What should you take into account when booking a Bed and Breakfast in Spain?

Rustic land is the land where only agricultural, forest and natural activity can be developed and is allowed. Purely touristic activities are therefore not approved in principle. So, when a Casa Rural, B&B, or camping is planned in this land, it is required to obtain a special approval from the local and regional administration where specifically for that land a use other than agriculture is allowed. In this case, the plot must have a size of at least 5,000 m2, with the appropriate parking spaces, etc... A DIC (Declaración de Interés Comunitario) can be avoided when the buildings do not occupy more than 20% of the plot surface, and this by express exemption from the Town Hall.

The fastest way to get a business for accommodation/food is to apply for a "Casa Rural" permit.

The difficulty in obtaining authorization for this type of business is that you must have a project submitted by an architect, including environmental studies, engineering studies regarding noise, environmental impact, environmental protection, certification of water and electricity suppliers that guarantee that customers can use this service in order to obtain the license of a campsite or hotel.

This, in areas where they are outside the urbanized areas, through a pre-project of an architect , which must be presented to the Town Hall to see what their response is to pass the classification of the use of the plot from "agricultural" 'to "commercial". This action is called "Declaración de Interés Comunitario" (DIC), which simply means that although the land must be used only for agricultural and forest purposes, the "local community" accepts the plot for "Commercial" activity due to the "general interest and benefit of the community".

In case after studying the "pre-project" the first impression of the Town Hall is positive, it will be necessary to prepare the "Final Project" , which is a new project that is much more detailed, supplemented with studies on environmental impact, health, energy supply such as water, electricity (guarantees must be provided that there will be drinking water as well as sufficient electricity supply for all guests and the installations used, that the environment will not be damaged, that there will be no water wastage or damage to the ecological infrastructure, etc.

This final project must be submitted to City Hall, which will decide whether to initially approve the project.

In the event that the City Hall accepts it, the project will be passed on to EACH ONE of the different departments of the regional government to approve the project: tourist department, health department, environmental department, industry, etc. If only ONE of these departments rejects the project, it will be automatically rejected.

If the Regional Government approves the project, they will indicate all the necessary works that you need to carry out in the property. They may ask for the following before you can obtain a permit to open a bed and breakfast.

• Electricity: if the electricity obtained from the current line is not sufficient to carry out the intended business, you will have to pay for the necessary increase, which sometimes requires the installation of a new line. (sometimes this requires the execution and payment of infrastructure works to bring the electricity from a very long distance to the home, the installation of pylons for which permission must be obtained from the owners of the plots where the points and pylons are installed, etc.) and... if necessary, even pay for a new transformer to receive more electricity.
• Water: Drinking water is essential for the business. You must therefore ensure that the property is connected to DRINKING WATER and, if not, you must pay for the work to connect it from the nearest connection point or install a water deposit in which you supply certified drinking water.

Alternatively, you can consider making a borehole on your land to get water for the farm. In this case, you will again need:

1. Detect whether there is water in the subsurface, and that this water does not belong to someone else (perhaps this is a declared underground conduit owned by another owner or company).
2. Check the quality of the water to see if it meets quality standards.
3. That it is not prohibited to extract water from the subsurface in the area
4. Prepare a technical project signed and certified by an engineer
5. Present the project to the Spanish local government to obtain approval from the City Hall
   Pay the costs of the Well's works
6. Install the necessary elements to guarantee drinking water quality, such as purification systems, etc., all with materials certified and approved by the European Community.

• Roads: The Spanish authorities may require you to improve the roads and access in the area, sometimes even tarmacing surrounding roads to and from your property.
• Purification and wastewater treatment: treatment of residual water is essential to obtain permission, sometimes involving the installation of collection and purification systems and plants.
• And further:
• Ample parking space sufficient for the maximum capacity of guests
• Security and health programs (in case of fire, flood, accidents, etc.)

Then, if ALL regional Departments accept the project, the land where the property is located will be transferred from “rustic” to “commercial/hotel” and you will be asked to carry out the above-mentioned works according to the administration conditions.

Once the infrastructure works are completed, you can apply for the ACTIVITY PERMIT for the town hall.

Other requirements:
Mandatory to register yourself as self-employed or set up a legally registered company in Spain.
If you serve food in the establishment, you must obtain a food processing license ("food handler"). Even if you have obtained this license in your country of origin, you must have it legalized in Spain and / or pass an exam (in Spanish).

So, in CONCLUSION, if you are considering opening a B&B in rustic country, these are the steps to follow:

STEP 1. - OBTAINING THE DIC (“Declaration of Community Interest”)
Pre-project. The moment you have in mind to start a bed and breakfast in Spain, the first thing you have to do is to design that project through plans and detailed project documentation, drawn up by an architect. This project would be a first project that we call preliminary project.

Average time to prepare an architect's pre-project: 1-3 months

First impression of the town hall. This project must be submitted to the city council to give us an idea if, once all possible works and adaptations of buildings, infrastructure, etc. have been carried out, the municipality would be willing to change the classification of the land and approve the project.

Average time to get a response from City Hall: 1-3 months

Final project. Preparation of the final project by the architect and the rest of the engineers. After you have obtained confirmation from the municipality that they would be willing to approve a final design declaration of community interest, the final project is drawn up by means of plans by architects, engineers, etc., as laid down in this article.

Average time to get a final project from an architect: 3-9 months

Approval by the city hall. Approval of the project by the municipality.

Average time to get final project approved by city hall 6-12 months

Approval by the regional government. Approval by all departments of the regional government, such as industry, tourism, environment, etc.

Average time to get final response from regional government: 1-3 years

So, the total time frame to obtain the DIC can take 2-6 years depending on the project and the region.

STEP 2. - ACTIVITY PERMIT
Once the declaration of community interest is obtained, a project for opening a permit must be presented to the town hall. This will be passed on to the town hall from another project of the architect (this time focused on the business activity).

This license can last 1-4 years depending on the project and the area.

STEP 3. - REGISTRATION AS A COMPANY
If the city hall approves the project for the activity, then you will get the license and then you will also need:

Registration of the company as self-employed or corporation, as well as all health requirements and permits, food handler, etc., and registration of the company in the tourism/business Dpt.

This registration may take 1-6 months.

NOTES:

The above information is aimed at you if you decide to start a bed and breakfast in a rustic country in Spain. If you want to open the business in an 'urban' area, and if the municipality allows it, you do not need to obtain the DIC (step 1) and go directly to steps 2 and 3.

This article is not an official guide, so it cannot be used without proper advice from specialists.

Source: TLA Lawyers