[VIDEO] I Toured the ONLY Airbnb-Approved Building in Costa del Este, Panama 🇵🇦

Renting your condo for under 45 days is illegal in Panama City unless the building holds a tourism license. One building in Costa del Este has it.

I toured it…

The law is Ley 80 de 2012, and fines range from $5,000 to $50,000. It covers advertising too, so the Airbnb listing itself is the violation. No guest required.

The license attaches to the building, not the owner. Your HOA can’t vote its way into compliance, and you can’t fix it with paperwork after closing. Either the building is licensed or it isn’t. In Costa del Este’s corporate district, exactly one building is:

Arcadia del Este

I live in this neighborhood, so verifying this one was easy. The video covers the units and current pricing, plus the question that matters more than the license:

Do the numbers actually work, or does the “only legal building” premium quietly eat the yield you came for?

If residency is part of your plan, watch the calendar. Panama’s Qualified Investor Visa threshold rises from $300K to $500K after October 15, 2026. A unit here above $300K, bought before that date, qualifies you at the old number.

As always, no brochure script. This is what I’d tell a friend before they even thought about wiring a deposit.