Peak season weekly rates
No public dataset records achieved occupancy or realised returns for Costa del Sol luxury lets — no register collects them and no platform publishes them — so every figure below is the desk's working range from advertised rates and owner reporting, not a measured statistic. Treat them as a frame to test against two or three managers, not as a forecast.
July and August are the only weeks of genuinely constrained supply. A well-maintained 5-bedroom villa on the Golden Mile or in Sierra Blanca with pool, garden and sea view is advertised at €15,000–€50,000 per week in peak summer. Exceptional beachfront properties can reach €80,000–€120,000/week in August.
Shoulder season (June, September) achieves 60–80% of peak rates. May and October achieve 40–60%. November through March generates minimal luxury rental demand.
Realistic occupancy and annual gross income
A professionally managed luxury villa books somewhere between eight and fourteen weeks a year on the desk's own observation of owner reporting — a range, not a measurement, and one that varies more by manager than by address. Owner use, maintenance and booking gaps reduce it further.
Worked illustratively rather than empirically: a €3.5M Golden Mile villa advertised at €22,000–€28,000 a week, booking twelve of them, grosses €264,000–€336,000 — on the order of 7.5–9.6% of the purchase price before a single cost is deducted.
That gross figure is what appears in marketing materials. It is not income. The cost stack below is where it goes.
Full cost stack and net yield
Management fee (full-service luxury agency): 18–25% of gross. Platform commissions: 3–15%. Maintenance and management during rental (cleaning, consumables, pool, garden): €35,000–€60,000/year. Community fees: €8,000–€20,000/year. IBI: €3,000–€12,000/year. Insurance (must cover tourist rental): €2,000–€6,000/year. Utilities: €8,000–€15,000/year. IRNR: 24% gross (non-EU) or 19% net (EU/EEA).
Run that stack against the gross above and a €3.5M villa retains something on the order of 1.5–3% — a working range from the desk's own files, not a published statistic, and one that moves with occupancy, manager and tax position. On the capital side there is nothing to add: Spain publishes no per-property closing prices, so no appreciation series exists for these addresses and anyone quoting one is estimating.
VFT licence requirements (Andalucía 2026)
Decreto 31/2024 requires a Vivienda con Fines Turísticos (VFT) licence for all short-term rentals. Requirements: responsible declaration to the Junta de Andalucía; basic technical compliance (room sizes, ventilation, fire safety); licence number displayed on all advertising. Processing in Málaga province: 4–10 weeks.
Gated community statutes may independently restrict tourist rental — verify the reglamento de la comunidad before assuming rental is permitted. Sierra Blanca and La Zagaleta have historically restricted short-term tourist rental by non-member owners.
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