The Medellin Secretariat of Tourism and Entertainment issued operating guidance on 21 August for short-let homes1. An operator needs an entry in the National Tourism Registry, building-rule authorisation, compatible land use, a construction licence, tax and commercial registrations, registration with SIRE plus an accommodation record, and fire-safety certification. Non-compliance risks sanctions and fines.
SIRE is the Sistema de Informacion para el Reporte de Extranjeros, the Colombian national database where accommodation providers file foreign-guest data. None of the requirements is new. They already sat across six agencies, and the secretariat has done nothing more than assemble them in one place.
Publishing the list still changes something. A vague compliance risk becomes a list a landlord can be scored against and an inspector can carry on a clipboard. A guest satisfies none of it themselves, so the exposure sits entirely with the host. The one thing a booker can check before paying is whether the operator quotes a National Tourism Registry number.
Colombia has been tightening the paperwork around foreigners at both ends. Its Type V Visa ran 42% rejections in 2025, and the 2026 income floor rose 23% alongside the minimum wage. Medellin's checklist works on the accommodation rather than the person, and it reaches the same population from the other side.
