Renting it out · 2 July 2026 · 6 min read
What a two-bed near the beach really earns.
“It rents for €1,200 a week” is true the way “Ireland gets sunny days” is true. Let us do the whole year instead, on a realistic case: a two-bed apartment that already holds a valid tourist-let registration (Fuengirola council has refused new ones for flats without an independent entrance since February 2024), ten minutes' walk from the beach in Fuengirola, bought at €350,000, professionally managed because the owner lives in Ireland.
The gross, honestly built
Peak summer (roughly 8 weeks): strong demand at €900 to €1,200 a week. Shoulder months (May, June, September, October): €500 to €700 with decent occupancy. Winter: monthly lets to long-stay visitors at €900 to €1,200 a month, or gaps. A well-run year lands somewhere around €22,000 to €28,000 gross, and that assumes good photos, fast responses and sensible pricing, which is what management is for.
Now the subtractions
| Annual cost against the rental | Typical |
|---|---|
| Management (15 to 25% of bookings) | €4,000 – €6,000 |
| Platform commissions, cleaning gaps, laundry | €1,500 – €2,500 |
| Extra utilities, wifi, wear and tear | €1,200 – €2,000 |
| Community, IBI, insurance (owned anyway) | €2,500 – €4,000 |
| Spanish tax on net rental income (EU non-resident, 19%; Irish tax may add more, see below) | €1,500 – €2,500 |
Which leaves a realistic net of roughly €10,000 to €14,000 in a good year, before Irish tax (as an Irish resident you declare the rent in Ireland too, with a credit for the Spanish tax, so higher-rate taxpayers will owe more): a 3 to 4% net yield on the purchase, before you count your own summer fortnight in it, which most owners rightly do count.
Living in Northern Ireland or elsewhere in the UK changes that tax line a lot. Spain charges owners living outside the EU 24% on the gross rent with no expenses allowed, so on €22,000 to €28,000 of rent the Spanish tax is about €5,300 to €6,700, and you declare the rent to HMRC as well. It's all in the tax for UK-resident owners.
What moves the number most
The licence and community rules (no licence, no legal income: see the holiday lets guide). Walking distance to beach and train, which drives shoulder and winter demand. Your own usage: taking August for yourself costs €4,000+ of the gross. And management quality, which is the difference between 60% and 80% occupancy far more often than the apartment is.
The verdict
A well-chosen, licensed two-bed pays its running costs, funds the flights, and throws off real money in good years. What it does not do is “pay for itself” in the mortgage-covering sense the bar-stool version promises. Buy for the life, let it fund the life: that maths works.
Buying to let?
Our free Buying to Let guide covers holiday-let registration, what the flat needs, the council and the community, long lets, and the tax in Spain and Ireland, checked against the official sources.