Alex Trelinski
THE Andalucia government will approve a new law on tourist housing this Monday which gives added powers to municipalities to ‘establish limitations regarding the maximum number of homes for tourist purposes, by building or sector’.
The Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, Arturo Bernal, confirmed the move in an interview with Canal Sur Radio on Friday.
A draft decree published today says that the Andalucian Government points out that in the Andalucian Tourism Registry there are 80,000 homes for tourist purposes, and acknowledged the number ‘increases daily’.
The government’s decree says that municipalities could establish limitations on the maximum number of dwellings for tourist use per building or per sector.
The administration argues that ‘legal certainty is given in the application of the rule to delimit competences with respect to those that correspond to apply to local councils in urban matters and planning of their territory’.
The government continues that its regulations ‘do not provide for a specific limitation or restriction on economic activity on housing for tourist use, but rather authorising the municipalities to do so within the scope of their competences’.
It added that any ‘possible limitations established locally would have to be subjected to strict scrutiny from the perspective of market guarantees and competition’.
Andalucia president Juanma Moreno said on Tuesday that the decree on tourist apartments has the consensus of the sector and its intention is to ensure quality and better organisation.
He added that the new regulation on tourist apartments will contribute to greater control and knowledge about the number of active homes in each period and about who really owns them.
Moreno remarked that that the new decree recognises the rights of municipalities to establish limitations, prohibitions, or conditions based on urban planning issues like location or zoning.
The president said the registration of a property as holiday accommodation in the Tourism Registry will be communicated to the municipalities so that its urban legality can be verified along with the owners’ identity.
“The Administration will know which company professionally manages the hosting services, which guarantees the rights of users and third parties by identifying the real provider of the tourist service regardless of the ownership of the property,” argued Moreno.
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