Short-term renting in Crespo: what the law requires and what the building forbids

A lot of buying in Crespo is justified by the expectation of seasonal renting. That expectation rests on two permissions obtained in different places, which contradict each other more often than buyers expect.

On one side is the national tourism register: providing tourist accommodation without registering is an infraction, and registering has its own requirements. On the other is the building's condominium bylaws, which may forbid daily rentals even where the state permits them. Inside the building the bylaws govern, and you read them before signing, not after.

Here the file is complicated by a neighbor nobody negotiates with: the air terminal. The neighborhood sits under the approach path, so a building project is not reviewed only by the curaduría urbana, the private office that grants permits, but also by the civil aviation authority, which sets the obstacle limitation surfaces, and by the operator running the airport under concession. That reorders the procedure: before buying with any plan to add height, request the land-use opinion from the District and ask about the aviation ruling, because that is where a seller's assumptions collapse. On top of height there is noise exposure, which never appears on the certificado de tradición y libertad, the registry history and encumbrance certificate, and does appear in the airfield regime, so the exposure sits in the rules over the land rather than in the title itself. The counterparty differs too: a formal neighborhood of long-standing owners, with unsettled sucesiones, estate proceedings, and houses carved into several apartments without registering the split, so compare the original permit against what stands before accepting a per-unit valuation.

What is specific to Crespo

What to verify, step by step

1. Request the complete condominium bylaws and find the chapter on the permitted use of private units.
2. Request the last few years of owners' meeting minutes: that is where prohibitions and penalties approved after the bylaws appear.
3. Check the national tourism register to see whether the unit or the complex is already registered, and in whose name.
4. Ask the District what land use applies to the property in Crespo, since tourist accommodation is an use and not every zone admits it.
5. Work the numbers with the building manager: which dues apply to units in short-term rental, which are often different.

Mistakes that cost money

• Believing the sales office's occupancy projection. Ask for the bylaws, not the brochure.
• Registering with the tourism register without having read the bylaws. You can be compliant with the state and in breach with the building at the same time.

Frequently asked questions

Can the bylaws forbid something the law allows?

Inside the building, yes: condominium rules govern the use of private units. That is why you read them before buying.

Who is liable if the building penalises the rental?

The owner, not the guest or the platform. Which is a reason to review the minutes and not only the bylaws.

Where to check it

• Registro Nacional de Turismo — whether a property may legally be used for tourist accommodation and who has registered it
• Alcaldía Mayor de Cartagena de Indias — property tax, betterment levies and District procedures
• Plan de Ordenamiento Territorial de Cartagena — land use, the rules applying to the property and protected land
• DIAN — the tax ID, withholding on sale and the capital gains tax
• Cartagena de Indias — the rules of the municipality Crespo belongs to

Official bodies. Specific figures are requested there, not copied from a listing.

Updated 2026-11-06