The 3/5 vote conversation in Benahavís is the inverse of the one happening in Torremolinos. In Torremolinos owners ask how to clear the threshold. In Benahavís owners discover the threshold is often the easier of two locks, and that the more binding constraint sits one layer beneath it: the estatutos of the gated urbanización. We have spent more time in 2025-2026 reading estatutos than counting comunidad votes, and the pattern is consistent across La Quinta, La Zagaleta, Los Flamingos and El Madroñal.
This piece walks through why.
The April 2025 amendment, briefly
The April 2025 amendment to the Ley de Propiedad Horizontal introduced a national rule: any new VUT licence in a community building now requires a three-fifths majority of the comunidad's full ownership share to approve. The threshold is on the full roster, not just AGM attendees. Existing licences from before April 2025 are grandfathered.
The rule is sweeping in Madrid, Valencia, Málaga capital and most of the Costa del Sol's beachfront. In Benahavís it is meaningful but rarely the binding constraint.
Why estatutos override the vote in much of Benahavís
A meaningful share of Benahavís inhabited stock sits inside private gated urbanizaciones whose estatutos — the founding constitutional document of the comunidad — were drafted long before short-let became a market category. The estatutos for La Zagaleta, for instance, describe a residential development of single-family homes. Short-term commercial occupation is not contemplated; what is contemplated is the residential character of the development.
When an estatutos clause prohibits commercial use or sets a minimum-stay floor, the 3/5 vote does not unlock anything. Estatutos amendments require unanimity rather than three-fifths, and unanimity in a multi-hundred-unit urbanización where many owners bought specifically for the residential character is essentially impossible.
So in these communities the order of inspection inverts:
- First check the estatutos for any clause governing commercial use, minimum stay, or short-let.
- Only then check the comunidad minutes for the 3/5 vote.
In urbanizaciones with permissive or silent estatutos, the second question is the relevant one. In urbanizaciones with prohibitive estatutos, the first answers everything.
Three estatutos patterns we see in Benahavís
Pattern one: explicit residential-only character. The classic case is the older luxury urbanización drafted in the late 1990s or early 2000s. The estatutos prohibit commercial use. The 3/5 vote is academic. La Zagaleta is the obvious example, but several other communities in the Las Aldeas / La Reserva orbit share this pattern.
Pattern two: minimum-stay or short-let-friendly silence. The golf-resort urbanización where developer intent included a hospitality dimension — Los Flamingos is representative. The estatutos are permissive. The 3/5 vote in 2025-2026 has passed comfortably.
Pattern three: silent estatutos with mixed owner profiles. The newer post-2010 mixed-character developments. The estatutos are silent on tourist use, the 3/5 vote is therefore live, and the outcome depends on the comunidad's owner demographics. Capanes del Golf phases, parts of La Quinta, and several of the newer Marques de Guadalmina-adjacent developments fall into this pattern.
What grandfathering means here
For properties holding a pre-April-2025 VUT, the licence is grandfathered. In Benahavís this matters more than the headline statistic suggests, because the universe of newly-issuable VUTs is genuinely small. A grandfathered VUT inside a permissive Los Flamingos comunidad is appreciated stock; a grandfathered VUT inside a comunidad that has since adopted estatutos restrictions is nearly irreplaceable. We treat the N2 and transfer documentation for these properties accordingly.
A grandfathered licence can typically transfer with the property on resale provided the comunidad has not since voted prohibition and the estatutos have not been amended in the interim. The buyer's due diligence is the estatutos current state on transfer day — not at original licence issue.
What buyers should check before offering
For a Benahavís property in a gated urbanización, in this order:
- Read the estatutos. This is the most important step in Benahavís and the one most often skipped. The administrador de fincas can provide the current estatutos and any subsequent amendments.
- Read the comunidad meeting minutes for the past 36 months. Look for any votes on "alquiler turístico", "VUT" or "uso turístico", and any modificación de estatutos proposals.
- Confirm whether existing VUT licences exist in the urbanización. The Junta de Andalucía maintains the regional register.
- Ask the seller for their VUT documentation if applicable — the licence number, the N2 filings from prior years, and a copy of any informe favorable from the comunidad.
For a freestanding villa on its own finca with no comunidad layer — there are some of these in the hills above the village towards Ronda — the inspection is different and centres on rural-zoning compatibility under Junta tourism rules.
What sellers should know
If you are selling a Benahavís property with an existing VUT inside a comunidad that has since adopted estatutos restrictions, that licence is unusually valuable. There is genuinely no path for a buyer to obtain a new one in that urbanización. Document it carefully, keep it active through to closing (file the N2 in the sale year), and price accordingly. The premium over comparable unlicensed stock is real and visible in transaction data.
If you are selling a property in a permissive urbanización where any new buyer could obtain a fresh licence, the licence is less of a scarcity asset and more an administrative convenience. The premium is smaller.
How we handle the question
For every Benahavís property we consider managing, we read the estatutos and the past 36 months of comunidad minutes before any commitment. If the estatutos prohibit short-let, we explain that plainly during the discovery call and discuss long-stay or capital-growth alternatives. If the estatutos are permissive and the 3/5 vote has passed, we move to onboarding. If the position is unresolved, we wait for the next AGM.
The honest no — when the estatutos clearly prohibit — saves owners from regulatory and platform-delisting headaches that often surface six to twelve months into a misaligned engagement.
