The Spanish Confederation of Hotels and Tourist Accommodations (Cehat) has described as “urgent and priority” the implementation of a law to regulate housing for tourist use (VUT). This call from employers arises after the Government announced its plans to carry out a measure in this regard.
According to Cehat, the shortage of rental housing is causing serious problems of coexistence in numerous Spanish municipalities, generating tensions among residents, who blame real estate speculation and the tourism sector. In this context, the implementation of the new Housing Law has resulted in a “significant decrease” in the supply of residential rentals, estimated at more than 30% since its approval just a year ago, according to the latest reports.
Likewise, the Confederation denounces that the “repeated promises” to build public housing for rent have been “systematically unfulfilled” with a drop of 86% since 2006, which has an “even more dramatic” character in tourist destinations. . seasonal workers, where the lack of housing for seasonal workers has generated “great difficulties in being able to provide services.”
Tourist homes harm the hotel supply
This is a problem that Cehat has announced in recent years, who also reports a drop in the supply of tourist hotel accommodation that is accompanied by an increase in this type of accommodation. Likewise, they have added that it is a problem that is spreading throughout Europe. In this sense, the European entity Hotrec also warns of security risks, undeclared tax revenues and the pressure on local residents’ access to affordable housing that may result from not having regulation on the issue.
For all these reasons, Cehat asks the Government of Spain to establish rules at the national level and support regional and municipal legislation that ensures “good coexistence” between residents, tourists and users of holiday homes and temporary accommodation. “We are not saying that housing for tourist use should be prohibited, but rather that it should be controlled as an economic activity that entails risks and dysfunctions,” declared the president of the association, Jorge Marichal, in a statement.
