Specific situations

Does the duty apply to lettings as well, not just sales?

For lettings the duty applies only above a monetary threshold: Art. 2.1 l) Ley 10/2010 catches letting agency work from a monthly rent of 10.000 € or an annual rent of 120.000 € (in each case "equal to or above"). For sales and purchases, by contrast, the duty applies with no threshold at all. Where an owner lets their own home on a one-off private basis without an agent, the duty does not bite. With licensed holiday letting (the ETV regime in the Balearics, for instance) it can apply, where the agent is acting in a professional capacity.

Art. 2.1 l) Ley 10/2010 covers intermediación en la compraventa o arrendamiento de bienes inmuebles — sales and lettings alike. Two questions need keeping cleanly apart:

1. Scope: am I an obliged entity as agent on this letting at all? For sales and purchases the brokering duty applies with no monetary limit whatsoever. For lettings, by contrast, only from a monthly rent of at least 10.000 € or an annual rent of at least 120.000 € (introduced by RDL 11/2018). Below that rent, the agent brokering the deal is not an obliged entity for that piece of business. No comparable threshold exists for purchase prices.

2. Depth of checking: how thorough does the review have to be? The threshold says nothing about how deep the review must go. Above 10.000 €/120.000 € the due diligence duties apply just as they do in sales brokerage — in substance with a typically lower risk profile (smaller sums, recurring rent payments), but the intensity is set by the risk, not by the level of the rent.

Two special cases:

  • Professional and holiday letting: anyone who, as agent or management company, regularly brokers homes above the threshold is an obliged entity to that extent. The rules on holiday letting are set by the autonomous communities; in the Balearics the ETV regime applies (Estancia Turística en Viviendas, Arts. 3, 5, 50 et seq. Ley 8/2012, text as at 13.06.2026); anyone brokering it professionally can fall under the AML duty — particularly where advance payments or deposits are involved.
  • One-off private letting: the owner who lets their own home once, privately, without an agent and without a professional structure, is not an obliged entity.

Legal basis: Ley 10/2010, Art. 2.1 l); Ley 8/2012 (Balearic tourism act), Arts. 3, 5 and 50 et seq., consolidated text as at 13.06.2026 (BOE-A-2012-10610)

Practical tip: Agents letting luxury property seasonally should set up KYC processes for tenants too — at least on long lets or where deposits are high. On pure holiday lets under 30 days the risk is lower, but not zero.

AI-assisted tools were used in preparing these FAQs; the content was subsequently reviewed and approved by the Doxario editorial team. They reflect the general state of the law as at the review date shown and do not constitute individual legal or tax advice. To assess your own case — particularly where complex structures are involved (offshore companies, trusts, foundations, communities of heirs) or where the new EU rules leave room for doubt — we recommend consulting a lawyer specialising in Spanish anti-money-laundering law and, on tax questions, a tax adviser. Doxario is a deal management and compliance platform for estate agents in Spain, operated by Blue Pepper S.L.; we therefore have an economic interest in the solutions described in these FAQs. Doxario accepts no liability for decisions taken solely on the basis of these FAQs.

← Frequently asked questions