The Spanish government is mulling over a few more options to limit the number of tourist apartments in the country, in addition to the restrictions individual cities have already placed on holiday rents that are impacting locals’ rent prices.
Spain’s housing vs tourism dilemma is developing at an incessant pace, with news practically every day of anti-mass tourism protests, new city and regional regulations for Airbnb tourist rentals and legislation being considered at a national level.
The issue has been slowly building and on July 3rd Spain’s Housing Minister stated that “tourist lets must be banned and regulated”.
How exactly such radical legislation could be brought out is now the matter at hand for other ministries and the Spanish government.
Could there really be a blanket ban or will specific restrictions which dissuade certain types of short-term renting be the way forward?
Two of the latest official proposals from Spain’s left-wing coalition government are to apply VAT to tourist apartments to discourage so many of them from popping up and to penalise those who post online advertisements for illegal tourist lets. In Madrid alone, it is estimated that 93 percent of tourists apartments don’t have a licence, more than 12,000 units.
Minister of Social Rights, Consumer Affairs and Agenda 2030 Pablo Bustinduy has introduced the idea of adding VAT to vacation homes to ensure they are taxed “like any commercial activity”.
According to the head of Consumer Affairs, 10% of the real estate stock in some cities in Spain is already allocated to housing for tourist use, leading to “price rises, young people who cannot become independent and families who can’t afford rent”.
At the beginning of June, Bustinduy also announced that there would be fines of up to €100,000 for tourist rental platforms with illegal advertisements.
These proposals are just two in a long line of ideas the authorities have come up with to try and prohibit tourist rentals or limit their numbers.
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