Mijas isn't one rental market — it's three. Coastal La Cala and Riviera del Sol behave differently from Mijas Pueblo on the mountain, and the golf-belt around Mijas Golf and La Cala Golf has its own rhythm again. Licensing follows the same dual track everywhere — VUT and NRUA — but the practical experience varies enough across these sub-markets to be worth describing properly.
The two licences, briefly
The VUT (Vivienda de Uso Turístico) is the Andalucian regional licence, filed with the Junta as a declaración responsable. Straightforward applications can be issued in a day; most take two to five. The NRUA (Royal Decree 1312/2024, mandatory since July 2025) is the national registry number, registered in the management company's name. Both must be displayed on listings.
Mijas is among the strictest enforcers of the community vote
Mijas municipality is among the strictest enforcers of the 3/5 community-vote requirement for new VUT applications in community buildings. That matters for new applications since April 2025 — existing licences keep their status under the old rules, but new applicants in Riviera del Sol or Calahonda complexes need to verify the community has passed the vote before the Junta will consider the application.
In our experience, the urbanisations along the Mijas Costa coastline split into two camps: ones with established VUT precedents where licences continue to be granted (and where we have onboarding history), and newer or more residential complexes where votes have gone the other way. We check the building before accepting a property.
La Cala, Pueblo, golf belt — practical differences
La Cala de Mijas blocks tend to have established short-stay precedents. Mijas Pueblo's village apartments are mostly small character units in private structures with simpler licensing. The golf belt — Calanova, La Cala Golf, El Chaparral — runs on resort-style condo regimes where the community decisions tend to favour short-stay because it's part of the original development pitch. Las Lagunas, the residential commercial centre of the municipality, has thinner short-stay activity altogether — long-stay management is the bigger market there.
The N2 follows annually
Once both licences are in place, the annual N2 declaration follows every February. We file for every property we manage at the local tax office in person — that's part of the package, not a separate charge.
For owners weighing whether their specific Mijas property qualifies and what the realistic timeline looks like, the discovery call gives a property-specific answer. We've worked through enough Mijas paperwork to flag the variables before they become surprises.
