Mid-term rental management on the Costa del Sol means letting a furnished property for 1 to 11 months on a Spanish temporada contract, and it needs no tourist licence. It sits between nightly holiday lets and the 12 month residential tenancies most people picture when they hear "long term". For owners in Marbella, Estepona and BenahavĂs, it is the format that fills the quiet stretch from mid September to mid June, when holiday demand thins out but the property still costs the same to hold.
The money is easier to plan than nightly income. Furnished winter lets across the western Costa del Sol currently advertise from around €1,200 a month for a modest apartment, roughly €3,300 a month for a good quality furnished home, and about €5,500 a month for a luxury school year let running September to June. Brand new beachfront apartments reach €9,500 a month. One tenant, one contract, one payment date.
What counts as a mid-term rental in Spain?
Spanish law does not use the phrase "mid-term". It uses arrendamiento de temporada, the seasonal tenancy set out in article 3.2 of the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos. The defining test is not the length of the stay but the purpose: the tenant must be here temporarily for a genuine non-touristic reason such as work, study, a medical stay or a relocation while they house hunt.
That distinction is the whole point. Because a temporada let is not a tourist rental, it falls outside the VUT licence regime entirely. It also sits outside the community approval rule introduced by Ley Orgánica 1/2025, which lets a community of owners block new holiday lets by vote. If your community has voted against short term rentals, or your building has a blanket ban in its statutes, a seasonal let is usually still open to you. Twelve months or more, and you move into a standard residential tenancy, which our long-term rental management service covers.
A temporada contract has to state the temporary purpose and the reason for it in writing. A seasonal contract with no stated reason is the single most common way owners end up with an accidental five year residential tenancy.
Why does the September to June window matter so much?
Look at a Costa del Sol booking calendar and the shape is always the same. July and August are full, the shoulder months hold up, and then from November to April a two bedroom apartment can sit empty for weeks at a time while the community fees, IBI and insurance keep running.
A mid-term let closes that gap in one move. The typical local season runs from mid September to mid June, which matches the academic year almost exactly. Aloha College in Nueva AndalucĂa and the international schools around San Pedro pull in relocating families every August who need a furnished home for the school year, not a hotel. Golf residents do the same thing on a shorter cycle, taking three or four months near La Quinta in BenahavĂs to play through the mild winter.
Some owners run a hybrid year: nightly lets through the summer peak, then a single seasonal tenant from October to May. That combination is worth modelling properly, and we walk through it in our comparison of mid-term versus short-term rental income.
What does a temporada contract actually require?
Less than a tourist let, but it is not paperwork free. In practice you need four things right.
- A stated purpose. The contract must name the temporary reason for the stay and the agreed end date.
- A two month deposit. Seasonal tenancies carry a two month fianza, lodged with the regional deposit scheme rather than held in your own account.
- Tenant solvency evidence. Andalusian landlords routinely ask for bank statements, an employment contract or proof of pension income before signing.
- A furnished, inventoried property. Mid-term tenants arrive with suitcases, not vans. A written inventory protects the deposit at handover.
Platform registration under the new national register only bites if you advertise on short stay booking platforms. A seasonal let placed through an agency or a residential portal does not trigger it.
How much does mid-term rental management cost?
Our pricing is deliberately simple and separate from the net commission model we use for holiday lets. Tenant placement is one month's rent plus IVA, and on a mid-term let the tenant pays that fee, not the owner. Placement covers marketing, viewings, vetting, the contract and the deposit lodging. If you would rather not field calls about a broken boiler in February, optional full management is 10% of the monthly rent plus IVA, paid by the owner.
At Premavista we manage 15 active properties across Marbella, Estepona and BenahavĂs, so the tenant vetting is done by people who know which streets, urbanisations and communities actually work for a six month stay. We cover Marbella, Nueva AndalucĂa, San Pedro de Alcántara, BenahavĂs, Estepona and Elviria, and check-ins are done in person, never by lockbox.
Who rents mid-term on the Costa del Sol?
Four groups, consistently. Northern European winter residents escaping November to March. Relocating families waiting on a purchase or a school place. Remote professionals taking a Spanish base for a quarter. And people in the middle of a renovation or a move who need somewhere real to live for a few months.
They all want the same thing: a furnished home they can walk into, a clear end date, and a landlord who answers the phone. That is a far lower churn business than nightly turnover, with no cleaning cycle every three days and no review anxiety.
If your property sits empty for more than eight weeks a year, or your community has restricted holiday lets, a seasonal tenancy is usually the better economics. Send us the address and we will tell you what it would realistically achieve on a September to June contract. Get in touch at premavista.com/contact.html or WhatsApp +34 600 543 173.
