario / Torremolinos centro — the high-density apartment belt around the train station and Calle San Miguel — is a mixed pattern, but with most blocks leaning permissive.
What grandfathered means in Torremolinos
Existing VUT licences from before April 2025 are grandfathered. In a municipality with the highest VUT density on the network, this matters less than it does in Marbella or Málaga: many comunidades have continued to vote permissive after the amendment, so a new licence in a same-area block is often still obtainable.
The exception is Montemar and a few specific residential-oriented buildings elsewhere. A grandfathered VUT in a Montemar block that has since voted prohibition is genuinely valuable and the market has priced it as such.
The licence path itself
Where the comunidad path is clear, the Junta's declaración responsable issues within five working days for clean cases. There is no parallel Torremolinos municipal licence to chase. For the (rarer) freehold villa on its own finca in the hills above the town, there is no community-vote layer.
NRUA and the listing gate
Since 1 July 2025, every active VUT must hold an NRUA registration. The platforms verify it at listing time, and a missing NRUA blocks the listing outright. The application is short but it requires the VUT licence number, so it follows the licence rather than running in parallel. We file it the day the licence is approved.
Modelo N2 — annual, administrative
Each February, the active VUT files a Modelo N2 with the Junta covering the prior calendar year. The Junta has been firm on N2 deadlines for Torremolinos specifically — partly because of the volume of VUTs in the municipality. We prepare it from monthly statements through the year so it sits ready in January.
A realistic Torremolinos onboarding timeline
For a property in a comunidad that has voted favourably (which is the common case across La Carihuela, Bajondillo, and much of Playamar and Torremolinos centro):
- Day 0 — Junta declaración responsable submitted
- Days 1-5 — licence approved
- Days 5-10 — NRUA cross-registration filed
- From Day 10 — platform listings live
For a property in a Playamar tower where the 3/5 canvass is in progress via the administrador, the realistic timeline is six to twelve weeks for the canvass to complete. For a property in Montemar where the comunidad has voted restrictively, the answer is honest: short-let is not viable; long-stay rental is.
Where we help most usefully
The most useful single thing we do for a Torremolinos buyer is the comunidad-minutes read before the offer. The variability between adjacent buildings is real — even on the same street in Playamar — and a buyer who assumes Torremolinos's tourist tradition guarantees a favourable comunidad position will sometimes be wrong, particularly in the residential pockets between the tourist clusters.
We do this read for every property we consider managing.
