spain orders canary islands close illegal holiday lets

Spain orders Canary Islands to close 14,200 illegal holiday lets

Ministry demands action on illegal holiday lets

The Spanish Ministry of Housing has formally urged the Government of the Canary Islands to inspect and close down more than 14,200 illegal tourist homes identified by the Property Registry on the islands this year. The figure places the archipelago as the fourth worst-affected region in Spain for this type of problem.

In a letter to Canarian councillor Pablo Rodriguez, Minister Isabel Rodriguez warned that if the regional government took the necessary action within its powers, those 14,200 properties could be used to boost the supply of affordable housing in the Canary Islands. “Instead of forcing thousands of Canarians out of their neighbourhoods, their cities and, ultimately, their islands,” she wrote.

Supreme Court ruling turns up the heat

On 21 May, the Supreme Court annulled the single registry procedure for short-term rentals — covering tourist, seasonal and room lets — that were to be advertised on digital platforms, imposed by the Spanish Government. The court ruled that the state lacked the authority to impose such exhaustive regulation and that in doing so, it had encroached on regional powers.

The minister has turned the ruling back on the regions, warning Canarian councillor Pablo Rodriguez that the barely one year of the registry’s application had “demonstrated, by the facts, that the work carried out by your government in this area, which falls under your competence, has been insufficient, if not non-existent.”

“We cannot go to the national parliament or to Europe to demand very necessary and forceful measures if, on the other hand, we have an escape route that greatly limits their effect,” added Isabel Rodriguez. She was referring to the Canary Islands Government’s request that Brussels limit property purchases by non-resident foreigners who do not intend to live in the homes.

Letters sent to all autonomous communities

The letter to the Canary Islands is not the only one sent by Isabel Rodriguez. Her ministry has written to all other autonomous communities demanding they take action against the illegal tourist home fraud and assume their responsibilities now that the Supreme Court has annulled the single short-term rental registry.

Letters were dispatched to Catalonia, Galicia, Andalusia, Asturias, Cantabria, La Rioja, Murcia, the Valencian Community, Aragon, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León, Madrid, the Balearic Islands, the Canary Islands, Navarre, Extremadura and the Basque Country. The Housing and Urban Agenda Minister stated that she “accepted the ruling, as one must.”

“The only reason the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda became involved in this matter from the start was to comply with the European Union regulation which suggested that the state had to act quickly in the face of the housing emergency and the mass exodus of homes from the residential sector to the tourist sector,” she stressed in each letter.

Warning to PP-led regions

In the case of communities governed by the PP — either alone, in coalition with other parties or with their support — the minister informed them that from now on it is up to the regional governments to carry out the inspection, sanctioning and closure of illegal tourist homes detected by the Property Registry in their territories this year.

“When citizens’ rights are at stake, responsibility cannot be avoided; we must work to guarantee them,” the minister said. She expressed confidence that they would “now take the right path, since the work they have carried out has been insufficient, if not non-existent.”

The minister told them her team would be “very vigilant” to ensure appropriate actions were taken to prevent this fraud from continuing and to guarantee that the right to housing of citizens is not violated. In the case of Madrid, she insisted that the “absence of effective regulation for tourist and seasonal rentals, and the deliberate absence and omission of the inspection and sanctioning function” allows tourist apartments to operate as seasonal lets when they lack a tourist licence, especially in the capital.

PSOE-led regions praised as ‘beacon of inspiration’

However, she noted that other autonomous communities, governed by the PSOE or with its support, “have demonstrated they are up to the task of guaranteeing citizens’ right to housing and are a beacon of inspiration.” She thanked them for their “extraordinary courage in prioritising the interests of citizens over private and/or economic interests at a time when the role of institutions is being questioned by the far right.”

Regional breakdown of illegal properties

According to the letters, 27,000 illegal tourist homes were detected in Andalusia; 25,000 in Madrid (tourist and seasonal lets); 15,000 in the Valencian Community (9,000 in Alicante province); 14,200 in the Canary Islands; 4,500 in Galicia; 2,400 in Murcia; 1,750 in Castilla y León; 1,700 in Cantabria; 1,180 in Aragon; 380 in Extremadura and 367 in La Rioja.

Housing crisis deepens in the Canary Islands

In the islands, house prices have soared and months ago already surpassed the peaks recorded during the property bubble — all this in a region with the second-lowest salaries in the country. The Canarian capitals also register the highest concentration of multi-property landlords in Spain: 64.9 per cent of landlords with more than two properties in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, compared to 35.1 per cent who own a single rental property; and 64.6 per cent versus 35.4 per cent in Santa Cruz de Tenerife.

According to the Land Registry in the Canary Islands, the group of owners that has grown the most in the islands is those with between six and ten urban properties. In 2010 there were 23,000; now there are 43,000 — an increase of 86.4 per cent. This is followed by those with exactly five properties, rising from 15,000 to 26,000 — up 79.3 per cent. In third place are those who own four properties. This group has added 21,000 owners, going from almost 29,000 to 50,000 — a rise of 75.4 per cent.

Holiday homes have also skyrocketed in recent years, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic, exiting the housing market to be used for tourist purposes. It is worth noting that the Government of the Canary Islands does not apply the State Housing Law, which would allow the declaration of stressed areas and, with that, the limitation of rental prices, among other measures.

Source

Scroll to Top