Fines for unregistered tourist accommodation

Accommodation for tourists is often a touchy subject for many in Mallorca as so much of the economy depends upon tourists but only if rules are followed.

The Department of Tourism of the Council of Mallorca has announced that it intends to fine the owners of properties in two buildings in Palma where accommodation is being rented to visitors without having registered the property and obtained the necessary licence.

Each sanction is set at €80,000 and one building has 10 sanctions against the letting of flats whilst the other has seven, meaning that that the overall total of the fines amounts  to no less than €1.36 million.

The Minister of Tourism, José Marcial Rodríguez Díaz, said that he was pleased with the investigation and highlighted that “illegal offers, regardless of the sector in which they operate, not only represent unfair competition that is very damaging to all those who do things well on our island, which is the vast majority, but also a terrible problem for coexistence, something that we want to fight against and eradicate.”

Although the range of fines allowed for illegally renting properties start at €40,000 with a top limit of €400,000 per transgression, it has been policy until now to only levy a fine of €40,001 but a new precedent and level of fine has now been set for the future.