The NIRTC is the registration number in the Catalan Tourism Register. If you own a tourist flat in Barcelona, your NIRTC is your HUT number: it starts with HUTB and is followed by up to six digits. You do not request it directly — the Generalitat assigns it after your town hall notifies your registration. And since July 2025 it coexists with a second, national number, which is a different thing.
What format yours has
Registration in the Catalan Tourism Register grants a code that identifies every tourism business and establishment required to register. The first part indicates the type of accommodation and the next one the territorial services where it is located. For tourist-use dwellings:
After the letters come up to six digits, and the Generalitat accepts several ways of writing it: HUTB-123, HUTB-000123, HUTB123 or HUTB000123. All four are valid.
If your number starts with VUT or CR, it is not Catalan: it belongs to another autonomous community. We see this fairly often in listings by owners who have flats in two cities and copy across the wrong figure.
How you get it: the actual route
There is no "apply for a NIRTC" form. The number arrives at the end of a route that starts at the town hall:
- You file the prior notification of commencement of activity at the town hall where the property is located.
- The town hall reports the registration to the Catalan Tourism Register.
- The Register records the dwelling and notifies you of the number.
Weeks pass between the first step and the third. That is why the provisional number exists: when you submit the notification on the Canal Empresa portal you are given one that you can use while you wait. As soon as the definitive NIRTC arrives, you have to replace it — leaving it in place months later is one of the easiest problems to spot.
Where you are required to display it
In all the advertising media and materials you use: Airbnb, Booking, your own website, an estate agent's window. And also in a visible, accessible place inside the property itself.
Where to check whether a flat is registered
The Generalitat publishes the lists of registered tourism businesses and establishments, which you can download and search.
One caveat worth knowing: the Generalitat itself warns that those lists are issued for information purposes only and do not create rights of any kind. They are useful for checking, not as proof of registration.
The three numbers people mix up
This is the confusion that fills the forums. They are three separate obligations, before three separate authorities, and none replaces the others:
NIRTC / HUT
Certifies that the dwelling is registered as tourist accommodation.
National registration number
Requested through the Land Registry. Required to advertise on online platforms.
Guest registration
Reporting each guest’s details. It is not a number attached to the property.
The national number does not replace the NIRTC. The Ministry of Housing says so without ambiguity: tourist-use dwellings remain subject to the specific rules of the autonomous communities and the town halls.
That national number comes from Regulation (EU) 2024/1028 and Royal Decree 1312/2024, which create the Single Rental Register and the Digital Single Window. It came into force on 2 January 2025 and its provisions take effect from 1 July 2025. It affects both short-term tourist rental and mid-term rental, whenever they are marketed through online platforms.
What happens if you do not have it
Without a NIRTC you cannot legally advertise as tourist accommodation. And if the number shown in your listing does not exist, does not match the register, or is still the provisional one, it is among the first things picked up in an inspection — and among the first things a platform checks when it reviews a listing.
Frequently asked questions
Are the NIRTC and the HUT the same number?
For a tourist-use dwelling, yes. The code the Catalan Tourism Register grants to this type of accommodation is precisely the one starting with HUT. They are not two procedures: it is the same number called two different things.
How long does it take to arrive?
Weeks, and it depends on the town hall. In the meantime you can operate with the provisional number from Canal Empresa, replacing it as soon as the definitive one is notified.
Do I have to request the national number if I already have a NIRTC?
Yes, if you market through online platforms. They are independent procedures before different authorities.
What if my flat is in Madrid?
The NIRTC does not apply: it is a Catalan register. Madrid has its own register of tourist-use dwellings, with its own requirements and inspection regime. The national registration number, by contrast, applies across the whole of Spain.
Can it expire?
The registration stands as long as the activity remains active and continues to meet the requirements. What changes over time are the municipal conditions, and that is where it is worth reviewing your situation periodically.
Please note. This guide is indicative and is based on the information published by the Generalitat de Catalunya and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda on the date of updating. Municipal rules change and each town hall applies its own conditions: always confirm your specific case with the town hall where the property is located before making decisions. It does not constitute legal advice.
Not sure whether your NIRTC is correct?
We check it free: if the number does not exist, does not match, or you are still using the provisional one, we tell you exactly what is missing and where to request it. And if you would rather not wrestle with the paperwork, say so and we will look at it.
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