Thread: Setting up a bed and breakfast business in Spain

I have been living in the Almeria area for a few months now with my family. We have our own house and plenty of space... How easy would it be to set up a bed and breakfast business in our residential home? What sort of licenses or permits would I need? Is it even allowed to do this?

Hi betty and welcome to the Absolute Spain Forum!

Differnet provinces in Spain have different laws about these sort of businesses. If you want to work "officially" you will need to start by setting up a business (either sole trader - autonomo or as a company - perhaps a sociedad limitada). For the specific activity you are planning on starting, you will need a permit - licencia de acitividad. To get this license you will surely need to comply with certain laws and regulations.

These laws and regulations can be anything from fire exits, square meters of different areas (bathrooms, rooms, hallways, etc.), signing, etc. If I were you I would check with a local gestor. They can surely point you in the right direction and may be able to process the paperwork as well.

Good luck! And let us know how things go!

a friend of mine looked into it and here in Valencia you need to have 5000sq metres of land for starters. They didn´t look any further. But this will not be standard from region to region. A lot of people here are doing it ilegally and seem to be getting away with it, but this is very risky!!.

I live in Spain and am trying to set up a bed and breakfast here. Apparently you can let out upto 5 rooms if they are in your house and you live there and you can supply breakfast without a liscence. As with most things in spain I take it with a pinch of salt. We are trying to obtain a 'casa ruel' and go down that route. Too much paper work in spain!!!!!!

Originally Posted by bettyinthesun

I have been living in the Almeria area for a few months now with my family. We have our own house and plenty of space... How easy would it be to set up a bed and breakfast business in our residential home? What sort of licenses or permits would I need? Is it even allowed to do this?

Hi Betty, I run a 1 star Valencian government approved "Pensioñ" . I would advise an architects project to submit to the town hall. What Greg said is correct, but other thing to take into consideration is an extra 1000 liters water supply and fire extinguishers. The architect can give you a list of what needs to be done and then you can make some costings.