Asturias rural tourism vouchers 2026: a guide for hosts

On 6 September 2026 the Principality of Asturias announced a second round of the Bonos Turismo Rural de Asturias (the regional rural tourism voucher scheme): 4,000 more vouchers, a 300,000 euro budget and one million euros of total investment in 2026. The first batch of 9,333 vouchers sold out. The extract of the resolution appeared in the BOPA (the Asturias official gazette) on 7 September, and this time the sign-up window is ten calendar days.

If you run a casa de aldea (a traditional village house), a rural apartment or a rural hotel in Asturias, two things need settling this week: whether you can and want to join, and how to redeem the voucher without mistakes when a guest presents it at reception.

This article separates the press release from the resolution, the user (the beneficiary of the subsidy) from the participating establishment, and the purchase of the voucher from its redemption and your payment. It informs and orients; it does not replace the official rules or your accountant.

What changed on 7 September 2026

What was published on 7 September in the BOPA (issue 173, code 2026-07371) is the extract of the Resolution of 1 September 2026 of the Consejería de Presidencia, Reto Demográfico, Igualdad y Turismo (the regional ministry responsible for tourism), opening a second call of the Bono Turismo Rural de Asturias 2026. The full text is in the national grants database (BDNS 927613) and in procedure sheet AYUD0539T01 of the regional e-office.

From the press release come the one million euros of total investment, the 358 rural establishments in the network when the extension was announced, and the fact that the call “also allows new establishments to join”. The press release sets no deadlines; the resolution does.

Who can join: a pre-flight checklist

The requirements are in rule six of the regulatory bases (Resolution of 15 May 2025, BOPA of 27 May 2025). Before you open the platform, check all five:

1. Listed in the REAT (Registro de Empresas y Actividades Turísticas, the Asturias tourism register) under the tourist accommodation class, activity: rural tourism accommodation. The registered owner must match the other requirements.
2. Lawful activity, under the conditions established for rural tourism.
3. Tax domicile in Asturias.
4. Up to date with the national tax agency and social security, no overdue debts with the regional treasury, and previous regional grants duly justified.
5. No final tourism sanction for a serious or very serious infringement in the twelve months before the call was published.

The scheme is for accommodation registered as rural tourism. A VUT (vivienda de uso turístico, a licensed holiday rental), a campsite or a town hotel does not qualify by being in a rural municipality; what counts is the activity recorded in the REAT. If you are not sure how you are registered, the post on how to check your tourism registration code explains where to look.

Under rule sixteen, the regional tourism department verifies identity, tax number, tax domicile, tax status, business tax registration and social security by querying the national tax agency, the regional tax service and the social security treasury directly. A mismatch between REAT owner, tax domicile and bank account will not be hidden by the form: fix it first.

How to sign up on the platform

Checked on 8 September 2026: the establishments page of the official platform (bonosturismoruralasturias.com/merchant) states that the sign-up window for new establishments is open until 17 September, and procedure sheet AYUD0539T01 shows the window “from 08/09/2026 00:00 to 17/09/2026 23:59”. That matches the extract.

Sign-up happens only on the platform, with these data (rule six):

• Full name or company name.
• Rural accommodation number in the Principality of Asturias.
• NIF or DNI (tax or identity number) of the owner.
• Full name and DNI or NIE of the representative, if the REAT owner is a company, a community of owners or another entity without legal personality.
• Trade name and address of the accommodation.
• Mobile phone and email.
• IBAN of the bank account.
• Website, if you have one.
• REAT registration number.

On signing up you digitally sign a declaración responsable (a sworn statement) of compliance and accuracy, accept the terms of use, your trade name and location are published in the list of participants, and you undertake to display the scheme’s materials outside the property (rule nine).

If your dashboard still shows the previous status or the form rejects your REAT number, do not wait until the last day. The establishments page publishes no support phone or email: use the platform’s contact channel and, for requirements, procedure sheet AYUD0539T01 (responsible unit: Servicio de Promoción y Sostenibilidad Turística). Keep a dated screenshot of every attempt.

How the voucher works for the user

The beneficiary of the subsidy is the adult user who buys the voucher and stays. The participating establishment applies the discount and receives the amount. A collaborating entity runs the platform, the vouchers and the payments (rule five). You are not the beneficiary, and that matters for tax and for obligations.

What the guest buys, according to the bases and the call:

• Pays 75 € and receives a digital voucher as a QR code with a 150 € balance, co-funded 50 % by the Principality, VAT included.
• The voucher is personal and non-transferable and requires prepayment. To download it the user registers with full name, confirmation of adult age, DNI or NIE, mobile number, town and postcode.
• Maximum two vouchers per person per year. Anyone who already bought two in February cannot buy more.
• Spent in full or in part, at one or several participating establishments. Every stay, at least two nights.
• In fully let casas de aldea and rural apartments, two vouchers can be applied to the same booking from four beds upwards, each with its own QR and holder.
• Not usable on 1 May, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday or from 1 July to 15 September. Redemption until 31 December 2026.
• For the user, the subsidised amount is taxable as a capital gain in personal income tax (rule fourteen).

It is not “50 % off any booking”: it is 75 € of public money on a 150 € balance, with limits and only at participating establishments.

Purchase, booking, deposit, redemption and payment: five separate moments

Most mistakes come from mixing up five things that happen at different times and in different places.

The platform’s establishments page is explicit on deposits: they cannot be deducted from the voucher, are handled separately and are settled or refunded through the original payment method; the QR is applied to the final payment, with the guest present. On payment, rule six speaks of “a weekly basis”, except in cases of non-compliance; do not promise your accountant a date that is not in the bases or in your dashboard.

2026 calendar for the second call

Two warnings. On 8 September the e-office sheet showed a “voucher download window from 08/09/2026”, while the BOPA extract sets 16 September: until that is clarified, let your guests check on the platform. And the 31 December cut-off does not make a 2027 booking eligible; the regional ministry may change dates by resolution and the official conditions prevail over this calendar. The bases require vouchers to remain available for at least five working days unless they sell out earlier; with 4,000 this time, expect them to go fast.

The reception flow, step by step

A badly handled redemption is a payment that never arrives or a clawback you are asked to return. This is the voucher check-in, in the order that avoids mistakes.

1. Confirm the stay is eligible: at least two nights and none inside the excluded periods.
2. Check identity and adult age (rule nine): the guest shows their DNI or NIE and their QR, and you check that the voucher holder is the person staying. There is no need to photocopy or scan the document; a visual check is enough.
3. If two vouchers are combined (fully let casa de aldea or rural apartment, four beds or more), validate each QR with its holder.
4. Scan in the official app “Bono Turismo Rural de Asturias”: enter amount and concept, the app applies the discount and shows the final amount.
5. Charge the balance in cash or by card. The discount goes straight on the invoice: the user must never pay the discounted amount.
6. Invoice and reconcile: a single invoice can show one or several vouchers plus the rest by another means. Match voucher, deposit, remaining payment and invoice, and keep the receipt or invoice for one year (rules eight and nine).
7. Log incidents: a QR that will not validate, a balance that does not match, an app without connection. Date, time, booking and what you did.

The identity data you do process is that of traveller registration, which the voucher does not change: the entry report and its submission to SES.Hospedajes (Spain’s traveller registration platform) continue as before, as explained in the guide to traveller registration and Royal Decree 933/2021.

Turning the voucher into profitable bookings from September to December

A voucher fills a night; what decides whether it pays off is what you build around it. The underlying low-season strategy is in the post on tourism seasonality; here is only what is specific to this scheme.

• Open midweek availability. The voucher guest lives nearby and decides at short notice. Two nights from Tuesday to Thursday with a voucher usually earn more than discounting the weekend.
• Sell the two-night escape, not the voucher. The voucher is the reason to decide now.
• Total price always visible: what the stay costs and what is left to pay after the voucher. Hiding the total ends in a bad review.
• Direct sales. An OTA booking with a voucher pays a commission and a voucher. Publish the offer on your website and on your platform listing.
• Prepared answers: “can you take it off the deposit?” (no; it goes on the final payment), “is it valid on the All Saints long weekend?” (yes, it is not excluded), “is it valid in 2027?” (no; redemption ends on 31 December).
• Put it in the booking confirmation email: two nights, eligible dates, ID and QR to hand, deposit settled at the end.

Measure more than vouchers redeemed: bookings with and without a voucher, average stay, net income per booking (after commissions and voucher), incremental occupancy on nights that were empty, repeat visits in 2027 and add-on sales. The formulas are in the post on how to calculate your rental’s profitability. A scheme that only moves bookings you would have had anyway is a discount, not a subsidy.

The data, as context and not as proof

The Principality backs the announcement with figures: between January and April 2026 Asturian rural establishments received 54,354 travellers and 136,878 overnight stays; in July, 58,468 travellers and 213,715 overnight stays; between January and July, 18.09 % more travellers and 14.74 % more overnight stays than in 2025. The INE (Spain’s national statistics institute), in its July 2026 survey of tourist accommodation, confirms that rural tourism nationwide grew 3.9 % in overnight stays, with 33 % occupancy and prices 1.5 % higher.

What those figures do not say is how much of that growth is due to the voucher: they coincide in time, and the regional balance mixes months with and without vouchers (July is excluded). Without a counterfactual evaluation, the useful number is your own: the nights the voucher filled that would otherwise have been empty.

Two action lists

Today

• Check your activity in the REAT, your tax domicile and that the owner matches the IBAN.
• Download certificates of good standing (national tax agency, regional tax service, social security) and check there are no unjustified regional grants.
• Complete the sign-up before 17 September; if you are already in, confirm your listing is still active.
• Decide which midweek nights from September to December you want to fill with vouchers.

Before 16 September

• Install the “Bono Turismo Rural de Asturias” app on the reception phone and test the login.
• Train whoever handles check-in with the seven steps above, on one sheet next to the desk.
• Prepare invoicing: several payment methods on one invoice and the deposit separately.
• Publish the offer with the total price visible, assign one person for incidents and review your cancellation policy for voucher bookings.

Frequently asked questions

My holiday rental is in a rural municipality. Can I join?

Only if it is listed in the REAT under the rural tourism accommodation activity (casa de aldea, rural apartment, rural hotel). A VUT, a campsite or a town hotel does not qualify by location.

Until when can I join the second call?

Ten calendar days from the day after the BOPA of 7 September; the e-office and the platform show the window open from 8 to 17 September 2026, until 23:59. The bases allow an extension by resolution before the deadline, but do not count on it.

Can I deduct the voucher from the booking deposit?

No. According to the platform, the deposit is charged through your usual channel and is not applied to the voucher; it is settled or refunded the same way. The QR is applied to the final payment.

Do I have to keep a copy of the guest’s ID because of the voucher?

No. The obligation is to verify identity and adult age, and that is done by the guest showing the document. What you keep for one year is the receipt or invoice showing the voucher.

When do I get paid for the voucher?

The bases provide for weekly transfers to the designated IBAN of the equivalent of the vouchers redeemed, except in cases of non-compliance. The maximum period to resolve the grant to the beneficiary is three months from redemption. If your dashboard shows something else, the dashboard rules.