Buying in Benalmádena: prices, neighbourhoods and holiday letting

In Benalmádena, the question that decides your rental project is not put to the town hall. It is put to your owners’ community , and there is an official decision on this very town that shows exactly what happens when nobody asks it before buying.

This page brings together prices neighbourhood by neighbourhood, what the regulations really require, and a case documented in Spain’s Official State Gazette that should be on every buying checklist on the Costa del Sol.

Here, the owners’ community decides

Benalmádena has not introduced a municipal moratorium on holiday rentals: we found none in the public sources consulted in September 2026. Andalusian regulations apply: registration in the Tourism Register (RTA) by responsible declaration, the technical requirements of Decree 31/2024, and guest registration.

But the real obstacle in Benalmádena lies elsewhere. Since 3 April 2025, an owners’ community can ban or restrict tourist letting by a three-fifths majority. And many buildings in the town had already done so before that date.

A case that should be on every buying checklist

What to take away before any offer in Benalmádena: ask for a recent nota simple , read the community statutes and insist on the meeting minutes for recent years. A perfectly placed seafront building can have been closed to holiday letting since 2020 without anyone telling you.

Benalmádena, Málaga, Torremolinos

Benalmádena sits between the two: cheaper than Torremolinos, more expensive than the city, and rising more steadily than its immediate neighbour. Our detailed guides: buying in Málaga and buying in Torremolinos.

Benalmádena’s neighbourhoods and what they cost

Nine neighbourhoods and three worlds: the resort by the sea, the year-round town in the middle and the white village on the hill. Asking prices in August 2026.

The 2026 trend is clear and runs against expectations: the cheapest neighbourhoods are rising fastest. Santangelo +12.0%, Benalmádena Pueblo +10.7%, Arroyo de la Miel +10.6%. Meanwhile the most expensive areas, Parque de la Paloma and El Higuerón, are up only 2.2% and 1.5%.

In other words, the top of the market is pausing and the gap is narrowing.

How we read these neighbourhoods

• Arroyo de la Miel : the real centre of Benalmádena, alive all year, with shops, a market and a local train station to Málaga and the airport. The lowest entry price in the town and one of the biggest rises. Our first choice for a long-term let.
• Solymar – Puerto Marina : the marina, restaurants and nightlife. In high demand for holiday lets, provided the community allows it: this is exactly where the statutes need checking.
• Parque de la Paloma : the most expensive neighbourhood, around the park. Rents are also the highest in the town (€21.4/m²/month). For an asset rather than for yield.
• Benalmádena Pueblo : the white village on the hill, the views, the Andalusian charm. Rising strongly, and popular with international buyers for personal use.
• El Higuerón – Capellanía : recent developments, good finishes, sea views. High prices and almost no rise this year: the market is absorbing.
• Santangelo, Montealto, Torremuelle : the residential entry-level areas, best for long-term lets or personal use.

We currently have in Benalmádena the Ático del Arte, a penthouse with panoramic sea views.

What renting out earns

The average long-term rent stands at €16.9/m²/month in July 2026, up 7.0% in one year, a much faster rise than in Málaga (+2.8%) or Torremolinos (−0.4%).

Set against the purchase price, this gives a gross yield of around 4.8% for long-term lets, a calculation we make here from the two published averages, not a published figure as such. That is slightly below Málaga and Torremolinos, and below the Spanish average of 6.5%.

Across our Costa del Sol portfolio, holiday lets sit between 6 and 10% gross, and long-term lets between 4 and 7%. These are observed figures, not a promise.

What buying really costs

As everywhere in Andalusia: about 9 to 10% in extra costs on a resale property (7% ITP, notary, land registry, lawyer) and about 13% on a new build (10% VAT + 1.2% AJD).

The detail is in our guide to property investment in Spain, and the seven steps of a purchase and the most common mistakes are explained in our guide to buying in Málaga : the procedure is the same throughout Andalusia.

Tax for non-residents

Tax resident in the European Union: 19% on net income, with expenses deductible. Outside the EU (United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, United States): 24% on gross income, with no deductions at all. On top of this come deemed income, the annual modelo 210 return and the 3% withholding on resale.

We are neither lawyers nor tax advisers: we point you in the right direction and put you in touch with the right people.

What we do in Benalmádena

VivaStay is an estate agency based in Málaga (registered estate agent API 525). Benalmádena is one of the towns where we manage properties, and where we have learned how much reading the community statutes changes everything.

• Checking tourist-let feasibility before the offer : nota simple, community statutes, meeting minutes and technical compliance. This is what stops you buying a property that can never be let to holidaymakers.
• Search and viewings : we view properties for you, on video, and we also tell you what is wrong.
• VUT registration : responsible declaration, RTA code and bringing the property into compliance.
• Full rental management : listings, guests, cleaning, the unexpected and owner accounts. This is our concierge service.
• Works and home staging : a well-prepared property rents for more, and more often.

Our properties in Benalmádena

I manage properties in Benalmádena, in El Higuerón, Carvajal, Benalmádena Costa and the upper part of the Pueblo, both for sale and as holiday lets.

• Ático del Arte, penthouse with panoramic sea views : 3 bedrooms, 120 m², €819,000 for sale and also available as a holiday let.
• Apartment in Benalmádena : 2 bedrooms, €410,000, for sale.
• Luxury villa in El Higuerón : 5 bedrooms, holiday let.
• Penthouse in Carvajal : 3 bedrooms, holiday let.
• Balcón de Benalmádena : 3 bedrooms, holiday let.
• Casa Marysol, avenida Marysol : 4 bedrooms, holiday let.
• Apartment on calle Carvajal, Benalmádena Costa : 3 bedrooms, holiday let.

Let’s talk about your project in Benalmádena

Tell us your country of tax residence and what you are looking for. We reply personally, in English, French or Spanish, and if a building’s statutes close the door to holiday letting, we will tell you before you sign, not after.

Frequently asked questions

This case is not an isolated one: Spanish law holds several surprises for buyers from abroad. We have gathered them in our guide to the mistakes to avoid when buying in Spain.

The neighbouring town of Mijas works differently again: no municipal moratorium identified and no systematic community veto; it is the physical criteria of the Andalusian decree that decide whether a home is eligible.

Talk to someone on the ground about your project

In Benalmádena, the question is not “does the town hall allow it?” but “what do this building’s statutes say?”. It is a check that has to be done property by property. VivaStay is an estate agency on the Costa del Sol, and it is the first thing I look at on every property.

Sources and dates

1. Idealista, sale prices, Benalmádena, August 2026 : €4,183/m², +6.1% over one year, and table by neighbourhood.
2. Idealista, rental prices, Benalmádena, July 2026 : €16.9/m²/month, +7.0% over one year, and table by neighbourhood.
3. Idealista, Málaga and Torremolinos, August 2026, for comparison.
4. Gross yields of about 4.8% (town) and 5.6% (Arroyo de la Miel): VivaStay calculations from the published averages, not published figures.
5. Decision of 17 October 2025 of the Dirección General de Seguridad Jurídica y Fe Pública, on the appeal against the decision of the land registrar of Benalmádena nº 2 , published in BOE no. 37 of 11 February 2026 (reference BOE-A-2026-3182). Statutes banning tourist use voted on 8 July 2020 and registered on 7 October 2020; purchase on 22 October 2024; refusal upheld.
6. Supreme Court judgment no. 620/2026 of 19 May 2026 (ECLI:ES:TS:2026:2148): partial annulment of Royal Decree 1312/2024 and of the single national register of short-term rentals, for lack of State competence. Regional registers and the Ventanilla Única Digital remain.
7. Owners’ community agreement by a three-fifths majority to ban or restrict tourist letting, applicable since 3 April 2025.
8. Andalusian regulations: Decree 31/2024 and Andalusian Tourism Law 13/2011; RTA by responsible declaration; guest registration (Royal Decree 933/2021).
9. Non-resident tax: IRNR 19% (EU/EEA, on net income) and 24% (outside the EU, on gross income); Andalusian ITP 7% ; new builds: VAT 10% + AJD 1.2%.

Page published on 9 September 2026 and checked on that date. The absence of a municipal moratorium in Benalmádena reflects the public sources consulted on that date and may change: Málaga closed its licences overnight in August 2025. Always check the exact situation of a property and its owners’ community before committing. This information is for guidance only and is not personalised legal or tax advice.