A monthly rental in Marbella, known locally as a temporada let, is a furnished home rented on a seasonal contract of one to eleven months rather than by the night. Rent is paid monthly, the tenant is vetted and signed on a Spanish seasonal contract, and because this is a residential let rather than a holiday let, no tourist licence is required. For owners, it is the simplest way to turn a property that sits empty for half the year into predictable monthly income.

The demand behind monthly rentals in Marbella is not tourist demand. It comes from winter residents, relocating families house-hunting on the coast, remote professionals on a three or six month stint, and people waiting on a purchase to complete. They want a furnished home with a fixed monthly rent, and they will not book eight weeks of nightly stays to get it.

What counts as a monthly rental in Marbella?

Spanish law splits rentals in two under the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos. An arrendamiento de temporada covers a temporary stay for work, study, treatment or a seasonal move, and typically runs one to eleven months. An arrendamiento de vivienda is the tenant's habitual residence and starts at twelve months.

The distinction matters far more than most owners realise. A temporada contract is not subject to obligatory extension, so it ends on the date written into it. A habitual residence contract is: once a tenant has been in place for over a year, the contract must be extended to five years where the landlord is an individual, or seven years where the landlord is a company. The deposit rules differ too. One month's rent is standard for a habitual residence let, while two months is the norm on a temporada contract.

One warning worth taking seriously. Writing "temporada" on the contract does not make it seasonal. If the tenant is genuinely making the property their main home, Spanish courts will reclassify the contract as a residential lease and apply the full five year protection. The purpose of the stay has to be real and documented, which is precisely why the contract and the vetting need to be done properly the first time.

What can a monthly rental in Marbella earn?

Rates move sharply with area, size and finish. A well presented furnished two-bed in a good central location typically achieves €1,400 to €3,000 per month. A one-bed in San Pedro de Alcántara sits nearer €950, while a comparable one-bed on the Golden Mile starts around €2,500. Across Marbella as a whole, long-stay asking rents run at roughly €19.20 per square metre per month, so a 90 square metre apartment lands close to €1,700.

Seasonality still applies. Landlords letting across July and August push rates 30 to 50 per cent higher, because those are the months nightly holiday rates would have been strongest. The reverse is true from November to April, which is why the winter window is where monthly rentals do their best work for owners. Our guide to winter lets from November to April covers that season in detail.

Take a furnished two-bed at €2,000 per month on a six-month temporada contract. That is €12,000 of income from a period a summer-only owner writes off completely, with one tenant, one contract and no nightly turnover.

Do you need a tourist licence for a temporada rental?

No. Mid and long-term rentals need no tourist licence at all. That single fact is why so many Costa del Sol owners have moved part of their year across to monthly letting. Holiday lets in Andalucía now face tighter permitting, community vetoes and municipal caps, and a licence that was routine three years ago is now a scarce asset. A temporada contract sidesteps that entire regime.

It also sidesteps the communities of owners that have voted to restrict holiday letting in their building. A community can block short-term tourist use, but it cannot stop you letting your home to a residential tenant on a monthly contract. If your community has voted against holiday lets, monthly rentals are usually the only route left that still generates income, and it is a good one.

Which Marbella areas work best for monthly lets?

Different tenants cluster in different places. Nueva Andalucía draws golf residents and families, sitting within minutes of Los Naranjos, Las Brisas and Aloha, and it is the strongest area we see for six month winter tenancies. Elviria suits families who want beach access and international schools within reach. San Pedro de Alcántara is the value option, with a real town centre and the best price per square metre of the western stretch.

Further out, Benahavís attracts remote professionals who want quiet and space, and Estepona has become the fastest growing monthly rental market on the coast as its old town and promenade keep pulling year-round residents. Central Marbella itself works for shorter three to five month stays where walkability matters more than square metres.

How does Premavista handle monthly rentals?

We manage mid and long-term lets across Marbella, Nueva Andalucía, San Pedro de Alcántara, Benahavís, Estepona and Elviria through our long-term rental management service. Tenant placement covers advertising, viewings, screening and the signed contract, and it is charged at one month's rent plus IVA. For a mid-term temporada let that placement fee is paid by the tenant, so finding a tenant costs the owner nothing. For a long-term contract of twelve months or more, Spanish law requires the owner to pay it, and we follow the law to the letter.

Optional full management is 10 per cent of the monthly rent plus IVA, paid by the owner. With it we handle every tenant issue, repair and complaint, so the tenant never contacts you directly, and for mid-term lets the placement fee is included. Rent is always paid by the tenant straight to the owner. There are no setup fees. This is a separate model from our short-term holiday let service and should not be confused with it.

Every tenant is screened before a contract is signed, and every property is inventoried at check-in and check-out. Our team speaks English, Dutch, Spanish and Russian, which matters more than it sounds when your tenant is a Dutch family relocating and your contract is in Spanish.

Conclusion

Monthly rentals in Marbella give owners a licence-free, low-effort way to fill the months nightly letting cannot. A furnished temporada contract of one to eleven months brings a vetted tenant, a fixed monthly rent and a defined end date, and it pairs cleanly with summer holiday letting for owners who want both. To find out what your property could earn on a monthly contract, book a free rental assessment with the Premavista team or message us on WhatsApp at +34 600 543 173.