Holiday rentals now controlled by law

Following much debate about the explosion of unlicensed and unregulated holiday rental accommodation, particularly on the Costa del Sol, on January 29 the Junta de Andalucía approved the new decree on tourist accommodation which will allow local councils to establish limitations in order to curb the proliferation of this type of accommodation in areas where it impacts on the local economy and social welfare.

Local real estate agent Martin Treasure who is a member of the Advisory Board of the Association of International Property Professionals said, “The Junta have taken a much tougher regulatory stance to registration and oversight of short term rentals. That’s no bad thing as nobody wants visitors to spend thousands on a sub-optimal experience”.

Restrictive measures

This new decree gives local councils a legal framework to regulate holiday rentals without the fear that the restrictive measures they apply may be overturned by a court. Minister of Tourism, Arturo Bernal, at the press conference following the decision, said the decree, “makes it clear that it is the local councils who can establish the appropriate restrictions on this type of activity”.

With regard to what the local councils will be able to do to stop or regulate this activity, the Minister of Tourism has not gone into detail leaving, the parameters very wide and saying that councils will be able to use urban planning: “prohibitions, limitations, conditions of location or zoning for reasons of general interest”.

The Junta reported that in the Andalucian Tourism Register there are 80,000 properties currently legally licensed for tourist purposes, although it also said that this number is “increasing daily“.