The regional government of Catalonia has introduced draconian regulations for tourist rentals to help solve the “housing crisis.”
Last week the local press reported that the Generalitat – the regional government of Catalonia – was working on new regulations to address the ‘housing crisis’ by increasing the number of affordable rental homes through “drastic” measures to reduce the number of tourist rentals all over the region. The new regulations were introduced by decree (pending parliamentary ratification) in less than a week, taking the whole sector by surprise.
“They are going to close us down …. they want to get rid of holiday homes” said David Riba, President of the Catalan Federation of Tourist Apartments, in comments to the press. “There’s an intense debate in Barcelona [about housing access], a scapegoat must be found, and they have chosen us.” Ribas also complained that the new regulations have been introduced without any consultation.
There are 100,409 holiday rentals in Catalonia, 9,506 of them in Barcelona, according to the Generalitat’s figures. That represents 2.6% of all homes in Catalonia, and 1.2% of residential properties in Barcelona (a city with 810,000 homes). The number in Barcelona has not changed in 10 years because licensing is already in place, and no new licences have been granted, explains Ribas.
Until now tourist rentals outside Barcelona were regulated by Cataluña’s 2015 Tourism Law, which simply requires owners to register with the authorities, and pay a fee. “The new regulations being proposed entail, to all practical purposes, closing down the sector,” says Marian Muro, formerly the head of the Tourism Department of the Generalitat, and now a consultant. “It’s a clear case of expropriation, and will generate huge legal uncertainty.”
New regulations
The new regulations, passed by decree on Tuesday, require all owners in Catalonia renting to tourists to apply for a licence within the next five years, with a municipal limit of ten licences for every 100 residents. That means that 28,000 homes currently rented to tourists for even a few days a year will be denied a licence. The Costa Brava and the Costa Dorada will be hit the hardest.
“We will use all the tools at our disposal to solve the problem of rental housing,” says Ester Capella, of the Generalitat. “We are working on delivering the fundamental right of access to housing.”
Today the local paper La Vanguardia reports that some municipalities of the Costa Brava (Girona province) and Costa Dorada (Tarragona province) where there are few hotels and lots of second-homes that are rented to tourists part-time are up in arms about the new regulations. “Tourism is the motor of our economy,” says Maite Selva, the Mayoress of Begur, on the Costa Brava. “Do we want to ruin it?” Begur has 1,700 homes licensed for tourist rentals that will have to be reduced to 400 under the new regulations.
The Generalitat’s decree has caused alarm and indignation in the tourist rental business of the Costa Dorada, reports La Vanguardia. “They never consulted us at all,” says Quim Cristià, who works in the sector. “Many restaurants and business owners are very worried. Where will tourists stay? Will they go elsewhere?”
By some estimates, 41,000 homes in Girona province are rented to tourists for at least a few days a year, 40pc of the total in Catalonia. Under the new regulations, that will have to be reduced by 17,000. Industry insiders estimate it will result in half a million fewer tourists every summer (with nowhere to stay), and the loss of 5,000 jobs. “One can’t play with livelihoods like this,” says Joan Company, President of the API real estate association in Girona.
74pc of tourist rentals on the Costa Brava are also second-homes that are rented part-time to tourists, point out industry insiders. So forbidding tourist rentals will not solve the housing problem, they argue.
