The Málaga 3/5 vote conversation has an unusual shape, because for a large share of the capital's apartment stock the vote does not actually decide anything. Inside the zonas tensionadas por saturación — Centro Histórico, Soho, parts of La Malagueta — the Junta de Andalucía will not grant a new VUT regardless of how the comunidad votes. The 3/5 question is academic in those districts: even a unanimously supportive comunidad cannot produce a new licence.
In the east-side residential belt and parts of the west and north, the saturation regime does not apply and the 3/5 vote is genuinely operative. This piece walks through which areas are which and what the practical questions are.
The two layers, in order
A Málaga VUT depends on two separate approvals:
The regional regime under Decreto 31/2024. This is where the saturation cap lives. Inside a designated zona tensionada por saturación no new VUT is granted, regardless of community-vote position. Outside it, the standard declaración responsable applies.
The community-vote layer under the April 2025 amendment to the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal. This is the 3/5 majority of the comunidad's full ownership share, required before any new VUT can be granted in a community building. Existing pre-April-2025 licences are grandfathered.
The order matters. If the property is inside the saturation zone, the comunidad-vote question is moot for new licences. If it is outside, the 3/5 vote is the binding question.
Where the saturation regime applies
Centro Histórico and Soho are the headline-saturation districts. La Malagueta is largely inside the cap. Parts of the Carretera de Cádiz axis have been added since the original 2024 designation. The register is updated periodically — we recheck for every property we consider — and the current Junta map is the authoritative source.
Where the 3/5 vote actually plays out
Pedregalejo, El Palo and the east-side fishing-village belt — outside saturation — has active 3/5 vote dynamics. Pedregalejo's mixed character (long-tenured Spanish residents alongside more recent investor-owners) has produced variable outcomes. We have seen blocks within a hundred metres of each other vote differently. The Paseo de Reding apartment cluster has leaned permissive; the more inland Pedregalejo blocks have leaned cautious.
Limonar and the eastern hillside residential belt has a heavier permanent-resident profile and several comunidades have voted restrictively.
Teatinos has a structural quirk: the high student-rental presence means many buildings already had stable long-stay economics through term-time tenancies. Comunidades have generally voted against converting to short-let, on the basis that the existing model worked and the existing residents were stable.
Cruz de Humilladero and the western residential belt — mixed, with outcomes tracking the specific comunidad's owner demographics. Some areas have been moved into the saturation register since 2024 and the 3/5 question has become moot.
What grandfathered means in Málaga
Existing pre-April-2025 VUTs — and crucially also pre-saturation-designation VUTs — are grandfathered. In Centro Histórico and Soho this is the most consequential grandfathering on the network: there is no path to a new licence in these districts. A grandfathered Centro Histórico VUT has appreciated meaningfully against comparable unlicensed stock, and the transaction market reflects this.
The grandfathering is fragile. A missed Modelo N2 over consecutive years, a flagged compliance issue, a botched transfer of ownership — any of these risks the licence falling back under the current regime, which in saturation districts means it would not be re-granted at all. We treat the documentation for these properties with disproportionate care.
What buyers should check before offering
For Málaga, in this order:
- Confirm whether the address is inside or outside the current saturation register. This is the first and most important question, and it is the one most often missed. The Junta map is the authoritative source.
- If inside the saturation zone: check whether the property holds an existing grandfathered VUT. Without one, short-let is not currently available.
- If outside the saturation zone: read the past 24-36 months of comunidad minutes for any vote on "alquiler turístico", "VUT" or "uso turístico". The administrador de fincas can provide them.
- Check the comunidad estatutos for any pre-existing clauses on short-term or commercial use.
- Verify any seller's claimed VUT against the Junta de Andalucía regional register. A seller's claim is not enough.
The single most common Málaga mistake we see is a buyer assuming the saturation cap is district-wide when it is not, or assuming the seller's grandfathered licence will transfer cleanly when the saturation regime in fact complicates the transfer.
What sellers should know
If you are selling a Málaga property with a grandfathered VUT in a saturation district, that licence is unusually valuable — there is no replacement available. Document it carefully, keep it active through closing (file the Modelo N2 in any sale year), and price accordingly. The premium over unlicensed stock in the same building is real and visible in transaction data.
If you are selling in an outside-saturation district where the comunidad has subsequently voted restrictively, the grandfathered licence is similarly valuable, though less scarce in absolute terms.
How we handle the question
For every Málaga property we consider managing we run a two-step check: first, the current saturation register status for the specific address; second, the past 36 months of comunidad documentation. If the property is inside saturation without a grandfathered licence, we say so plainly during the discovery call — short-let is not available; long-stay is.
If the property holds a grandfathered licence in a saturation district, we treat the management mandate as a regulatory protection task as much as a yield task. Protecting the grandfathering through every N2, every transfer, every compliance event is the central work.
