Empresa Explotadora (VUT operating company) — obligations, responsibilities and registration in Andalusia

Decree 31/2024, of 29 January (BOJA no. 24, 02/02/2024), introduced into Andalusian tourism law the figure of the Empresa Explotadora (VUT operating company), as a complement to the figure of the property owner.

Definition

The Empresa Explotadora is the natural or legal person who, regardless of the legal basis, assumes the operation and management of one or more VUTs on behalf of the owner. Their involvement may be based on a lease agreement, use assignment, management mandate or any other legal arrangement that attributes operational management of the tourist property.

Registration obligations

The Empresa Explotadora must:

• Register in the Andalusian Tourism Register (RTA) via an online responsible declaration, independently of the registration of each VUT it manages.
• Obtain its own registration code as an operating company.
• Be identified as the operating company in the responsible declaration of each VUT it manages.

Responsibility

Once registered as an operating company, it assumes full responsibility for compliance with all applicable regulatory requirements for the VUTs it manages, including:

• Maintaining the material requirements (Decree 28/2016 and Decree 31/2024).
• Reporting operating periods before 1 January each year.
• Complying with the SES.HOSPEDAJES obligation (traveller reporting within 24 hours).
• Correct identification in all advertising for the VUTs managed.

The operating company is liable to the tourism authority for infractions committed in the exercise of its activity, independently of any liability that may fall on the property owner.

Identification in advertising

In all advertising (platform listings, own website, printed materials), the operating company must display:

• Its own registration code as an operating company.
• The VUT/MA/XXXXX code of each specific property it advertises or manages.

Relevance for property managers in AML

Operators who manage third-party properties in Andalusia through the AML platform act as Empresas Explotadoras. They must verify that they hold their own registration code as an operating company in the RTA before beginning to manage any third-party VUT, independently of the VUT/MA/XXXXX code of each individual property.

Penalty framework

Operating VUTs without being registered as an operating company when acting in that capacity constitutes a serious infraction under Andalusian tourism regulations, with penalties that may reach €18,000 under the current regime, and up to €600,000 under the regime planned by the forthcoming Sustainable Tourism Act.