A furnished two-bed apartment in Nueva AndalucĂa can gross €28,000 to €35,000 a year as a short-term holiday let, while the same flat on a mid or long-term contract earns roughly €18,000 to €24,000 a year at €1,500 to €2,000 a month. On headline income the holiday let usually wins. On cost, effort, occupancy risk and paperwork the longer let often wins. The honest answer to which earns more depends on your property, your area and how much of the year it actually sits empty.
Here is how the two models really compare on the Costa del Sol in 2026, and how to work out which one suits your property.
Mid-term, long-term or short-term: what is the difference?
Short-term (holiday) letting means nightly or weekly stays, marketed on Airbnb and Booking.com, and it needs a tourist licence in AndalucĂa. Mid-term letting means a furnished alquiler de temporada, a seasonal contract of 1 to 11 months, popular with winter residents, relocating families and remote professionals. Long-term letting means an unfurnished or furnished contract of 12 months or more under the standard Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos.
The single most useful fact for owners is this: mid-term and long-term rentals need no tourist licence at all. If your community of owners has voted to restrict holiday lets, or the licence freeze in your municipality has closed the door on new short-term permits, a temporada or long-term contract keeps your property earning legally. That is why we built our long-term and mid-term rental service alongside the holiday-let side of the business.
Which rental type earns more in Marbella?
Short-term letting produces the higher gross figure in a strong location, because summer nightly rates are high and demand around Puerto BanĂşs, the Golden Mile and Nueva AndalucĂa is reliable from June to September. Local market data for 2026 shows summer adding a 30 to 50 per cent premium on many properties as owners chase holiday rates.
The catch is the rest of the calendar. From November to April, occupancy and nightly rates fall sharply, and a holiday let can sit half empty through the winter. A mid or long-term tenant pays every month regardless of season. In Marbella, two-bed apartments let long-term for roughly €1,200 to €2,500 a month, with furnished mid-term contracts often starting from €1,800. Location swings the figure hard: a one-bed in San Pedro de Alcántara might let for €950 a month, while the same size on the Golden Mile starts near €2,500, though the two are barely 8km apart.
Short-term wins on peak-season income. Mid and long-term win on twelve months of guaranteed rent, near-zero voids and far lower running costs.
Once you deduct cleaning, laundry, platform fees, higher utility use and the winter vacancy, the gap between the two models is much smaller than the headline gross suggests, and for some owners the longer let comes out ahead net.
What does mid and long-term letting cost with Premavista?
Our fee structure is deliberately simple. Tenant placement, which covers marketing the property, vetting applicants with income verification, drafting a legally sound contract and handling the handover, costs one month's rent plus IVA. For a mid-term temporada let the tenant pays that placement fee, as Spanish practice allows. For a long-term let the owner pays it, as the law requires. There is no monthly charge unless you want one.
If you would rather be fully hands-off, optional full management costs 10 per cent of the monthly rent plus IVA, paid by the owner, and covers rent collection, tenant liaison and coordinating repairs. That is a separate model from the net-commission arrangement we use on the holiday-let side, so you always know exactly what you are paying for.
When does a long-term let beat a holiday rental?
A longer contract tends to win in four situations. First, when your community restricts short-term lets or your area has no available tourist licence. Second, when your property sits outside the prime tourist strip, where winter holiday demand is thin. Third, when you value certainty: one vetted tenant, one monthly payment, no last-minute cancellations. Fourth, when you want to cover the quiet season, a strategy some owners run as a hybrid, holiday-letting in summer and placing a winter tenant from November to April.
At Premavista we serve owners across Marbella, Nueva AndalucĂa, San Pedro de Alcántara, BenahavĂs, Estepona and Elviria, and we will tell you honestly which model fits your specific flat rather than pushing the one that pays us more. If your two-bed is empty five months a year as a holiday let, a temporada tenant is very often the better answer.
Getting the balance right for your property
There is no single winner. A well-located, licensed apartment near the beach will usually out-earn a long-term tenant across a strong summer. A property in a community that has banned holiday lets, or one facing months of winter voids, will almost always do better with a mid or long-term contract. The right move is to run the real numbers for your address, including the months your property actually earns nothing.
That is exactly the estimate we prepare free of charge. Send us your property details and we will model both scenarios side by side, so you can decide with figures rather than guesswork. Reach the team at premavista.com/contact.html or WhatsApp +34 600 543 173.
